For the past few years, the popular monster collection video game series struggled to keep pace with the standards of modern games. Ever since the series jumped into the Nintendo Switch with “Pokémon Sword and Shield,” many fans have found problems with the games’ decline in quality. Many fans voiced concerns about poor production value, poor graphics and the reliance on paid downloadable content to re-add old features.
With the release of “Pokémon Legends: Z-A,” new ideas have been brought to the table. However, these new ideas are still built upon an ancient and tired system.
The game is a follow-up to 2022’s “Pokémon Legends: Arceus,” as well as a direct sequel to 2013’s “Pokémon X and Y.” The game takes place in Lumiose City, a key location featured in “X and Y.” It focuses on the player participating in a city-wide tournament, as strange situations occur around the same time as the player’s arrival.
Unlike other games in the series, “Pokémon Legends: Z-A” takes place solely in one place, Lumiose City, locking the player into one massive location that features many hidden alleyways and rooftop secrets. The feeling of exploring a whole new region and discovering different locations is a key part of what made Pokémon so popular, and it’s missing here.
The contained city space also brings lackluster visuals to the forefront. The wide city streets are relatively empty, with very little to interact with. While the character models look passable, the environmental graphics still appear rough. With low-quality textures on buildings, flat plants and trees, strange lighting and stiff non-player character animations, it’s wild to think that a game made by one of the biggest media companies can look so out of date.
“Pokémon Legends: Z-A” aimed to further flip the traditional turn-based battle systems of the mainline games into a more action-focused system, which was first introduced in “Pokémon Legends: Arceus.” Instead of the traditional turn-based role-playing gameplay, the game acts more like a real-time action game.
While the tried and true game mechanics like type advantages and leveling up are still here, they are formed around a real-time gameplay style that requires a bit more user input. Each battle, whether against a wild Pokémon or a NPC trainer, allows the player to move both themselves and their selected Pokémon during the battle.
This opens the door for more effective strategy when playing, as it is not just a matter of stats but also a matter of placement. The way you attack your opponent plays a significant role in the new battle system. Players can order their Pokémon to flank their opponent from the back before the opponent prepares to attack. The player can also switch out their own Pokémon a second before the opponents knock it out. Due to the game’s setting, players might find themselves in tight corners of the city, limiting their space to maneuver during battles.
The game also features the return of “Mega Evolution,” that debuted “Pokémon X and Y” after a long absence from the series. “Mega Evolution” acts as a special action that only select Pokémon can perform during battle. This allows them to evolve beyond their final form, giving them a stat boost or an ability change that can come in handy during a dangerous struggle.
However, the new battle ideas do not matter in the end when the pieces of the original battle system are still too basic. Each Pokémon has at least one type, is weak to at least one other type and can be effective against others. For example, a water-type Pokémon is weak against a grass type but strong against a fire type.
Even if you get ambushed by a wild Pokémon or a trainer, as long as the player has the right type of Pokémon, players can often one shot opponents in each battle. Apart from boss battles or encounters with a wild, larger, higher level wild Pokemon called, Alpha Pokémon, there is minimal challenge to be had, making the game repetitive very quickly.
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Battling is only half of the Pokémon experience; exploration is still a core part of this game. Instead of finding Pokémon out in the wild, the creatures are all over the city, where they can be discovered hiding in secret alleyways, trash cans and even on top of buildings. Unlike trainer battles, players can flee if a wild Pokémon battle is giving them too much trouble, adding to a sense of freedom.
Besides battling, players can complete side missions that offer a wide range of awards. Even if it’s not the prettiest, there is a sense of wonder and awe to see Pokémon moving around the city as you explore it.
This game is also very inclusive when it comes to character customization, as players can choose everything from their avatar’s skin tone and clothing to hairstyle and color, regardless of build. All of these customization options allow any player to have a closer reflection of themselves in game.
“Pokémon Legends: Z-A” is a good enough game. It accomplishes what it was designed to do, which is to provide an RPG experience that any player can pick up and play. The problem is that the foundation from which it is built is becoming outdated.
All the issues this game has are the same ones “Pokémon Legends: Arceus” had, which were also the same issues “Pokémon Scarlet and Violet” had. The low-quality graphics, empty environments, little changes from the battle system and lack of general polish all started as concerns from “Pokémon Sword and Shield,” which was released in 2019. It is disheartening to see that all of these concerns have evolved into issues to this day.
“Pokémon Legends: Z-A” still appears outdated, with simple battle systems that have yet to be reinvented and an overall production value that remains stuck in the late ‘90s and early 2000s.
While the charms of “Pokémon” are still present, it is becoming increasingly harder to cover the cracks that run underneath both this game and the series as a whole. While a step in the right direction, “Pokémon Legends: Z-A” lacks new depths for players looking to return to the world of Pokèmon.
