>>36721668I always thought the intent of putting legends on the box was make the buyer/player go "I get to catch THAT? So cool!", and figuring out where it might be when you could find it (Lugia and Ho-oh were not difficult in that regard) should be something to drive you on in the game. As far as roles goes, I don't mind Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza because they came off as powerful agents do their own thing. They are not strictly equated to what they do. Solgaleo and Lunala kind of harken back to that.
>>36722156The Promotional card analogy is spot on.
>>36722242That is an interesting chicken and egg there. And it is entirely true that Game Freak is vague about what the more, "existential" legends actually DO, and fans fill in the blanks as they see fit. You'll find 3 players with 3 different views on Arceus that are not supported by the games themselves.