More than two months after the release of Pokémon: Crystal Diamonds and Brilliant Pearls, we have another Pokémon game, Pokémon Legend: Al Zeus (hereinafter referred to as "Al Zeus"), which is not a very often happened, and there are almost always longer intervals between the slightly more formal works of "Pokémon".
To put it bluntly, I like Arzeus so much, not only because of how good it is, but because it's different enough. Whether it is positioning, gameplay or publicity cycles, Arzeus cannot be inferred from past experience. For Pokémon fans, this determination to change is even more important than the game — I'd even say that if Pearl of the Diamond is the most archaic replica of the series, Al Zeus is the most subversive and ambitious game in the series.
What kind of game is Al Zeus?
Before the release of Al Zeus, what I wanted to know most was "what type of game is this?" After completing the level, I still can't summarize it too well.
Take it apart and say it! First of all, "Arzeus" is a "Pokémon" series, and whether it is considered an "orthodox sequel" depends on how the Pokémon Company defines it in the future. Compared to the completely orthodox sequel of Pokémon: Sword and Shield and the reproduction of Pokémon: Brilliant Diamond and Bright Pearl, Alzeus plays slightly different. However, derivative works such as "Pokémon Fist" or "Pokémon Incredible Labyrinth" are closer to orthodoxy, and there are still elements such as capturing Pokémon, collecting pictures, fighting wild Pokémon or NPCs, and exploring maps.
There are many differences from previous orthodox sequels, starting with perspective. In 2019's Pokémon: Sword and Shield, an area called the Wilderness Zone appeared. This area is different from the rest of the map, the player can change their perspective freely, and Pokémon also appear in the form of a visible "Ming Thunder" (in the other map areas of Pokémon: Sword and Shield, Pokémon appear in a mixture of "Ming Thunder" and "Dark Thunder"). For the orthodox sequel, the wilderness zone is a big innovation, but unfortunately it has serious problems, such as limited area and content, serious frame drops, etc., which can hardly be called a perfect new system.
Arzeus continues to deepen in this direction. In this work, the wilderness zone is no longer limited to a corner of the map, but extends to the entire map. At the same time, "Arzeus" also does a better job in hardware performances such as performance effects, and the Pokémon ecology is also better presented.
The wilderness experience in Pokémon: Sword and Shield is average
In this year, the "open world" seems to be a bit too widespread. But there are still manufacturers who love to buy , and players who love to buy — and also like to compare the various open-world games together. Earlier Pokémon: Sword and Shield wilderness strips have been repeatedly pulled out compared to Zelda Legends: Breath of the Wilderness, saying that the wilderness zone in 2019 is not as good as 2017's Zelda Legends: Breath of the Wilderness.
Strictly speaking, though, we still can't count Arzeus as an open world. It's more like a game of block maps like Monster Hunter. Players have a stronghold "Zhuqing Village", as well as several large maps for exploration, such as "Obsidian Wilderness", "Red Lotus Wetland", "Ultramarine Coast", "Foothills of Tianguan Mountain", and "Pure White Permafrost". Each map has a different ecological environment, and the Pokémon that inhabit it are also different. Players can increase their "Team Member Star" by completing the Bookbook, thus unlocking more maps.
Players can explore freely on each map, and the game also provides several new Pokémon such as The Horned Deer, the Moon Bear, the Ghost-tailed Genie, the Great Fox, and the Warrior Eagle (New Regional Form) as mounts to improve the efficiency of the operation.
In the new work, Pokémon can also be released to be lively and lively
At the same time, Arzeus also provides players with a mission system, which is also the first time in the 25-year history of the Pokémon series. "Arzeus" provides a main quest and multiple side quests, THE NPCs in Zhuqing Village and the WILD NPCs will distribute side quests, usually "understand a certain Pokémon" or "help me find some kind of props", the guidance is more general, resulting in some missions will be a little difficult to do, and the rewards are usually not good.
Frankly, compared to other mature games, the mission system of Al Zeus is still lacking, but it is one thing to improve, and it is another to start from scratch.
Is the core gameplay still the core now?
The combat part has changed a lot, so let's start a separate chapter.
The first thing that some players need to understand is that the traditional Pokémon battle is not just two small monsters than attack power, it has a very deep logical system: from the individual value brushing, personality selection, effort value matching, to the attribute restraint, move allocation, and team composition considered before the battle, players need to carefully study. Every year, the official world competition is also organized, and the well-known players have a high reputation in the circle. Of course, if you only aim to complete the level, finding the attributes to compete for attack power is indeed the most often done by most players in the course of the game.
