Recently I finished the latest game in the Pokemon franchise: Legends Arceus. Arguably the most ambitious Pokemon game in decades, Arceus marked a change for the series that many wanted, myself included. Inspired by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Arceus features a world consisting of various open areas that you can navigate however you'd like. Not only that, but with it comes a brand new system of gameplay, one that offers various ways to navigate its world and interact with and catch Pokemon in all sorts of ways before you even battle them.
With such a break from the series tradition, I was excited to dig into the game. Yet the more I played it, the more I noticed a disconnect. I had four friends also anticipating the game. As we played it, all of them, from longtime Pokemon fans to ex fans who wanted to get back into the series, had a blast. They flew through it, clearing most of its content, and told me it is likely one of their favorite Pokemon games.
However, the more I played, the more I felt the opposite. My motivation for the game began to dwindle the further I got in, I began finding the overall gameplay uninteresting and repetitive, and now that I have finally finished it, while also completing the post game quest to collect all the elemental plates, I can say that this is probably one of my least favorite Pokemon games.
Yet all was not cause for disappointment. The more I played and understood Arceus, the more I came upon a shocking revelation: Legends Arceus reminded me of one infamous game in the Paper Mario series, one that most people dislike while I, ironically, love it.
Yes, the controversial title that is Paper Mario: Sticker Star, a game I could write tons on, popped into the back of my mind the more I played Arceus. Part of why I enjoyed Sticker Star so much was because I had not played a game like it, and here, now, I found an unlikely companion to it in Legends Arceus.
This begs some questions. First, is Pokemon Legends Arceus actually similar to Paper Mario Sticker Star? When I proposed this theory to one of my friends, he couldn't have been more confused. Why do these games remind me so much of each other?
Second, if they are so similar, then why did Sticker Star resonate with me, where most fans disliked it, while Legends Arceus lost me, where most Pokemon fans praised the overall package? For this write up, I plan to answer these and more. So I hope you enjoy reading why I consider Pokemon Legends Arceus the 'Paper Mario Sticker Star' of Pokemon.
