🔗 Share this article

I'm not sure exactly how the tradition started, however I always name every one of my Pokémon trainers Glitch.

Be it a main series game or a side project like Pokkén Tournament DX along with Pokémon Go — the name always stays the same. Malfunction alternates from male to female characters, with black and purple hair. Occasionally their style is flawless, as seen in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, the latest installment in this enduring franchise (and one of the more style-conscious releases). At other moments they're confined to the assorted school uniform designs from Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. But they remain Malfunction.

The Ever-Evolving Realm of Pokémon Games

Much like my trainers, the Pokémon games have evolved between installments, with certain cosmetic, some significant. But at their core, they remain identical; they're always Pokemon to the core. Game Freak uncovered a nearly perfect gameplay formula approximately 30 years ago, and just recently seriously tried to innovate on it with entries like Pokémon Legends: Arceus (different timeline, your character is now in danger). Throughout all version, the fundamental mechanics cycle of capturing and battling with adorable monsters has remained consistent for nearly the same duration as my lifetime.

Shaking Conventions with Pokémon Legends: Z-A

Like Arceus before it, with its lack of arenas and emphasis on creating a creature catalog, Pokémon Legends: Z-A brings several deviations to that framework. It takes place entirely in a single location, the French capital-inspired Lumiose Metropolis from Pokémon X & Y, abandoning the region-spanning adventures of earlier titles. Pokémon are meant to coexist alongside people, battlers and non-trainers alike, in ways we've only glimpsed before.

Far more drastic is Z-A's real-time combat mechanics. It's here the franchise's near-perfect core cycle experiences its biggest transformation yet, replacing deliberate turn-based fights with more frenetic action. And it's immensely fun, even as I find myself ready for a new traditional release. Though these changes to the classic Pokémon formula sound like they create an entirely fresh experience, Pokémon Legends: Z-A is as familiar as any other Pokemon game.

The Core of the Adventure: The Z-A Royale

Upon initially reaching at Lumiose Metropolis, whatever plans your custom avatar planned as a visitor get abandoned; you're promptly enlisted by Taunie (for male avatars; the male guide for female characters) to join her team of battlers. You receive a creature from them as your starter and are sent into the Z-A Championship.

The Royale is the epicenter in Pokémon Legends: Z-A. It's comparable to the traditional "arena symbols to final challenge" progression from earlier titles. But here, you battle a handful of trainers to gain the chance to participate in a promotion match. Win and you will be elevated to the next rank, with the ultimate goal of achieving rank A.

Live-Action Combat: An Innovative Approach

Trainer battles take place during nighttime, and navigating stealthily the designated battle zones is quite entertaining. I'm always trying to surprise an opponent and unleash an unopposed move, since everything happens instantaneously. Moves operate on recharge periods, meaning you and your opponent may occasionally attack each other at the same time (and knock each other out at once). It's much to adjust to initially. Even after gaming for almost 30 hours, I continue to feel that there is plenty to learn in terms of employing my creatures' attacks in ways that complement each other. Placement also factors as a significant part in battles as your Pokémon will trail behind you or go to specific locations to perform attacks (certain ones are distant, whereas others need to be up close and personal).

The live combat causes fights progress so quickly that I find myself repeating sequences through moves in identical patterns, even when this results in a less effective approach. There isn't moment to pause during Z-A, and numerous chances to get overwhelmed. Creature fights rely on response after using an attack, and that data is still present on the display within Z-A, but flashes past quickly. Sometimes, you can't even read it because taking your eyes off your opponent will result in certain doom.

Exploring Lumiose Metropolis

Away from combat, you'll explore Lumiose Metropolis. It's relatively small, though densely packed. Deep into the game, I continue to find unseen stores and elevated areas to visit. It is also full of charm, and fully realizes the vision of Pokémon and people coexisting. Pidgey populate its sidewalks, flying away when you get near similar to actual pigeons obstructing my path while strolling in New York City. The Pan Trio monkeys gleefully hang from lampposts, and insect creatures like Kakuna attach themselves on branches.

An emphasis on urban life represents a fresh approach for Pokémon, and a welcome one. Even so, exploring Lumiose grows repetitive over time. You might discover an alley you never visited, but you wouldn't know it. The architecture is devoid of personality, and most rooftops and sewer paths provide minimal diversity. While I haven't been to Paris, the inspiration for the city, I've lived in NYC for almost ten years. It's a metropolis where no two blocks differs, and all are alive with uniqueness that provide character. Lumiose City doesn't have that. It features tan buildings topped with colored roofs and flatly rendered balconies.

The Areas Where The Metropolis Really Excels

In which the city really shines, surprisingly, is indoors. I adored how Pokémon battles in Sword and Shield take place in arena-like venues, giving them genuine significance and importance. On the flipside, fights within Scarlet & Violet take place on a court with few spectators watching. It's very disappointing. Z-A finds a balance between both extremes. You'll battle in restaurants with diners observing as they dine. An elite combat club will extend an invitation to a competition, and you will combat in its rooftop arena under a lighting fixture (not Chandelure) suspended overhead. My favorite location is the beautifully designed headquarters of a certain faction with its moody lighting and magenta walls. Several distinct battle locales overflow with personality missing in the larger city as a whole.

The Familiarity of Repetition

During the Championship, as well as quelling rogue Mega Evolved Pokémon and filling the Pokédex, there is an unavoidable sense that, {"I