Open-World Pokemon Spin-Off, Pokemon Legends: Arceus Announced for 2022

Game Freak has announced Pokemon Legends: Arceus, an open-world action-RPG Pokemon game set in the feudal past of the Sinnoh region (the location of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl). It will arrive in Early 2022 for Nintendo Switch. Announced during today's Pokemon Presents broadcast, gameplay showed a game world reminiscent of Breath of the Wild, covered in wild Pokemon to catch, and seemingly using some action mechanics for play. The aim is to create Sinnoh's first Pokedex, and includes exploration, Pokemon capture, and a version of the series' traditional turn-based battles. Check out a gameplay trailer below: [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/26/pokmon-legends-arceus-official-trailer"] The game aims to "break new ground" for the Pokemon series, and features Rowlet, Cyndaquil, or Oshawott as partner Pokemon. The game will centre around the mythical Pokemon Arceus, but no further story details were given. The player will travel out from the central Sinnoh Village to different areas of the region, using traditional Pokeballs to capture monsters. Ratehr than traditional capturing, however, the official website says you'll need to "observe them to learn their behavior, then carefully sneak up, aim your Poké Ball, and let fly!" It's not the only new Pokemon game set in Sinnoh - remakes of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl will be released in late 2021. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.