The Nintendo of America account recently tweeted out some more promotion for GameFreak’s upcoming title, Pokémon Legends: Arceus, on Twitter. The tweet includes a video showing off the various landscapes trainers can explore on their adventure in the Hisui region, along with some of the Pokémon that inhabit them. You can read this tweet and its responses through this link here.
While many users on the platform focused on the graphics of the game from the four-month-old footage, a few looked at the implications of the first statement, which reads “The seasons of the Hisui region are quite the sight…” While this could mean little to nothing, with players believing that Nintendo’s just showing off specific areas fixed to various weather called biomes, it’s being speculated that a mechanic from a previous generation in the Pokémon franchise could be making its return in this new era. The mechanic being referred to is Pokémon Black (2) and Pokémon White (2)’s seasons mechanic.
What is the season mechanic?
In the 2010 Nintendo DS Pokémon titles (or 2012 for the sequels), trainers could travel the Unova region while experiencing the four seasons throughout the years. Contrary to how it works in real life, the seasons rotated in a way that allowed players to experience all four seasons within every four months of playing the game: Spring was in January, May, and September; Summer was in February, June, and October; Fall was in March, July, and November; and Winter was in April, August, and December.
On top of aesthetic and musical changes to most of the areas of the games, the seasons also affected the rarity of various Pokémon, the forms of specific Pokémon dependent on it, and even store items and NPC appearances. It made the games fresh to experience year-round, allowing players to experience the same environments and areas with a completely different feel to them.
The mechanic hasn’t been in the mainline Pokémon games since then. After that, seasons and weather have been regulated back to working in biomes, much to the detriment of the “Wild Area” in the 2019 Nintendo Switch titles, Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield. However, if it is true that Pokémon Legends: Arceus will have seasons return, it opens up many more possibilities for what players can look forward to when the game releases, as well as aid in the longevity of the game going forward. Of course, this is all speculation and you shouldn’t hope too hard on something that hasn’t been confirmed or undoubtedly leaked, but as Pokémon fans, we’re used to hoping.
When does Pokémon Legends: Arceus release?
Pokémon Legends: Arceus makes its way onto Nintendo Switch consoles exclusively on January 28, 2022. Are you excited for the possibility of seasons returning? How do you feel about the new Pokémon games in general? I’d love to hear your thoughts.