Nintendo has announced that total sales for Pokemon Legends: Arceus have surpassed 6.5 million units worldwide. This contains both physical and digital copies. By comparison, Pokemon Sword and Shield, released in 2019, sold 6 million copies in the same release window. 2021’s Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl also sold 6 million in its first week.
According to the most recent Famitsu numbers, 1,424,657 copies of Arceus have been sold in Japan, making it the second best-selling Nintendo Switch title in the country. In the UK, the newest Pokemon game managed to become the fourth biggest launch in franchise history. Reviews for the title have been largely positive, with a Metacritic score of 84. Critics and fans are applauding the title for overhauling the usual Pokemon formula, citing the fluidity between battle and exploration as a major plus. Andrew Cunningham from ARS Technica writes “When the battle is over, you can go right back to exploring or catching other Pokémon, with no pauses for level-ups or learning moves… once you learn the ropes, it’s easy to lose yourself in the rhythm of sneaking, catching, battling, and exploring,” said Andrew Cunningham at Ars Technica.
Currently, the best-selling Pokemon titles of all time are Pokemon Sword and Shield, with a lifetime count of 23.9 million copies sold.
Arceus transports players to the Hisui region to discover both new and old variants of existing Pokemon. This is the past version of the Sinnoh region featured in the Pokemon Diamond and Pearl games. As members of the Galaxy Expedition Team’s Survey Corps in Jublife Village, players set out to explore their mysterious new settings. Arceus includes an action order combat system, in which the order a Pokemon attacks will depend entirely on its abilities and speed stat. Pokemon are able to use either strong style moves, favoring power over speed, or agile moves, prioritizing speed over strength.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus was released on the Nintendo Switch on January 28, 2022.
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