Fans looking forward to Pokemon Legends: Arceus, which is set to launch early next year, may be disappointed to find out that the game may not be as open-world ala Breath of the Wild as initially thought.

This comes by way of Kotaku, as they report that the game isn’t an open-world game. The Pokemon Company has responded with a statement indeed confirming its structure:

In Pokémon Legends: Arceus, Jubilife Village will serve as the base for surveying missions. After receiving an assignment or a request and preparing for their next excursion, players will set out from the village to study one of the various open areas of the Hisui region. After they finish the survey work, players will need to return once more to prepare for their next task. We look forward to sharing more information about exploring the Hisui region soon.

The Pokemon Company via Kotaku

Serebii.net’s Joe Merrick also pointed out that because of the map, it was indeed looking to have a more segmented map ala Monster Hunter and Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

The flow of Monster Hunter makes it so that after every “hunt”, the player goes back to the hub and prepares for another round while preparing items and loadout.

The Pokemon Company will reveal more information about the game in the coming weeks and months, so it would be interesting to see what else we can learn.

Pokemon Legends Arceus is scheduled for January 28, 2022, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.