Developer diaries #3 - February 2022

Entry 3


This month is placed under the sign of Pokémon Legends Arceus. Discovering an official game that takes place in a medieval (or rather pre-industrial, we’re talking about the 19th century in Japan) period is both a curiosity and a fear for me.
• A curiosity, because it allows me to discover the interpretation of the past of the Pokémon universe according to Game Freak.
• A fear, because discovering for the first time an official past of the Pokémon world may conflict with the Lore of Keltios written in 2018 and which is mainly based on the 6G and 7G. This is a fear that is renewed with each new generation.
Let’s not delay and discover this game together.


A platinized game

Being a completionist, it was expected that I would spend dozens of hours on the game. It did not fail, I spent 140 hours in total (124 hours on the save) with an average of 6 hours / day ... this of course at the expense of the development of Sacred Phoenix.

To be sure not to be penalized by the absence of Nintendo’s paid online, I played it on emulator (even if I bought my cartridge).
Living my Arceus adventure on Ryujinx allowed me to cheat slightly with PKHeX and thus save myself several hours of farm (I estimate I gained 15 hours of pure grind on my 140 total hours), but without affecting the core of the game to have the feeling of having finished the game legitimately. For example, I refrained from giving my unlimited supply of Rare Candies to the Pokémons of my main party: they were only used to evolve other creatures not used in the adventure and thus help me to complete the Pokédex (because it requires very repetitive actions like getting the same Pokémon 15 times!)

After almost 4 weeks in no-life mode, I finally captured Arceus and got the Shiny Charm. These are the ultimate rewards of a 100% completed game. The freedom offered by the emulator allowed me to enjoy the game much more than Brilliant Diamond, which was played on the Nintendo console (with its restrictions and updates to supposedly “offer a more pleasant gameplay”, according to the official changelog).


Pokémon from Galar and Pokémon Legends Arceus

Sacred Phoenix was supposed to stop at the bestiary and mechanics of the Gen 7. But every time a new Pokémon is revealed, there are a lot of new favorites. Last minute additions are hard to resist!


Additions from Galar

Among the favorites of Gen 8 are the lineages of Corviknight, Grimmsnarl, Hatterene, Centiskorch, Obstagoon, Runerigus, Sirfetch’d, Perrserker, Cursola, Galarian Rapidash, Frosmoth and Dragapult. More than 20 magical creatures were added at the last minute and will become part of the Keltios bestiary.
Some of these additions are justified by Fakemons already planned in my game or by Galar’s lore.
– Corviknight is a favorite (then it’s an Over Used).
– Ditto for Centiskorch (+ very rare double-type)
– A regional Unicorn-inspired form was already planned for Ponyta / Rapidash. Seeing it become official saves me the creation of a Fakemon.
– Grimmsnarl and Hatterene personify the goblin and the witch.
– Perrserker and Runerigus are references to Vikings.
– Cursola retranscribes the death of Corsola (like Alolan Marowak).
– Sirfetch’d is a reference to Farfetch’d, one of the weakest Pokémon in existence.
– Frosmoth and Obstagoon are unique double-types.
– Dragapult is the reincarnation for fallen dragons.

Additions from Hisui

Legends Arceus is no exception to the rule and will see the addition of Wyrdeer, Basculegion, Ursaluna, Braviary, Kleavor, Zoroark, Goodra and possibly Avalugg.
– Wyrdeer was my first favorite. Moreover, I had already planned to give Stantler an evolution to compensate its weakness.
– Basculegion and Zoroark offer a unique reincarnation for their non-spectral counterparts. The two forms of Zoroark will coexist in Keltios.
– Kleavor is a more logical evolution than Scizor for an ancient era. (This does not prevent the two forms from cohabiting).
– Ursaluna has an interesting dual type, introduces the phases of the moon (Werebear) and offers a new evolution to Ursaring which is a weak Pokémon.
– Not liking Duraludon, Goodra will offer a unique dual type to Keltios. (Initially, I wanted to give it the double type Dragon-Water while keeping the original form).
– Hisui’s Braviary is beautiful, and it would allow me to reintegrate Mandibuzz (initially present in the Pokédex, then dexited since Braviary was absent whereas it is its male equivalent).
– Avalugg was already present in the Pokédex, but Hisui’s form is more interesting because of its double type.

On the one hand, it relieves me of some potential Fakemons to create from scratch... but on the other hand, it’s new Pokémons to integrate manually in the database (without forgetting their sprites that have to be created from scratch!).

Bonus: The Sinnoh outfit worn by the real villain of the game, a reward that can only be obtained when he has been defeated, gives me ideas for the Arceus clergy.


The Legacy of Pokémon Arceus Legends

Parallel Lores

This game brings a new vision to the Pokémon world. In terms of customs, there is a significant divergence from Keltios. However, this should not conflict with the Lore, as Keltios and Hisui remain very separate in space and time.
– Hisui: 150 years before Red (approximately). Keltios: 2500 years before Red.
– Hisui corresponds to ancient Sinnoh, located in the far east of the Pokémon world. Keltios is located on the other side of the planet, because it is close to Kalos. (And in those remote times, it was very difficult to travel far).
So, I can serenely consider that Arceus could have offered his blessing to Keltios and that Pokéballs existed there locally in that distant past.

The battle stances

In terms of game mechanics, I found (with a smile on the edge of my lips) the stances’ mechanics planned from 2018 on Sacred Phoenix. These are the battle styles. Of course, we each had our interpretation:
– Game Freak’s is tailored to a turn-based ATB and has only three styles - Normal, Strong and Agile.
– Sacred Phoenix has six stances (Normal, Aggressive, Defensive, Aimed, Fast, and Mitigated) and they are adapted to a classic turn-based game.
The common points are that it plays on the offensive power, the accuracy, the order of action and the energy consumption of attacks.
Seeing an equivalent in an official game allowed me to experience the potential of this feature, and it’s promising. (This is one of the things I liked most about Legends Arceus).

Moves management

There is also the possibility to change the moveset from the menu. I prefer to stick to the middle ground found in Galar with Jack offering his services for free in each Pokémon Center. In Keltios, a Bard will fill this role: there will be one in each inn. In addition, the moveset will be increased to 6 attacks, making it less vital to have permanent access to a Move Reminder.

Modification of stats in combat

Finally, I saw that the stats have only 3 stages (from -1 to +1) instead of 13 (from -6 to +6). This is an interesting thing in the sense that it prohibits a setup up to +6, followed by a sweep that is very hard to stop. I’m thinking of splitting the difference by limiting the stages from -4 to +4. This allows for a decent placement but without abuse (hello evasion at +6), while nerfing some effects like Stored Power or stats theft.

What I don’t want to see

On the other hand, I won’t apply the changes made on the statuses:
– Frost (or rather, frostbite) is a clone of burn, then Sacred Phoenix has already completely rebalanced it.
– Sleep is even more haxed with a 1 in 2 chance of being blocked, plus a defense penalty (cumulative with other debuffs). In addition, Sacred Phoenix has also rebalanced it.
– The duration of the statuses can be stacked (A fight against the rival’s Pikachu traumatized me).

And regarding the simplifications inherited from Pokémon Let’s Go, it’s not even in my dreams! Held items and abilities are part of the core strategy and should be kept! As for the capture in map without fighting (and thus without weakening), it’s as if a wild creature was going to let itself be captured very obediently by a trainer it doesn’t even know ... Unthinkable for me!


This month’s goals

Now that Legends Arceus is finished and allowed me to think about some game design adjustments and the addition of some creatures, the work must be picked up where it left off. So, the objectives are the same as in January.