'Pokemon Legends: Arceus': open-world RPG coming to Nintendo Switch

The Pokemon company announced two new games to mark 25th anniversary of its first game release

'Pokemon Legends: Arceus' fuses elements from past Pokemon games with new action and RPG twists. 

Saturday marked the 25th anniversary of the release of the first Pokemon games – Pokemon Red and Blue – on the original Gameboy in 1996. To celebrate the occasion, The Pokemon Company held a special live-streamed event, where they announced two new instalments in the series.

Revamped versions of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl will be released on the Nintendo Switch at the end of the year. The games are set to be a faithful recreation of the original games that were released in 2006 for the Nintendo DS.

The remakes – dubbed Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl – will feature modern graphics. Much of the storyline, which takes place in the region of Sinnoh, will be preserved. According to the game's website, the original sense of scale as well as the routes of the top-down RPG will be preserved.

The second release announced by the company is arguably the more exciting one, as it marks the first time an open-world setting is fully integrated into a Pokemon game, something which fans have been waiting on for quite some time.

Pokemon Legends: Arceus fuses elements from past Pokemon games with new action and RPG twists. In an aesthetic reminiscent of Nintendo's popular The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the new Pokemon game features sharper graphics, an open world and the ability to catch Pokemon by throwing a Pokeball at them.

The game, like Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, takes place in the town of Sinnoh. However, the story takes place long before the events of existing Pokemon games, in a world devoid of Pokemon trainers or leagues.

From the clips shown during the reveal, it seems that the game – due to be released in 2022 – is still in its early stages of development. There are still questions around the game’s plotline and who its antagonists are. But it seems enough to get fans eagerly waiting for the new open-world iteration of the Pokemon adventure.