Let's Play Legends Arceus, Part 19: The Other Almighty Sinnoh

Yep, last chapter was a bit long. I did play through basically everything from Beni all the way to the credits part of the game in one huge sitting, but it took time to process the whole story and put it into text form. But the story brings us to Primeval Grotto, and Irida identifies the place as the location where the world itself was originally created in. So it's... Tohjo Falls? That Gen IV event area where Arceus makes an egg for you and shows trippy real-world sights? 

And in the middle of Lian's conversation about the creation of the world... the Miss Fortune Sisters show up. Adaman's line -- "we don't have time to waste"... really is appropriate here. It's really kind of jarring to go from fighting dragon-gods to a bunch of comedic bandits. I mean, I guess they wanted it to be a bit of a comedy routine before we go straight to more dramatic stuff? Because these ladies want to steal some expensive ore?

At least we get some resolution? Kind of? Adaman and Irida both confront their own respective runaways. Clover's just a brat, while Coin hates goody-two-shoes acts. We have a 3-v-3... which isn't actually a 3-v-3 battle. I just get to fight Charm again, and sure, her Pokemon is a bit higher-leveled, but all she has are still her Rhydon and her Gengar. Who I promptly demolish with my newly-caught GOD OF SPACE.

Anyway, after that, Adaman gives Clover a chance to rejoin the Diamond Clan, noting how times are a-changing. But the Miss Fortune Sisters just talk about how maybe I can do something about the creepy sky, before they smoke-bomb away. 

Irida tries to handwave this as maybe the Miss Fortune Sisters being worried about us and wanting to help. Yeah, wanting to help is... helping to mine the Origin Ore. Not siccing a drill dinosaur and a shadow grin-ghost on me. 

While all this is going on, Lian is able to extract the Origin Ore, which is what our heroes have dubbed this particular plot device. It's... it's honestly a bit underwhelming and kind of feels like it comes out of nowhere. I don't know. I guess it could've been more dramatic than us just fighting some bandits and then the ore is just something Lian gave to us after an offscreen mining session with his Sliggoo?

At least this Primeval Grotto place is cool -- there's the time-bleached bones of a Rampardos and a Bastiodon in the corner. 

Anyway, we return to the Team Galactic building where Professor Laventon gets super-impressed about the Origin Ore. Adaman, off-screen, gathered the remaining pieces of the Red Chain scattered during the Palkia fight. And it's Akari that uses her crafting skills to create the 'vessel of humankind'. A Poke Ball. Of course. Or rather, it's a Red Chains crystal encrusted ball, the Origin Ball. Nice to see Akari have something to do, although if I'm being honest all this talk about the plot devices we need is kind of... boring? Especially since unlike the Lake Guardians segment, there really isn't much for us to do but kind of wait? The Adaman/Irida dialogue is pretty cute, I guess. They're also slowly getting more and more accepting not of each other, but also of technology like the Poke Ball. 

Irida tells us that Palkia is willing to lend its strength to win this battle... I mean, Palkia better be, I just used it to channel the power of the manipulation of space to break Charm's Gengar. 

Cogita also shows up and she has some choice words to say, telling us to face our fate. She talks about how time and space cannot be severed from each other, and gives us some information about the identity of Dialga, Ruler of All Time, and impresses on us that if Dialga runs amuck, the reality of Hisui itself will be broken when time is 'twisted'. She tells me to balance space-time with the power of Palkia, Ruler of All Space... before she goes off to go shopping. Because she can't bloody well shop if the world is ended. Great priorities, that Cogita. 

As we go up the mountain to face off against Dialga once more, we stumble upon Volo, who acts as the Final Fantasy style final merchant near the final boss, because he wants some front-row seats to the fight between myths and legends. Okay, Volo, it's your funeral. He talks about how my Pokemon is powerful enough to deal with the crisis... are you jealous, Volo? I don't know. He kind of rubs me the wrong way. 

Kamado has some choice words to say, talking about how his principle has been eliminating outside elements and threats... yeah, back that up when you have the God of Space in your pocket, Kamado. Eat shit. Irida and Adaman, meanwhile, have much more supportive things to say. Irida says that in all the vast space, our 'place' has found us, and that there are stages where we can shine brightest. 