I don't comment here on whether the original combat system is good or bad, but it must be said that many "Pokémon" are boring in a week-long battle, and it is worth tossing and turning after completing the level. What is particularly impressive is the expansion pack "Pokémon: Ultimate Day, Ultimate Moon", the clearance process is very boring, I almost mechanically played the level, and then ran to the battle without looking back.
In Arzeus, the battles experienced by players in the playthrough are not the same as in the main game.
The battle flow of Arzeus is divided into 3 parts. When you encounter a wild Pokémon, first observe it undetected to see its level and whether it can be captured directly. At this time, if you take out the poké ball and throw it on the Pokémon, you can directly start the capture process, and if you can hit the Pokémon's back, there will be a chance bonus for catching. In this game, the balls that improve the chance of direct capture are called "heavy balls" and "super heavy balls", in the previous game, heavy balls were used to catch heavy Pokémon, but the ancient heavy balls in "Arzeus" seem to be only sinking, the throwing distance is very close, and it feels like the chance of catching is increased by smashing the Pokémon...
The battle system is somewhat different from previous works
If the capture fails, wild Pokémon usually notice the player. Some docile Pokémon, such as the Big Tooth Beaver and the Seal Ball, do not attack when they find the player, but stare at the person with great interest, and the SEAL Ball will roll around and play with people (or possibly want to run); timid Pokémon like Mucker usually choose to run away. But most Pokémon choose to attack trainers at this point – yes, this is the first time in the history of the Pokémon series that Pokémon will fight the trainers directly.
At this stage, there is not much that the player can do, and can affect the action of wild Pokémon by throwing some props, but most of the time they can only choose to run away or throw the ball to start. In fact, at any stage prior to this, poké balls containing Pokémon were thrown in the direction of wild Pokémon, and Pokémon battles could be quickly launched.
The circle bear is very aggressive and I am often beaten by it
In the details of the battle, there is also a difference between the traditional work of "Arzeus". It should be stated in advance that many of the settings in this game are quite vague and even chaotic, and it is very common for a level 11 otter to hit a level 2 kitten monster after a sword dance - I can't say all the reasons, just describe some of the phenomena here.
The difference in the details of the battle, the first is that the shot order is no longer re-settled according to the speed of each turn, but becomes a step-by-step move, a bit like some JRPG systems, the right side of the screen will show a move sequence bar, determine who will shoot next, but the order in the system should still be related to speed. In addition, each pokémon move can be divided into three forms: normal, fierce, and fast. Toughness increases attack power and hits, but the order of the next shot is delayed; on the contrary, the decrease in attack power may give the advantage of two consecutive attacks.
Both swiftness and rigidity affect the effectiveness of moves
Secondly, most Pokémon have removed features ("Pillar King" Regichkas' "slow start" is still there) and item carrying, which makes it much less important to think about when fighting.
When facing wild Pokémon, if several of them are too close, the battle will start at the same time, and the player will face 1-on-2, 1-on-3, or even more, which is very common in "space-time distortion" (a map event in which a large number of rare Pokémon appear at the same time in the space-time distortion area). At this time, the player can choose to escape from the battle, and after escaping, the wild Pokémon on the opposite side will not disappear, but will chase you for a while, and then continue to hang out on the map. Players can create head-to-head scenes by "flying kites" back and forth.
In addition, there are occasional scenes of "unscrupulous" trainers fighting in the game, which may be related to the imperfect rules of ancient Pokémon battles. At this time, the player can only harden the scalp, but NPC Pokémon often have a round of confusion, so even one-to-many is not difficult.
In the classic 1-on-3 of this game, the three brothers were eventually pierced by my Kirby beast
In the Arthuus game, some skills have also been modified. For example, in the past, the group attack skill was changed to a single body, such as a rock avalanche. There are also auxiliary skills like "Invisible Rock", which become a direct damage skill with one-time damage and multiple subsequent damages, and players cannot rely solely on previous experience.
In terms of skill learning, players no longer need to find NPCs to pay the Heart Scale Recall skills as in the previous game, each Pokémon is equivalent to a "skill library", from which players can choose 4 at random to play, and all scenes outside the battle can be switched at any time. There is also a guard captain NPC in Zhuqing Village, who is responsible for teaching the protagonist's Pokémon more skills, which can be learned by paying money, which is simple and fast.
