The Pokemon franchise has been one of the best video-game franchises ever (and the most profitable overall franchise ever, look it up!) due to how the games have a certain quality to them, as well as being far-reaching in terms of what they offer and can do. Just look at Pokemon GO and the billions it’s made for an example of that. But they also know that their “core group” of gamers is who they need to please at times, and that’s why titles like Pokemon Legends Arceus are made. To push the boundaries and see what innovations can be made.
And sure enough, when Pokemon Legends Arceus came out, people were stunned by how awesome it felt to play, and how the new open-world playstyle made it feel more like an actual Pokemon world than the mainline titles that came before it. Yes, we had the Wild Area in Sword and Shield, but this was very clearly a leap above that as you didn’t have to battle Pokemon just to catch them.
Add that to the main and sidequests that would expand the world and your homebase of Jubilife Village, and it’s no wonder the game has sold incredibly well.
But now, Nintendo of Japan has revealed that the game is actually the No.1 best-selling title in Japan for 2022 so far. A big accomplishment given some of the other big-name titles that have released from Nintendo so far this year including Kirby and the Forgotten Land (which was No.2), Nintendo Switch Sports (which was No.3) and so on.
The real question with Arceus is just how much of its gameplay style will translate to the upcoming Gen 9 titles. We’ve gotten hints about it, but not enough to really make judgments. So we’ll just have to wait and see.
Source: Nintendo
