There really was something special and different about this game. I don't know if it was just the fact that we've been force-fed the same shit for 25 years and so Legends: Arceus felt like a breath of fresh air for once, or if it was simply my nostalgia for Sinnoh and the excitement of seeing it realised in a new fully 3D form, but it truly felt like the first Pokémon game to have even an ounce of heart and soul, even love, put into it since arguably Gold & Silver.

Aside from just >muh sovl, the game was technically up-to-date. They blended the turn-based system we've been comfortable with all these years with the more faster-paced mechanics impressively well. Battles were actually fun for once, and the "Styles" gimmick was interesting without feeling too centralising, and it actually made battles deeper instead of just adding mechanics on top of the regular battle system. Movement felt great, yet not out-of-place for a Pokémon game. Wild Pokémon actually posed a threat, and could harm the player, and every Pokémon had their own personality, making it fun to just go out and observe them. The new models were a perfect mix of the older cartoon-y style and the newer updated style with texturing and normal maps. Catching Pokémon outside of battle was such an amazing feature, and it actually made you WANT to just catch Pokémon. I love how you can approach it in any way you want, by throwing berries to distract, using smoke bombs, or you can even do it the old fashioned way if you really want to. By the way, the way they balanced the new catching system with the older one by making it so overworld catching doesn't work on aggro-d Pokémon was genius, because it makes it so overworld catching isn't too over-powered. Hell, even the art style was pretty nice. The fact that all of these improvements were rolled back for Scarlet/Violet is an insult.

Oh, and the soundtrack.

https://youtu.be/zDs-8W-q5TQ
https://youtu.be/LhtSPsFp0ZI
https://youtu.be/LE30s3d7W-w