In addition, there are several fixed boss battles in the game, which are the player's battles with the current regional "king". In this special battle, the player needs to throw something similar to a sachet into the face of the "king" Pokémon, thereby weakening its health, and wait until it is weak, and then release their own combat Pokémon to fight, and so on. Of course, the easier and more convenient way is not to release Pokémon, and the trainer throws props the whole time - this is probably the most criticized part of Al Zeus, from the plastic effects of the "King" Pokémon's golden light to the repetitive combat flow, it really does not do well to attract players. Fortunately, the battle against the "king" is only a small part of the game.
The "King" Pokémon doesn't look very good visually
Overall, the Part of the Pokémon Battle of Al Zeus is relatively vague, and some effects are not intuitively displayed in numerical values, which may be disappointing for players who are extremely passionate about fighting, but have little impact on most "pass parties". In addition, this game cancels online battles, which is understandable, and hopes to one day be able to play the "Pokémon" series of games that have online battles and can be as fun as "Arzeus".
Let's talk about selling photos
What video gamers do best is compare several games to each other, and I'm no exception. There was a massive sneak run before the release of Arzeus, and many people in other regions played it, many people said it was more like "Monster Hunter". I may have been affected by this, and an hour after Arzeus unlocked, I said to my friend, "What a 'monster hunter'!" ”
That's actually a good thing to say, and it's definitely not that it 'plagiarizes 'Monster Hunter'" or anything like that. Area exploration, action, and missions, they look a bit like, and my naïve first reaction can only shout this. In addition to Monster Hunter, I was reminded of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wilderness, which is the comparison of the "open world" of people mentioned earlier. The map design of Al Zeus is not as good as that of Zelda Legend: Breath of the Wilderness, but for Pokémon games, it is also gradually improving.
The map is good to explore, and there are many types of Pokémon
I don't resent this contrast, the comparison of a game, the horizontal and vertical comparisons are all necessary. Take the not long ago "Pokémon: Crystal Diamond Bright Pearl" for example, if you put it in the "Pokémon" series of games in recent years, vertical comparison, there should be almost some elements, coupled with the "Pokémon" base and the follow-up gameplay of the underground world after the level, the whole game does not seem to be unplayable. But what about the lateral comparison with other game series? It doesn't seem to be very worth playing...
This time, the sales of "Al Zeus" are generally good, the game's graphics are not bad, and the non-fixed perspective is popular. Some parts of the game may be picked, such as dynamic resolution - it feels 360p where time and space are distorted, the water effect is not very good, the characters are very unfinished, and so on. The look and feel of these contents varies from person to person, and in my opinion, it is tolerated.
The improvement is the plot expression, and the plot performance of this game can really be said to be different from "Pokémon: Crystal Diamond Bright Pearl". The shortcomings of the protagonist's smiling face and insufficient expression of the two-headed body that we complained about in the past have completely disappeared in Arzeus, and there are even some micro-expressions that allow the player to see the psychological state of the protagonist at that time, and not only is there a person with a pestle, but also the Pokémon's expression has become much more delicate.
The little Kirby beast who felt embarrassed after losing the game
In addition, a concept was introduced in Al Zeus, the difference in the size of Pokémon. "Individual Value" is no longer only for the "5V" and "6V" of the battle, but also represents the difference between the height and weight of this Pokémon. The same Pokémon will grow larger or smaller for individual reasons, and there is even a "boss" Pokémon in the game, which is equivalent to the leader of the clan, usually growing bigger and stronger, much taller than its peers.
These differences in body size will be recorded in the catalogue, and it is this subtle difference that makes Pokémon no longer like copies, but different, living beings.
The Snow Monster on the left is noticeably smaller
Pokémon Legends, where exactly are the legends?
(In this chapter, I'll mention some of The Arzeus' basic worldview and basic story synopsis, which don't touch on key plots, and readers who want to retain freshness can skip to the next chapter.) ）
Unlike initial expectations, Arzeus tells a story of crossing. The protagonist travels to the ancient Shin-ao region and discovers that the relationship between humans and Pokémon at that time was very different from that of modern times. It is believed that "Pokémon are terrible creatures", and few people can command Pokémon to fight. The protagonist (who is also the player) becomes the local savior as a modern crosser, familiar with various Pokémon battle techniques, and the overall story unfolds from here. Players will eventually approach the center of Pokémon Legends by solving one local puzzle after another.
