Antique Poke Balls and Basculegion Star in Hilarious New Pokemon Legends: Arceus Commercial

Pokemon Legends: Arceus takes players back to the early days of the Sinnoh region, where Poke Ball tech is quite new, and previously unseen Pokemon roam. A new commercial for the Nintendo Switch game highlights these elements, while also parodying Antiques Roadshow. In the commercial, a man brings in "a strange item" from his parents' attic to be appraised. The item turns out to be one of the Hisui region's Poke Balls, but neither he, nor the appraiser knows what it is. However, when the appraiser opens the ball, a Basculegion emerges. Unsurprisingly, the Pokemon smashes just about everything in sight!

The trailer can be found embedded below.

As far as video game commercials go, this might be one of the best I've personally seen in a very long time. The quirkiness and humor makes it feel reminiscent of Nintendo commercials from the '90s, in a very good way. The fact that the Basculegion that appears is just a giant plush puppet makes it all the more hilarious. At the same time, it also does a great job explaining the core concept of Pokemon Legends: Arceus, arguably in a better way than we saw in the recent (and also funny) Munchlax commercial.

As this commercial establishes, Pokemon Legends: Arceus takes place prior to every previous Pokemon game. Players take on the role of a trainer that has been mysteriously transported from the present day, to an era where Poke Balls have just been invented. The game is set in the Sinnoh region, when it was actually known as Hisui. In the game, players are introduced to a number of new Pokemon evolutions and regional variants, which may or may not be extinct in the modern era. One of these newcomers is Basculegion, the Pokemon that appears in the commercial. A new evolution of Basculin, Basculegion plays a major part in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, allowing players to travel across water.

Pokemon Legends: Arceus is available now, exclusively on Nintendo Switch. Readers can check out all of our previous coverage of the game right here.

Have you played Pokemon Legends: Arceus yet? Has the game managed to impress you? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!