Pokemon fans are beginning to think Pokemon Legends: Arceus won't be a fully open-world game.
On Twitter, Serebii's Joe Merrick posted two photos of Pokemon Legends: Arceus' map, likening it to titles like Monster Hunter and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 where the map is split into separate areas, rather than combined into one large map.
It is coming increasingly clear that Pokémon Legends Arceus may not be full open world but rather segmented open areas like Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Monster Hunter etc. separated into different areas like the Wild Area/Crown Tundra did
I'm fine with this really. pic.twitter.com/llpCUUvQGx
— Joe Merrick (@JoeMerrick) September 30, 2021
On the map posted above, you can see areas like Aspiration Hill, Deertrack Path, The Heartwood, and more. These areas seem to contain smaller maps, similar to the Wild Area seen in Pokemon Sword and Shield.
Furthermore, on the official Pokemon Legends website, the gameplay description says completing tasks and raising your rank will gain you access to "new areas." This suggests that the whole map is not available to players at the start, compared to games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
As Merrick pointed out, this system could end up being similar to Monster Hunter games, where players start with access to one area and then unlocks more as they progress through the main missions.
Even if it's not fully open world, Pokemon Legends is shaking up the franchise in a lot of ways. The spinoff is set hundreds of years before the mainline Pokemon games and features what looks like real-time combat. Most recently, we got our first look at Noble Pokemon, a new class of monsters featured in the game. We also got a look at the new battle system in Pokemon Legends: Arceus.
For fans of traditional Pokemon games, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are due out on Nintendo Switch next month.
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.