As soon asPokemon Legends: Arceusreleased, it became an instant hit both critically and commercially, changing the context of gameplay in interesting new ways and crafting an experience welcoming to both newcomers and longtime fans. However, disabled players are highlighting a massive oversight in the game’s lack of accessibility options.
Pokemon Legends: Arceusis by all accounts a critical home run, with Game Freak finding its footing again after previousPokemontitles on Nintendo Switch were much more divisive. One commonality that all thePokemonSwitch titles share, however, is that their accessibility options are either lacking or completely absent.
RELATED:Pokemon Legends Arceus is Breaking Sales Records
A post by user Apricot-Autumn highlights the game not even having a menu for accessibility, and from there other users shared problems both withArceusand previous Pokemon games that make them difficult if not impossible to play.Arceusseems to suffer the worst from these issues, as its real-time gameplay outside of the turn-based battles is reliant on the player having information about the environment, some of which - like thecue for a Shiny Pokemon- is only available through a single medium. The Shiny Pokemon audio cue is an especially egregious oversight, as adding a visual or vibration cue for it would be a small change, yet it is only available in audio.
WhilePokemon Legends: Arceussuffers greatly from accessibility concerns, these problems go back further. Other players expressed frustration with the lack of control customization in thePokemon Let’s Gogames, as well as the issue of the small subtitle font size shared across many of thePokemongames. Even something as standard as a colorblind filter is missing inArceus, causing some players to miss items on the ground.
The industry at large has seen improvements in making games more accessible over the past few years, so seeingPokemon Legends: Arceuslagging so far behind even after so many years of otherPokemongames on Switch is disappointing. The Switch itself is already a difficult console for many disabled gamers due to its lack of per-game control remapping, and in a world where the Xbox Adaptive Controller exists, console manufacturers have few excuses left to keep failing in accessible design. Fans have made theAdaptive Controller work on the Switch, but an officially supported option would be ideal.
Game Freak could fix the accessibility issues infuturePokemon Legends: Arceusupdates, but it remains to be seen whether the developers will take notice of these issues. Nintendo-published games in general are well known for lacking in options for accessible gameplay, which is especially disappointing when Nintendo-published games also stand among the most unique and inventive in the modern medium.
