Pokemon Legends: Z-A - A Fresh Evolution While Staying Faithful to Its Origins

I don't recall precisely when the custom started, but I always name all my Pokemon characters Malfunction.

Be it a core franchise title or a side project like Pokkén Tournament DX along with Pokémon Go — the name never changes. Glitch switches between male and female characters, featuring black and purple hair. Sometimes their fashion is impeccable, as seen in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, the newest installment in this long-running franchise (and one of the most style-conscious releases). At other moments they're limited to the various school uniform styles of Pokémon Scarlet & Violet. Yet they remain Malfunction.

The Constantly Changing World of Pokemon Titles

Similar to my characters, the Pokemon titles have transformed across releases, with certain cosmetic, others significant. However at their core, they stay identical; they're consistently Pokemon to the core. The developers discovered a nearly perfect gameplay formula some 30 years ago, and just recently truly attempted to innovate upon it with entries such as Pokémon Legends: Arceus (new era, your character is now in danger). Throughout every iteration, the fundamental mechanics cycle of catching and fighting alongside charming creatures has stayed consistent for almost the same duration as I've been alive.

Breaking Conventions in Pokémon Legends: Z-A

Similar to Arceus previously, featuring lack of arenas and focus on creating a creature catalog, Pokémon Legends: Z-A brings several deviations into that framework. It takes place entirely in a single location, the French capital-inspired Lumiose City of Pokémon X & Y, abandoning the region-spanning journeys of previous games. Pokémon are meant to live together alongside people, battlers and non-trainers alike, in manners we have merely seen glimpses of before.

Far more drastic is Z-A's real-time combat mechanics. This is where the franchise's almost ideal gameplay loop experiences its biggest evolution yet, swapping methodical sequential fights with more frenetic action. And it's thoroughly enjoyable, despite I feel ready for another turn-based entry. Although these changes to the traditional Pokemon recipe seem like they form a completely new experience, Pokémon Legends: Z-A feels as recognizable as any other Pokemon game.

The Heart of the Journey: The Z-A Championship

When initially reaching at Lumiose Metropolis, any intentions your custom avatar planned as a visitor get abandoned; you're promptly enlisted by Taunie (if playing as a male character; Urbain if female) to join their squad of battlers. You're gifted a creature from them as your starter and you're dispatched to participate in the Z-A Royale.

The Championship is the epicenter of Pokémon Legends: Z-A. It's similar to the classic "arena symbols to final challenge" advancement of past games. However here, you fight several opponents to gain the opportunity to compete in an advancement bout. Succeed and you will be promoted to a higher tier, with the final objective of reaching rank A.

Real-Time Combat: A New Frontier

Trainer battles occur during nighttime, while sneaking around the designated combat areas is quite entertaining. I'm constantly attempting to get a jump on a rival and launch an unopposed move, since everything happens instantaneously. Moves function with cooldown timers, meaning both combatants may occasionally attack each other concurrently (and knock each other out simultaneously). It's much to get used to at first. Even after gaming for almost 30 hours, I still feel like there's much to master regarding using my Pokémon's moves in methods that complement each other. Positioning also plays a major role in battles as your Pokémon will follow you around or move to designated spots to execute moves (certain ones are distant, while others must be up close and personal).

The real-time action causes fights progress so quickly that I find myself sometimes cycling through moves in the same order, despite this amounts to a suboptimal strategy. There's no time to pause during Z-A, and plenty of opportunities to become swamped. Creature fights rely on feedback after using an attack, and that information is still present on screen within Z-A, but whips by rapidly. Occasionally, you cannot process it since diverting attention from your opponent will spell immediate defeat.

Navigating Lumiose City

Outside of battle, you'll explore Lumiose City. It's relatively small, although densely packed. Far into the adventure, I'm still discovering unseen stores and rooftops to explore. It's also rich with character, and perfectly captures the concept of creatures and humans coexisting. Pidgey inhabit its pathways, flying away as you approach similar to actual pigeons getting in my way when walking in New York City. The Pan Trio monkeys gleefully hang on streetlights, and insect creatures like Kakuna cling to trees.

A focus on city living is a new direction for the franchise, and a welcome one. Nonetheless, exploring Lumiose becomes rote eventually. You may stumble upon an alley you never visited, but it feels identical. The architecture is devoid of personality, and most rooftops and underground routes provide minimal diversity. Although I never visited Paris, the model behind Lumiose, I've lived in NYC for nearly a decade. It's a city where every district differs, and all are vibrant with differences that provide character. Lumiose Metropolis doesn't have that. It features beige structures with blue or red roofs and flatly rendered terraces.

Where The Metropolis Really Excels

In which the city really shines, oddly enough, is indoors. I adored how Pokémon battles in Sword and Shield occur in football-like stadiums, providing them genuine significance and meaning. Conversely, fights within Scarlet and Violet take place in a field with two random people watching. It's very disappointing. Z-A strikes a middle ground between both extremes. You'll battle in eateries with patrons watching while they eat. An elite combat club will extend an invitation to a tournament, and you will combat on its penthouse court under a lighting fixture (not the Pokemon) suspended overhead. My favorite location is the elegantly decorated base of a certain faction with atmospheric illumination and purple partitions. Several distinct combat settings brim with character that's absent from the larger city as a whole.

The Familiarity of Repetition

Throughout the Championship, as well as quelling rogue Mega Evolved Pokémon and completing the creature index, there's an inescapable sense that, {"I