Pokémon Legends: Arceus is a terrific game, I think that much is undeniable. Even with its…more than glaring issues, it continues to be a game that many have enjoyed greatly, even long after completing all the main story and side missions. Thankfully, for those that felt like those missions weren’t enough, we’ve been blessed with the free 1.1.0 update, also known as “Daybreak.”
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the contents of the update since it was released on February 27th (as I’ve talked about in a recent post where I whined about pastures), so I thought it’d be nice to go over it’s major contents in a review manner after all this time. It’s a free update to the game, in case you forgot what I just said, so I won’t be giving it a number score for it or anything, since there’s nothing for you to lose from experiencing it but your time. Even then, I think your time is ultimately well spent on experiencing what this update has to offer. So, let’s get into it.
Massive Mass Outbreaks
The star of this update is definitely the new mechanic, massive mass outbreaks. Get ready to hear those words a lot. This mechanic works similarly to the regular mass outbreaks, where Ress will tell you about them upon your leaving the village. However, massive mass outbreaks allow multiple mass outbreaks of Pokémon to spawn in a region, including some that aren’t native to the region they’re in, such as a Zorua mass outbreak in the Obsidian Fieldlands. As you can see in the picture above, you can also find mass outbreaks of alpha Pokémon this way.
This mechanic not only makes filling out and perfecting Pokédex entries easier, but it also makes shiny hunting more engaging and interesting than the previous method of farming the same mass outbreak. My favorite thing about this massive mass outbreaks though, is how it simultaneously introduces a new character to the game: Mai and her Munchlax. This character assists you in researching the outbreaks by helping you see which Pokémon show up in each of them through her Munchlax, as you can’t initially see which Pokémon are in them at first.
Nah, seriously though, she’s actually one of the first characters you meet in the original game. However, since the game has you travel to different places and meet new people throughout your journey, Mai was a character that unfortunately got left behind and forgotten as time went on. Even other earlier characters like Lian, Arezu and Calaba had a purpose later on at some point. So I really appreciate GameFreak for giving Mai proper time to shine in the update, especially alongside this new mechanic.
Another cool thing about massive mass outbreaks is that the odds of finding a shiny in them are lower than that of regular mass outbreaks. So while you could potentially find more shinies in massive mass outbreaks, the odds of finding a shiny Pokemon in a regular mass outbreak are better. I was worried that this would completely invalidate regular mass outbreaks at first, but it seems GameFreak thought of that. Good on them, really.
Sadly, they thought of too much. Remember that previous shiny hunting method I mentioned? Where you could farm a mass outbreak for a shiny? That doesn’t work anymore, since outbreaks will always be different upon returning to the village as of this update. It seems like they patched it out. It’s honestly a good thing since it was so easy to find a shiny Pokémon this way, especially when the odds can be so high already. But I still wished they kept it anyway. It’s not one I’d use, and I still think the method we have now is more fun, but I know others loved it. So for them, that’s a bummer.
Ok, let’s end it off on a good note. You’re meant to be investigating the massive mass outbreaks throughout a series of side quests, and you piece together some things. However, the only thing you really learn is that the massive mass outbreaks are tied to rain and other Pokémon foreign to the regions can show up in them. So many other people put effort into helping research the outbreak as well, but you don’t really find anything out. And I like that.
I like that the answers to the questions about the phenomenon are left ambiguous. I also like that they more or less settle on it being a “gift” from almighty Sinnoh for befriending Pokémon. While it was seen as something fearful at first, the characters get to talk about how fun it was researching the lands again, as well as what kind of future the Hisui region could have. Real answers would’ve been nice, but I feel that we probably wouldn’t have gotten the same wholesome ending if we did find answers to everything. That’s just a hunch though.
That’s it for massive mass outbreaks. Let’s move on to the other things. There’s not as much to say about them as there was for massive mass outbreaks though, but they’re still worth talking about in their own right.
Eternal Battle Reverie
I still wish that you could fight Origin Dialga and Palkia together in a battle with the balms. But what we got instead is fine too. The Eternal Battle Reverie is a limitless battle gauntlet where Arceus pits you against other Pokémon from a selection of three as you go along. You earn points dependent on how difficult the battle is and the points can go towards various buffs and effects you can apply to your Pokémon or the opposing Pokémon. You also get rewards depending on how far you get when you’re done.
It’s a fun little mode to experience, kinda similar to Battle Maison or Battle Tower. I guess that was what they were trying to go for, and I respect it because it’s not only fun, but pretty rewarding as well.
Training Grounds
The training Grounds got a significant upgrade as well; on top of giving the player a few more trainers to request battles with from Ingo (including an even stronger battle with Ingo himself), you also get two new battle modes as well; the Path of Tenacity and the Path of Solitude.
The Path of Tenacity makes you battle against members of the Galaxy Expedition Team, Diamond Clan, or Pearl Clan in quick succession. It’s cool, but there’s nothing more to it than that, which is disappointing. There’s so much more that could’ve been done with it using the same concept of battling one after another, especially since there’s so many characters and relationships between them to discover.
The Path of Solitude, however, is a completionist’s nightmare, and I mean that in a good way. By walking the Path of Solitude, you need to have one Pokémon alone in your party to battle a Pokémon of Ingo’s choosing. The battle varies with each Pokémon you choose for the battle mode as well, which is so cool; for example, doing it with a Silcoon will have you battle against a Staraptor that only uses Quick Attack. Winning the battle will not only reward you with Exp. Candies, but it will also give the Pokémon a special Path of Solitude mark in its respective Pokédex entry. So if you want to 100% the game, you’d need to conquer the Path of Solitude with all 242 Pokémon. You also get a bunch of side missions that reward you even more for beating it with specific Pokémon like Eevee, Magikarp or Wormadam.
The Path of Solitude is very nice, and it gives players much more to do. However, there’s something we have yet to talk about that tops even that.
You Get To Battle Ress
Zisu sets you up to battle the Galaxy Expedition Team’s “secret weapon,” which happens to be the guard of the gates, Ress. What made this battle fun is the fact that he uses the first three Pokémon you were tasked with catching at the beginning of the game (Bidoof, Starly and Shinx), and they’re actually really strong??
Ress is such a simple but cool character, always giving important information and wishing you the best upon your leaving the village for expeditions. It’s not anything grand, but many players (myself included) have grown fond of him for this throughout playing the game. It’s really sweet that GameFreak recognized this and gave you the chance to share a battle with him. It’s even better that he takes the loss so well too.
And that’s it. There’s another thing that may or may not have been a part of the update, but I’d like players to find that out for themselves. It’s nothing big, but it’s still really sweet and something GameFreak didn’t need to do, but it was cool that they did anyway. But besides that, that’s it for the Daybreak update.
What do you think of it? Have you been enjoying it? Is there anything you don’t like about it? What do you hope will be added in a future update? I’ve already talked about my answer to that last question, but I’d like to hear yours and more.