Pokemon Legends: Arceus may not be fully open world, fans think

Next year’s new Pokemon game will take trainers to the Hisui region, and while Arceus’ trailers have made it look like an open-world adventure, that might not be the case. Fans are beginning to think the game might be more segmented.

The theory started with Serebii webmaster Joe Merrick, who tweeted some images of Arceus’ map. Merrick said the map seemed to display “segmented open areas like Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Monster Hunter etc., separated into different areas like the Wild Area/Crown Tundra did.” The first image displays a line around a region called the Obsidian Fieldlands, while the second, more zoomed-in image has further divisions like Aspiration Hill, Deertrack Heights, and the Grandtree Area.

On their own, these images may just show how the map is divided geographically. However, the Pokemon Legends: Arceus website seems to validate the theory. Under the gameplay tab, in the Pokedex section, it says that “completing research tasks will…[grant] you access to new areas.” That certainly sounds like portions of the map will be gated off until you’ve fulfilled the necessary requirements to unlock them.

Even if the new game isn’t truly open world, it still has plenty of new features to be excited for. New Hisuian forms mean new looks for Pokemon like Braviary and Growlithe. There are also noble Pokemon like Kleavor, a new evolved form of Scyther exclusive to the Hisui region. You can catch ’em all in Pokemon Legends: Arceus on January 28, 2022.