This weekend saw the live implementation of a major work project. That meant that the week leading up was full of all the last-minute stresses you can think of. Next week, waiting to see if anything breaks!
So I thought Friday night I would play some Horizon Zero Dawn and continue the story. Yes, Pokemon Legends: Arceus came out that day, but how much could a new Pokemon game suck me in?
It was another week of cruising around the island of Game Room with the bare minimum of effort. I have been busy all week, but the little things had started to set in. The start of the week felt like the beginning of the end for this round of Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
My daily swim for a scallop for Pascal hasn’t been done for weeks. Talk to everyone? If they aren’t in my circuit of the island, they don’t get spoken to. I don’t go into houses and get annoyed when villagers come to my home.
All the effort of starting to grow hybrid flowers has gone to waste. Stuff has grown, it’s not like my time has been wasted. For a couple of weeks, I wanted to sit down and clean up my flower beds. Spoiler – that hasn’t happened.
But then I found a new insect. The next day, I got a new piece of artwork from Redd. Brewster gave me a little “Thanks for coming” present.
It’s like I hit the secret ‘oh no quick give him something’ point of the code. The gameplay loop had staled, but I have reason to keep going now.
Not in a big way. I am not gripped with the urge to play all day out of the blue. But enough of a dopamine hit has happened with the tiny bits of progress that I want to keep playing.
I still need to clean up my hybrids and spend some time in Happy Home Paradise. A day in the world of Animal Crossing: New Horizons may be on the cards, but not soon.
Next week I will most likely keep at the basics to keep chains going. Even the thought of turnip farming is a bit much for me a the moment.
But I will still be there, and that is an accomplishment in itself.
Friday morning I had some shopping to do, so I took the opportunity to drop into EB Games. I had a copy of Pokemon Legends: Arceus to pick up!
The wait for Pokemon Legends: Arceus has been a funny one for me. On one hand, a ‘modern’ Pokemon game is something that has been needed for a long time.
On the other, the simple nature of the originals has appeal, especially for casual players. The vibe of a ‘Breath of the Wild’ Pokemon game was looking like a blessing and a curse!
But I got the chance to start playing, and so far, everything is going well. The open-world feels more like the demo for Monster Hunter Stories than Breath of the Wild.
There was the standard RPG exposition dump for the first hour. I did get to see the starters though. The choices were a surprise as I have been trying to keep away from spoilers.
But one of the choices is Rowlet. Since Pokemon Moon, I have loved the little guy and always name mine Owlsley. No Daredevil easter egg reference – I just always liked the name.
I am about 3 hours in, which for a game that came out at the tail end of a major project is pretty good for me. The pacing has been alright, and the story twists have raised my eyebrows a couple of times already.
Even though many would have already spoken about a lot of the story in-depth, I am going to remain vague. I can still imagine plenty of people that want to find out things for themselves.
While Pokemon Legends: Arceus is mechanically a very different Pokemon game. That said, it’s also very much familiar to long time players.
Badges and their benefits have been replaced with research rankings, for example. While the ways of doing things have changed, the core basics are very much still felt.
So if like me you don’t have a lot of time to play Pokemon and are worried it is too different, have hope. I can see Pokemon Legends: Arceus actually being a lot of what we hoped for.
There is a lot of grinding, like all Pokemon games. The way it looks to be shaping up though, this can actually be your ‘light’ play session goals.
The story beats all look pretty well telegraphed. This means you can plan to start the bigger game areas on your timetable. I am pretty sure I can confirm this theory with only another couple of hours of play.
And while I do that, I am going to see if I can start an Eevee gang to take on Pokemon Legends: Arceus with!
What about you? I hope you got some great games in. Or are you looking forward to a new one? Let me know!
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Until next time,
JohnHQLD