Because I'm a modern person!
The worldview of the Pokémon series of games continues to expand, and the abilities of legendary Pokémon are gradually increasing. The first generation is the super-powerful artificial Pokémon Super Dream, followed by Pokémon: Gold and Silver with the resurrection ability of the Phoenix King and the Storm God Lokia, pokémon: Ruby Sapphire Emerald represented by the Pokémon Gurado who created the earth and the Pokémon Gaioka who created the ocean, as well as the regalia that mediates and interferes with the weather.
In the fourth generation where Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl is located, legend has it that Pokémon's abilities have reached its peak - the god of space, Palucia, the god of time, The God of Time, Riding Latina, and the god of creation, Arzeus- whether they can come back to life or not, this setting alone makes the friends who played Pokémon: Diamond pearls more than a decade ago boil with blood. Among the many generations of the Pokémon series, the legend of the fourth generation is also the richest and most fascinating, and "Arzeus" follows the worldview of this generation, telling the legend of the past from an "ancient prequel" perspective, and nothing attracted me more than this.
In the past, we used to complain that the "Pokémon" series was too childlike and should be more adult, but the actual trend in these years is the gradual increase in the degree of child orientation. This time, "Arzeus" is still a small fight to save the world in terms of plot, but some dialogue and plot will make players feel that "this is no longer a joke". When the protagonist first enters the village, he needs to undergo a trial, and the NPC says that if he does not pass, he will have to "cross the corpse", a word that is not very common in recent years of "Pokémon" games, and the Pokémon wandering around the map and the protagonist hiding in the grass also make people rethink the relationship between people and Pokémon.
The story revolves around several legendary Pokémon from the fourth generation
Related topics have long been covered in the series universe. The existence of Pokémon was discussed in the original theatrical version of Pokémon: Strike Back at Super Dreams, and there are several episodes of the original unprinted anime by Tsuyoshi Shudo (Giant Stinger Jellyfish, Mine Gopher) that discuss Pokémon's independent free will from humans. Initially, the "Pokémon" series was not shy about talking about this, but with the gradual expansion of the SCALE of IP and the younger age of players, the plot became more and more simple and direct.
I'm glad that Al Zeus explores some of the "slightly adult" stuff to some extent, and while they're not entirely satisfactory to me overall, they still make me look forward to a sequel to the Pokémon Legends series.
What is the truth of the incident?
Unlike the background of the protagonist and pokémon traveling together in the previous Pokémon game, the player in this game has a home-like stronghold, which is the Village of Zhuqing, which I have already mentioned. It is the village stronghold of the in-game organization "Galaxy Regiment", which contains barbers, clothing stores, prop dealers, manufacturers, canteens and other facilities and related NPCs. Players can move freely in Zhuqing Village, communicate with NPCs, and receive tasks.
Considering that the main stage of the story takes place in ancient times, people's feelings for Pokémon are not the same as in modern times, and the average person does not see Pokémon as a companion, but is full of fear of them (mainly wild Pokémon). However, as the game progressed, people's attitudes towards Pokémon gradually changed.
terrible!
At the same time, NPCs occasionally say something unprofitable - for example, the Doctor tells the player that Pokémon have smaller attributes, so they can be loaded into the goal. These are all limited by the times, including the introduction to Pokémon in each generation's atlas, and they are all recorded by the doctors and Pokémon trainers of the time through observation, and are not from God's point of view. These "unsatisfactory words" made me curious about the whole worldview.
Is it really going to get smaller?
Due to the lack of understanding of Pokémon by NPCs, the picture book in this game is not only limited to "seeing" and "receiving" Pokémon, but also needs to "accept several pokémon", "see a certain skill several times", "beat several", etc. The height and weight of the Pokémon in the picture book are also completely determined according to the size of the Pokémon captured by the player, and the fun of exploration is very sufficient. However, in the later stage, the collection of the picture book seems to be a little cumbersome.
Overall, the worldview of this work is quite good, although small places such as "Al Zeus mobile phone" are not very well rounded, but the flaws are not hidden. The plot is good in the "Pokémon" games in recent years, and it is considered to be middle and upper class in the entire series, of course, it is still a bit far from Pokémon: Black 2 And White 2.
