Pokemon Legends Arceus is set to release this month. Even with the release date being so close, there are still people asking if the game will be delayed. This mostly stems from fans noticing unfinished or unpolished gameplay showcased in trailers. Fans in the past have said they wanted Sword & Shield and the Diamond & Pearl remakes to be delayed for similar reasons. GameFreak, The Pokemon Company, nor Nintendo ever delayed these games and they still turned out great (arguably). The only Pokemon game that has been delayed is Pokemon TCG Live. TCG Live is not only not made by GameFreak but it’s not a mainline game. Pokemon Legends Arceus is considered as a mainline game. This means it introduces new Pokemon in the franchise that also appears in other products such as the Pokemon TCG and Pokemon Go. There are multiple Pokemon TCG expansion sets that are Arceus themed and the new update for Pokemon Go is also exploring a time capsule from the past. Delaying Legends Arceus would mean all of these projects would be out of sync and that’s something a big company like this can’t afford.
Should Pokemon Legends Arceus Be Delayed?
This has been a huge controversy in the community for a while now and this is because many fans haven’t been impressed with the graphics in gameplay trailers. But it’s important to note that most criticism about the unreleased game’s graphics were from very early trailers in 2021 and a lot has changed in development since then. In the newest trailers you can clearly see a difference in lighting, foliage, and a general improvement in graphics in general. It’s still probably not the best graphics you’ll see on a Switch game but it’s arguably better than the previous Pokemon game, Sword and Shield. With this in mind, as long as GameFreak has made sure the game is complete when it launches then there’s no reason to delay the release.