‘Pokemon Legends: Arceus’ trailer shows off an all-new battle system

The Pokémon Company (TPC) held its latest Pokémon Presents event on Wednesday, in which it revealed more details about its upcoming games. Pokémon Legends: Arceus got much of the focus. It’s a brand-new open-world adventure set in the Hisui region (later known as Sinnoh), and it takes place long before the events of Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.

Since this is a different spin on the Pokémon formula, developer Game Freak has revamped the battle system, taking a similar approach to . Battles are still turn-based, but rather than Pokémon each taking a turn, their respective stats and other facets such as items dictate the order of actions and how many each creature gets to take.

Pokémon might take multiple turns in a row, so you might take the opportunity to dish out multiple attacks on the spin or take time to heal up in between. Each of your Pokémon’s four moves has two styles: agile style and strong style. The former speeds up your action speed and might bump up your next turn in the queue, but the move will be weaker than unusual. You can unleash a more powerful attack if you opt for strong style, though you might need to wait longer to act again. It’s clear you’ll need to rethink your battle strategies to be successful here.

Not only can you sneak up on wild Pokémon through tall grass to hurl a wooden Poké Ball at them, you can use smoke bombs to conceal yourself. Wild Pokémon also might attack before you deploy a Pokémon of your own. Battles will start right away rather than moving to a battle-specific screen.

Elsewhere, the trailer featured another look at the game’s gorgeous visuals and other gameplay. It has expansive vistas that feel a bit reminiscent of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. You’ll be able to ride certain Pokémon on land, as well as in the water or sky.

The aim of the game is to create the region’s first-ever Pokédex, and you’ll need to carry out research tasks to learn more about each Pokémon. There are base camps dotted around Hisui, where you can craft items and restore the health of your Pokémon. Pokémon Legends: Arceus arrives on Nintendo Switch on January 28th.

Meanwhile, Pokémon Unite is scheduled to hit iOS and Android on September 22nd. The free-to-play MOBA landed on Switch in July. If at least 2.5 million players pre-register, they’ll all be able to use Pikachu in battle. TPC also noted that is being reworked as Pokémon Café Remix with updated gameplay and more Pokémon. The new version will arrive this fall.