The improvement of the picture book is a little cumbersome
Get out of the series of dilemmas
We've had a definite impression of the Pokémon series for a long time, and if you're a Pokémon fan, that impression will be even deeper – turn-based, RPG, fixed perspective, capture, nurture, collect, battle, simple plot, rough graphics... In recent years, from Pokémon: Let's Go! Pikachu Ibrahimovic began, and the Pokémon series began to innovate step by step. Frankly, the results are not very satisfactory, but sales continue to improve.
Not long ago, when I was reviewing Pokémon: Brilliant Pearls, I wrote about the dilemmas faced by the game and the entire series. At that time I said:
In terms of player reputation, the "Pokémon" series seems to have fallen into a deep pit, but from the perspective of sales, it seems to have climbed a mountain. It's paradoxical, but we know that the quality of the game itself is really not good – which makes the whole problem even more contradictory. It's a situation where Pokémon can sell well without changing, and it's true that technical power and man-hours can't keep up, but they have a little idea of changing (Pokémon Legend: Arzeus). On the one hand, gamers want better and more exquisite "Pokémon" games, on the other hand, new players are willing to pay for "not so good" games, and internal quarrels are incessant.
Frankly, I can't comment on Pokémon: Crystal Diamond Bright Pearl, it's the ultimate collection of contradictions, it's fun and not fun, rough but deep, should buy and shouldn't buy, while trying to attract old and new players... Maybe the Red Sun of the Galactic Cluster is right, and pokémon need a new universe, is that Pokémon Legend: Arzeus? No one knows. We seem to be used to leaving everything to the "next 'Pokémon'", but this mentality obviously can't last long, if the "Pokémon" series can't get out of this pain... I don't know what the future holds, and no one knows.
At that time, all we can see from the new series "Pokémon: Brilliant Diamonds and Bright Pearls" is a delayed and foggy future, and we are waiting for the arrival of "Arzeus" that has cleared the fog, and now it is coming, a "new universe".
The "fierce enemy" in this work is no longer a fierce enemy, more like my little follower
I don't want to skimp on my praise for "Al zeus" – today is February 2nd, and for the sake of the Spring Festival schedule, this review article cannot be sent out in the first place. I wrote this on January 29, a day after the game went on sale. The game time at the time of writing is 21 hours, and at the end of the game, it reaches 25 hours. On the night of the release, after playing a two-hour live game, I couldn't sleep with excitement. It feels a bit like having played all monster hunter players see Monster Hunter: World for the first time – I'm not comparing the old Monster Hunter and Monster Hunter: World who is better, but you know, Monster Hunter: World looks like it's two completely different things than the previous game, Monster Hunter XX.
When it comes to Pokémon, the contrast becomes even greater. Let's roughly divide the "Pokémon" series into 3 segments, first "Pokémon: Black 2· White 2" and the previous games, fixed perspective, pixel style, 2D graphics, and a good reputation among players. Then there's just the last 10 years, from Pokémon: X· Y" to "Pokémon: Crystal Diamonds and Bright Pearls". During this period, the reputation of the series has quietly changed, and players have been less satisfied with the so-called "3D Pokémon". Aside from turning the graphics into 3D, the game hasn't improved much, but has regressed in story depth – of course, we must also acknowledge the difficulties that the entire Pokémon franchise has faced over the past 10 years, such as the loss of child players and the rise of other series. All in all, in the eyes of most "big kid" players, this is a 10 years of failure.
Then there's Al zeus.
The protagonist is really beautiful after having an expression
Of course, as I mentioned before, the Pokémon series tried to make changes, such as Pokémon: Let's Go! Pikachu Ibrahimovic simplifies quite versatile and becomes more geared towards new players. The wilderness zone in Pokémon: Sword and Shield has made some open-world attempts, but they haven't been very successful. As the saying goes, "the big car is difficult to turn around", a 25-year-old world's first IP wants to innovate is a matter of courage. Although the wait was long, I was satisfied with the turn of Arzeus.
All in all, Arzeus upended a lot of things, and it made the future of the entire Pokémon series look different — and that's what I'm most happy with about it. It's certainly not one of the best games of its generation, but from the perspective of this series, it does show something different, something different that its fans crave. Some people say it's "the best 'Pokémon' game in 10 years", and if I had to compare the rankings, I would agree with that, but it's a bit of a traditional "Pokémon" game to play "Al Zeus", they are not actually similar. But it is this dissimilarity that makes Al Zeus the most subversive and ambitious game in the series.
Enjoy it.