Back in 2014, I was introduced to the Kalos Region through the 3DS title “Pokémon X,” a game and locale that would cement themselves as my favorites in the franchise for a variety of reasons. Now, 11 years later, we would return to the Kalos region for a brand new adventure in the form of “Pokémon Legends: Z-A,” the long awaited “Pokémon Z” fans had been waiting for since 2014. Upon its release on October 16th, I sat myself down, and braced myself to revisit the world that 11-year-old me had loved so much.
The game takes place five years after the events of “Pokémon X” and “Pokemon Y”. Your character arrives by train in Lumiose City, one of the largest cities in the Pokémon world and based off of the real-world Paris, France. Lumiose is undergoing an urban redevelopment plan to turn the city into a place where people and Pokémon can live even more closely, constructing habitats called Wild Zones located throughout the city. However, the plan is being interrupted by a phenomenon known as “Rogue Mega Evolution,” a twist on the game’s main mechanic. Pokémon undergo Rogue Mega Evolution without the need for a Trainer, however, this results in them painfully overflowing with uncontrolled power and going berserk. You, together with your rival and the peacekeeping group known as Team MZ, must handle these Rogue Mega Pokémon, while also taking part in the city-wide Z-A Royale tournament and searching for the strongest user of Mega Evolution.
With more focus placed on the one city rather than an entire region, the design of Lumiose City is expanded and more fitting to an open-world style of gameplay. There are more places to visit, such as cafés and restaurants and shopping malls, more streets and alleyways and corners to explore, and many more people and Pokémon calling the City of Light home. Wild Zones give players places to catch Wild Pokémon, while also having them available wandering the streets and the rooftops, another layer of the city players can freely explore. Even Prism Tower, Lumiose’s central attraction and tallest structure, feels monumental and much more to scale than in previous games.
The battle system has changed drastically as well. In previous games, battles were turn-based. You’d choose to fight, select a move, watch as the turn played out, rinse and repeat. “Legends: Z-A” uses a real-time battle system similar to that of the “Xenoblade Chronicles” series. You and your Pokémon have to move around the battlefield while commanding attacks and dodging incoming moves. Each of your four moves has a cooldown each time you use one, with some recharging faster than others, faster still the higher your Pokémon’s Speed stat. This makes boss fights in this game somewhat more challenging, as you not only have to worry about your Pokémon, but yourself as moves will also be aimed to attack you, the Trainer. This requires you to think of your feet and consider the best moves to use, and the best times to dodge and run. I feel these are a nice change of pace for battles, and further evolves the changes made to the battle system by previous games, such as “Pokémon Legends: Arceus” and the most recent “Scarlet and Violet” games. They keep you engaged and on your toes and mindful of your positions and next moves.
Despite all the praise I give this game, it does come with its own range of problems and things to be desired. Aspects of the game often brought up include low-quality graphics, a lack of voice acting in cutscenes that could fit such, the single-city setting, the mediocre Mega Evolution designs, the $70 price tag, the announcement of paid DLC prior to the game’s initial release, among others. For the most part, I agree with most of these criticisms. With the resources GameFreak and Pokémon have at their disposal, and the amount of time between the game’s announcement in early 2024 to its release, the game could certainly have been made at a much higher quality that what we have now.
In spite of the game’s many flaws, this has been the most immersed I’ve ever felt in a Pokémon game so far. The protagonist is actually about college-aged, so roughly the same age as myself, and the extensive and vastly diverse customization options let me put together the outfit I believe I would wear in the Pokémon world. My partner Lucario stands at the head of the party, alongside my starter Tepig, and an unexpected backbone of the squad in Bois the Heracross. Eating at cafés together, traversing the city, taking pictures, clutching battles, and ascending further beyond our limits through Mega Evolution have all been highlights of my experience thus far. I give this adventure a solid rating of 8/10, leashed by its flaws, but held up high by my positive experience.
