Genre: RPG
Developer: Game Freak
Publisher: Nintendo

This latest Pokemon release is one of the roughest looking video games this reviewer has ever seen. There is quite literally no lighting, no ambient occlusion, and very nearly no shadows. It's like playing "Quake" with "r_fullbright 1". In many spots, texture resolution is on par with the average N64 game, with terrain geometry sometimes looking like vertex gouraud shading from a PSX title. The user interface is sharp, player animations are fluid, and the way the trees wave in the breeze is satisfactory. But absolutely everything else about the visual presentation is dismal.

A trio of composers provide the music for Arceus, and all three of them have long-time ties to the series. Some of the songs are plain bizarre, and clearly come from the musician who did certain selections from "Sword and Shield". Others are quite ambient and well done: the town song evokes the lonely streets of "Shenmue", and this reviewer even heard some lounge jazz while traversing the game world. There is no voice acting, but the title's sound effects-- the typical mix of Game Boy creature noises and attack noises-- work well enough. The mount summon sound is very haunting in particular.

This Pokemon title is a radical departure from not just prior series entries, but other open world games in general. The player flips between crouching and standing, while lurking towards concealing grass, sneaking up on Pokemon to either launch a ball, or one of his own creatures, to begin a battle in the latter case. "X", "L", and "R" flip between Pokemon and items on the fly. The system works superbly. Gyro aim is available, and it too is phenomenal. The world geometry is barren of interesting landmarks-- but it's always intriguing to see what new creatures will be visible, just over the next hill.

Arceus looks like a template demo "Unity" world fan project, with Pokemon nonsensically wandering around its empty, ugly spaces. The town's buildings are haphazardly dropped on top of the geometry, without any attempts to make things look organic. On top of it, the game is a massive "Skinner Box", as slimy as any slot machine. All of that said, there are positives: the control scheme was clearly a labor of love, as it's both highly innovative and successful; and the game's soundtrack has some really interesting motifs. Perhaps a sequel can lift this brand new formula into new heights.