🔗 Share this article

I'm not sure exactly how the tradition started, but I consistently call every one of my Pokemon characters Malfunction.

Whether it's a main series title or a spinoff like Pokkén Tournament DX along with Pokémon Go — the moniker never changes. Glitch switches between male and female characters, featuring black and purple hair. Occasionally their style is impeccable, as seen in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, the newest addition in this enduring franchise (and one of the more style-conscious releases). Other times they're confined to the assorted academic attire styles from Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. Yet they're always Glitch.

The Ever-Evolving World of Pokémon Titles

Much like my characters, the Pokemon titles have evolved across releases, with certain superficial, some substantial. However at their heart, they remain identical; they're always Pokemon to the core. The developers uncovered an almost flawless mechanics system approximately 30 years ago, and has only truly attempted to innovate upon it with entries such as Pokémon Legends: Arceus (new era, your avatar faces peril). Across every version, the core mechanics cycle of capturing and battling alongside charming creatures has remained consistent for almost as long as my lifetime.

Breaking Conventions with Pokémon Legends: Z-A

Similar to Arceus previously, featuring lack of arenas and focus on creating a Pokédex, Pokémon Legends: Z-A brings multiple changes to that formula. It takes place completely in a single location, the Paris-inspired Lumiose City of Pokémon X and Y, abandoning the region-spanning journeys of earlier titles. Pokémon are intended to live together alongside humans, battlers and civilians, in manners we've only seen glimpses of previously.

Far more radical than that Z-A's real-time combat mechanics. It's here the franchise's near-perfect gameplay loop experiences its biggest evolution yet, replacing deliberate turn-based bouts for more frenetic action. And it is thoroughly enjoyable, despite I find myself eager for another turn-based entry. Although these alterations to the classic Pokemon recipe seem like they create a completely new experience, Pokémon Legends: Z-A is as familiar as any other Pokémon title.

The Heart of the Journey: The Z-A Championship

Upon initially reaching in Lumiose City, any intentions your custom avatar had as a tourist get abandoned; you're immediately recruited by the female guide (if playing as a male character; the male guide if female) to join their squad of trainers. You receive a creature from them as your starter and are sent into the Z-A Championship.

The Championship is the epicenter of Pokémon Legends: Z-A. It's comparable to the classic "gym badges to Elite Four" progression of past games. However here, you fight a handful of opponents to gain the chance to compete in an advancement bout. Win and you'll be promoted to a higher tier, with the ultimate goal of reaching rank A.

Live-Action Combat: An Innovative Approach

Character fights occur at night, while navigating stealthily the designated combat areas is very enjoyable. I'm always trying to get a jump on an opponent and launch a free attack, because all actions occur in real time. Attacks function with cooldown timers, indicating you and your opponent can sometimes strike simultaneously at the same time (and knock each other out simultaneously). It's much to adjust to at first. Even after playing for nearly thirty hours, I still feel like there's plenty to learn regarding employing my creatures' attacks in ways that complement each other. Positioning also factors as a major role during combat as your Pokémon will trail behind you or move to designated spots to perform attacks (some are long-range, whereas others need to be up close and personal).

The live combat makes battles progress so quickly that I find myself sometimes cycling of attacks in identical patterns, even when this amounts to a suboptimal strategy. There's no time to breathe in Z-A, and numerous opportunities to get overwhelmed. Pokémon battles rely on feedback after using an attack, and that data is still present on screen within Z-A, but whips by rapidly. Occasionally, you cannot process it because diverting attention from your adversary will spell immediate defeat.

Exploring Lumiose City

Away from combat, you'll explore Lumiose Metropolis. It's relatively small, although tightly filled. Deep into the game, I continue to find new shops and elevated areas to explore. It is also full of charm, and perfectly captures the concept of creatures and humans coexisting. Pidgey populate its sidewalks, flying away as you approach similar to actual city birds getting in my way when walking through NYC. The Pan Trio monkeys gleefully hang from lampposts, and bug-Pokémon like Kakuna attach themselves on branches.

A focus on urban life represents a fresh approach for the franchise, and a positive change. Even so, exploring Lumiose grows repetitive over time. You may stumble upon an alley you never visited, but you wouldn't know it. The building design is devoid of personality, and most rooftops and sewer paths provide minimal diversity. While I never visited the French capital, the inspiration for the city, I reside in New York for nearly a decade. It's a metropolis where every district are the same, and they're all alive with uniqueness that give them soul. Lumiose City lacks that quality. It has beige structures topped with colored roofs and flatly rendered terraces.

The Areas Where The Metropolis Really Excels

In which Lumiose City really shines, oddly enough, is inside buildings. I adored how Pokémon battles in Sword & Shield take place in football-like stadiums, providing them real weight and importance. On the flipside, fights within Scarlet & Violet happen in a field with two random people watching. It's a total letdown. Z-A finds a balance between the two. You'll battle in restaurants with patrons watching while they eat. An elite combat club will invite you to a competition, and you will combat on its penthouse court with a chandelier (not the Pokemon) suspended overhead. My favorite location is the elegantly decorated base of a certain faction with its moody lighting and purple partitions. Various individual combat settings overflow with personality missing in the larger city as a whole.

The Comfort of Repetition

Throughout the Royale, as well as quelling rogue powered-up creatures and completing the Pokédex, there is an unavoidable sense that, {"I