More often than not, Pokemon games take place in a pseudo-modern era that dances between the familiar and the timeless. It's a design that helps keep the older Pokemon games relevant and stops the newer releases from feeling dated. It's unspecific, recognisable, and relatable.
Pokemon Legends Arceus isn't like that at all, though. Pokemon Legends Arceus is set definitively in the past and we're going to explore Pokemon's history like never before.
If you're wondering when this game actually takes place, we've got everything you need to know. You're not alone, it can be a little confusing to work out when Pokemon Legends Arceus is supposed to fit in the Pokemon timeline.
When does Pokemon Legends Arceus take place?
Game Freak's new Pokemon title is going to be a new experience in more ways than one - we're getting new gameplay experiences and a number of mechanical changes and new features, however, we're also getting a new era of Pokemon history.
Pokemon Legends Arceus is the first Pokemon title to take us definitively back in time and we can't wait to explore this never-before-seen era of the Pokemon world.
At the moment, we know that Pokemon Legends Arceus takes place in an era with architecture and fashion that loosely resembles that of feudal-era Japan. However, there's no information that offers an actual number - and a specific amount of time - relating to how far back we're actually going. It's far enough back in time that the region itself - which is actually the Sinnoh Region - is being called the Hisuian Region.
In addition to this, the harmonious relationship between Humans and Pokemon that we often see in Pokemon titles seems near non-existent in Pokemon Legends Arceus. From what we can tell, Humans live in settlements and Pokemon are left free to roam the wilderness. One of your main tasks while playing Pokemon Legends Arceus is going to be filling out the region's first Pokedex, too. So, it's safe to say that this is going to be quite some time before the events of any of the main Pokemon titles we've seen so far.
We're not sure how much more we're going to learn before Pokemon Legends Arceus launches on January 28th, but we're hoping that we'll learn why this era of Pokemon history is important when the game launches and the answer to this question will become a little clearer.