And then we confront Dialga, Ruler of Time. There's a cool bit where it starts shooting yellow beams everywhere as Adaman and Irida dodge from it, and, as expected, the huge explosion of golden energy fucking blows up the Temple of Sinnoh in an on-screen cutscene. Surprising, considering how so many actions have been shown via dark screens! There's a cool shot of Palkia appearing out of his Ultra Ball and tanking the shot that would've otherwise killed the humans, with a battle-ready kung-fu pose as lightning sparkles all over him. 

And then Dialga gets covered with a bright yellow energy sphere, Palkia counters with a purple beam... and then Dialga transforms into... ORIGIN FORME DIALGA.

Okay, so this is the context behind the Origin Forme. Again, I assume Dialga and Palkia would've switched places if I hung out with Adaman. And... it looked better in motion, I guess, mostly because I realize that chest-piece is three-pronged instead of Dialga choking on an asthma inhaler. And... I still get what they're going for. That this thing is Dialga trying to cosplay as Arceus, with the giant Arceus body-ring, and the elongated head... oh, I suppose his big-ass monster-fork front arms are memorable if nothing else. I still find it kinda dumb. 

And then... Dark Souls style boss fight! We've had regular trainer battle after regular trainer battle that it's actually a bit surprising for me for this to be the final fight. I just chuck Time Balms at Origin Dialga while it summons Draco Meteors on me, and... I don't know. It feels kind of mundane? And a lot less difficult than the chaotic Avalugg and Electrode fights. I kinda almost expected Origin Dialga to actually use time and rewind his time to heal his health or something, but... but the balm sequence is surprisingly fast. 

Origin Dialga stumbles, and I lob the Origin Ball which glows with red light. The capturing animation creates a goddamn gigantic anime glowing ball of red light, which dissipates the scary red light in the sky... and there you go. Crisis averted, and the space-time rift is closed. 

Also, I got the God of Time in my pocket now!

Irida and Adaman are happy, Akari and Laventon are happy, and Kamado cries or some shit but I really don't have much sympathy left for the guy. Of course, Kamado has to steal center stage, talking about how 'we' faced a calamity unlike any 'we' have known, and that 'we' have overcame it by 'working together'. Bull. Shit. Kamado. I worked together with Irida and Adaman and Volo and Cogita and Laventon and Akari and Cyllene and Lian. You did jack diddly squat! Even when you're supposedly on our side again and had your huge moment of clarity, did you do anything to help assemble the Origin Ball. Shit, even Melli contributed more by providing support and letting us crash in the camp next to the Electrode store. No, Kamado, you don't get to grandstand and yell and act as if you're part of this effort. 'Working as one' my ass.

Kamado, of course, tries to distract us from his uselessness and his warmongering by wanting a festival. Which I suppose is fair enough, since this is a moment when the three factions can put aside their differences. Irida and Adaman note that their fight for whose Almighty Sinnoh is the real Almighty Sinnoh is now pointless, and the two clans can now work together well. Neat little nod to that particular plot point which was very omniprescent in the earlier parts of Legends Arceus. 

Bit of a shame that in a game titled after Arceus, most of the story revolves around Dialga and Palkia. In fact, we didn't really get to see Arceus at all, right? 

...and... 

That's the end of the game. 

Our heroes walk down the temple, the credits roll... but before that, my arc-phone beeps, and Arceus tells me to 'seek out all Pokemon'.

Postgame, then. I'll see Arceus in the postgame. That's a bit weird, but okay.

Yep. The credits roll, but I know that even without the free DLC story, there's a fair bit more to go through. But that was a pretty cool climax! Pretty fun sequence, and some pretty great cutscenes there. I'll probably post a bit more sparsely (not that this series has been regular) as I won't really have too much time to play games in the near future, but I do plan to at least get to the post-game and meet Arceus himself even if I'm not gunning for a 100% completion. This has been a blast of a game, and I really do think that it's ranked pretty fucking high on all my Pokemon game list. Great story, a surprisingly neat supporting cast, and one of the games that balances a large cast of legendaries pretty well. 

I'll be taking a brief while to update the 'Gotta Review 'Em All' segments to accommodate for Legends: Arceus, before I jump straight into the post-game!