How long does it take to beat Pokemon Legends: Arceus?

Beating Pokemon Legends: Arceus will be quite the undertaking for gamers.

This new title does things entirely differently than other games in the franchise. No longer are eight Gym badges needed to beat the game. Instead, trainers will need to complete the Pokedex, which will take much longer in this game.

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New Pokemon title takes quite a while to beat

Since it isn’t as linear as previous titles, and trainers are somewhat free to do what they want, everyone will beat the game at their own pace. Therefore, they will have relatively different gameplay times.

Beating the main story and getting the credits to roll will roughly take 20 hours. That’s for a playthrough where trainers focus on just getting the essentials done and don’t worry about side quests or the like.

Technically, beating the main story doesn’t require filling up the Pokedex completely. All trainers need to do is calm the five Noble Pokemon to unlock the initial endgame.

To do this, players can skip many areas in the Hisui region. Once they arrive in each new location, all they need to do is acquire the new ride Pokemon, calm the noble, and afterward, they can be on their way.

Trainers need to ride Pokemon to travel the world quicker (Image via Game Freak)

While trainers won’t need to fill up their Pokedexes completely, though, they will have to fill them up a good amount. Each trainer has a Research Rank based on how much of the Pokedex they have filled out.

To advance to each new area, trainers will need to gain one Research Rank. If they go to a place and calm a Noble but don’t have the Research Rank required to advance, they will then have to backtrack and work on their Pokedex for a while.

This means that trainers should be catching and battling Pokemon as they go along to play efficiently. If they can work on their research as they search these new areas, they should be able to head straight through the endgame without any backtracking.

Granted, most people won’t play this way. It’s really easy to get lost in the Hisui region. On top of that, there is plenty to do in the post-game. However, a trainer who is only concerned with the main game can aim to finish in around 20 hours if they pace themselves with their research.