Pokémon Legends: Arceus shook up the series in 2022. Released on January 28, 2022 on Nintendo Switch, this Game Freak game sends you back in time to Sinnoh, when the region was still called Hisui and humans still feared Pokémon. You join the Survey Corps in Jubilife Village with one mission: complete the region’s very first Pokédex by observing and catching Pokémon across vast open areas. Real-time catching, reworked battles, Alpha Pokémon and furious Noble Pokémon: this guide takes you from your first Poké Ball to your meeting with Arceus.
Where to start
- Our verdict: our Pokémon Legends: Arceus review and the spec sheet (versions, updates, Nintendo Switch 2).
- The walkthrough: the full walkthrough index lays out the 27 main missions and links to our nine chapters, from your first day in Jubilife Village to the meeting with Arceus.
- The standout battles: the five Noble Pokémon and the Alpha Pokémon, area by area.
The Hisui Pokédex
The heart of the game is the Pokédex: 242 Pokémon, each with its own research tasks. Our complete Hisui Pokédex, split into five parts, gives each species’ number, its areas and its entry in our National Pokédex. To raise your research levels, see Pokédex tasks and ranks; for the new evolutions and regional forms, see Hisui’s evolutions.
Finding and evolving a Pokémon
Our most-read guides explain how to find or evolve a specific Pokémon:
- Scyther into Kleavor or Scizor, Rotom and its forms, Pichu and Pikachu, Porygon, Porygon2 and Porygon-Z, Riolu and Alpha Lucario;
- Magby and Magmar into Magmortar, Cherubi and Cherrim, Stantler into Wyrdeer, Onix into Steelix, Petilil into Hisuian Lilligant;
- Togepi into Togetic, then Togekiss, Sneasel into Sneasler, Basculin into Basculegion, Zorua into Zoroark, Ursaring into Ursaluna.
Exploring Hisui in depth
- The space-time distortions and the mass outbreaks, for rare and Shiny Pokémon;
- the 28 Unown and the 107 Wisps;
- crafting and the requests you shouldn’t miss;
- catching all the Legendary Pokémon, Shaymin, Darkrai and Manaphy and Phione.
Playing it today
The game is still available on Nintendo Switch, both physically and as a download, and runs on Nintendo Switch 2. Its free Daybreak update, released at the end of February 2022, added requests, Massive Mass Outbreaks and new challenges. Its spiritual successor, Pokémon Legends: Z-A, has its own mini-site.
