The next five months are going to be packed for Pokémon fans. Today’s Pokémon Presents event focused extensively on the two new entries heading to the franchise: Pokémon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl and Pokémon Legends: Arceus. With their release dates quickly approaching, the Pokémon Company took the opportunity to share some new details about these upcoming mainline titles.
While the Diamond and Pearl remakes, along with Pokémon Legends: Arceus, stole the spotlight, they weren’t alone at today’s show. The Pokémon Company also detailed its future plans for the Pokémon franchise’s growing list of continually evolving mobile titles.
Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl are adding new content
Players will have more than revamped visuals to look forward to when Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl release this November. Today’s Pokémon Presents showcase detailed some of the new features coming to the remastered titles, including substantial changes to the game’s underground.
Now called the Grand Underground, players can still mine for fossils and make their own secret bases deep in the Earth. However, there will be new areas called Pokémon hideaways where players can find Pokémon that appear nowhere else in the game. Players will also have some control over the Pokémon that appear, which changes depending on the statues that players use to decorate their base.
Other features, including stickers that release Pokémon from their balls with some flair, Union Rooms for interacting with other players, and contest shows, were also shown off. Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are set to launch on November 19.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus pits players against the wild
Pokémon Legends: Arceus has looked like a departure from the norm for Pokémon since being revealed, and today’s presentation only distanced the game from other mainline entries even more. A majority of the action in Arceus will be seamless, with players roaming around the game’s open world of Hisui and either catching Pokémon or launching into a battle with minute transitions.
Like most other Pokémon games, this game will give players three starter options — Cyndaquil, Rowlet, and Oshawott, in this case. From there, players will explore the world, interacting with different wild Pokémon, which will all have unique reactions to seeing a human. Before going out into the wild to observe Pokémon, players will be able to prepare by purchasing items or crafting new ones, but after that, they’re almost completely on their own.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus will also bring some changes to the franchise’s battle structure. Instead of Pokémon switching off during a battle, players will find an action order, which can be affected by a Pokemon’s speed stats or one of two new attack forms coming to the game. Strong style increases a move’s power but lowers the Pokémon’s speed, while Agile style has the opposite effect. Pokémon Legends: Arceus is set to launch on January 22, 2022.
Mobile evolution
Along with updates for its upcoming mainline games, the Pokémon Company detailed some of the changes coming to its numerous mobile titles. Pokémon Unite, for instance, will be getting two new Pokémon in future updates, Sylveon and Mamoswine.
Pokémon Cafe Mix is being fully revamped and rebranded as Pokémon Cafe Remix. This new version of the game will change its puzzles and add new Pokémon and cosmetics to the game. Likewise, Pokémon Masters EX is celebrating its two-year anniversary with a suite of new content, including the ability to Dynamax Pokémon.
Finally, Pokémon Go is getting a major update that adds Pokémon Sword and Shield‘s Galarian Pokémon to the mobile title. Players will be able to find new Pokémon in the game starting at 10 a.m. local time on Friday, August 20, but they’ll disappear at the end of the month, at 8 p.m. local time Tuesday, August 31.
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