Leaks Show Pokémon Tried Out More Action-Style Combat in Legends Arceus
More Pokémon leaks have exposed beta builds for Pokémon Scarlet, Violet, and Legends: Arceus. And, while most of the information isn’t groundbreaking, it does appear that Game Freak was planning for Legends: Arceus to feature completely different combat at one point.
In footage shared by multiple sources following a beta build of Pokémon Legends; Arceus leaking, someone was able to get it working and showcase what appears to be a real-time combat system that was being tested at one point.
Even through the unpolished lenses the beta leak has given us, it looks like Game Freak was experimenting with combat that would take the Pokémon Legends titles in a direction closer to Xenoblade Chronicles or the Final Fantasy 7 Remake entries.
The limited gameplay shown features very little battling, but we do get to see a Zoaroark taking on a Luxray using what appears to be a cut real-time battle system. This includes the player standing back and watching without a smaller input menu as the Dakr-type attacks on its own before opening another menu that allows them to select a move–that looks like Night Slash—the Zoaroark immediately uses.
Pokémon Legends Arceus originally was going to radically change the Pokémon combat system.
— (Not) Centro Leaks (@CentroLeaks_alt) October 28, 2024
Pokémon auto-battle by default, you can press the button at any time to give a manual command to your Pokémon.
Full gameplay:https://t.co/wm4AppKDMc pic.twitter.com/6RxABkwNQi
While Legends: Arceus did use a new battle system, implementing the Agile and Strong Style modifiers along with changes to existing mechanics, it still stuck to the franchise’s classic turn-based roots. This leaked look shows that even further experimentation to make a more active take on combat was in the works at some point—even if it may have been scrapped early on.
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Since we don’t know when the decision to pull back on an active battle approach was made, it is unclear how far along Game Freak was into fine-tuning those mechanics. Due to that uncertainty, and the fact Legends: Arceus sold over 14 million units as of March 31, it is unlikely Legends: Z-A will pivot heavily from the existing formula.
At the very least, this build may explain why you are able to run around during a battle even though combat is still turn-based and where the ability to run away from wild battles by getting a set distance away still works. We may have already seen what this real-time approach turned into, as the Let’s Go! mechanic in Scarlet and Violet looks similar–even if it serves a different function.
In SV, you can send out the lead Pokémon of your party using Let’s Go! and it will actively go and auto battle nearby wild Pokémon in the overworld until it can’t fight anymore. You have very limited command over that Pokémon, with the ability to command it forward or recall it back to its Poké Ball.
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Maybe we will see some iteration of that Let’s Go! mechanic or a revamped battle system appear in Legends: Z-A, especially if the game does take place in modern times or the future. For now, however, this leak is just an interesting look at an early build of Legends: Arceus and what Game Freak could have been testing.
