🔗 Share this article

I don't recall exactly how the tradition started, but I always name all my Pokémon trainers Malfunction.

Whether it's a core franchise game or a spinoff such as Pokkén Tournament DX and Pokémon Go — the moniker always stays the same. Glitch alternates between male and female characters, featuring dark and violet locks. Sometimes their style is impeccable, like in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, the newest installment in this long-running series (and one of the more style-conscious releases). Other times they're limited to the assorted academic attire designs from Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. Yet they remain Malfunction.

The Ever-Evolving World of Pokémon Games

Much like my trainers, the Pokemon titles have evolved across releases, some cosmetic, others substantial. However at their core, they stay the same; they're consistently Pokémon through and through. The developers discovered a nearly perfect gameplay formula some 30 years ago, and just recently seriously tried to innovate upon it with games such as Pokémon Legends: Arceus (different timeline, your character is now in danger). Across all iteration, the core gameplay loop of capturing and fighting alongside adorable monsters has stayed steady for nearly the same duration as I've been alive.

Breaking the Mold in Pokémon Legends: Z-A

Similar to Arceus before it, featuring lack of arenas and focus on creating a creature catalog, Pokémon Legends: Z-A introduces several changes into that formula. It takes place completely in one place, the French capital-inspired Lumiose City from Pokémon X and Y, ditching the expansive adventures of previous games. Pokemon are intended to coexist alongside people, battlers and non-trainers alike, in manners we have merely glimpsed before.

Even more radical is Z-A's live-action combat mechanics. This is where the series' almost ideal core cycle experiences its biggest evolution to date, swapping deliberate sequential fights for something more chaotic. And it is thoroughly enjoyable, despite I find myself eager for a new turn-based entry. Though these changes to the traditional Pokémon formula seem like they form a completely new adventure, Pokémon Legends: Z-A feels as recognizable as every other Pokemon game.

The Core of the Journey: The Z-A Championship

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

The Championship serves as the centerpiece of Pokémon Legends: Z-A. It's comparable to the classic "gym badges to Elite Four" advancement of past games. But here, you fight several opponents to earn the chance to participate in a promotion match. Win and you will be promoted to a higher tier, with the ultimate goal of reaching rank A.

Live-Action Battles: An Innovative Approach

Trainer battles take place during nighttime, while navigating stealthily the assigned battle zones is very entertaining. I'm constantly attempting to surprise a rival and launch an unopposed move, since everything happens in real time. Attacks operate on recharge periods, meaning you and your opponent may occasionally strike simultaneously at the same time (and defeat each other at once). It's a lot to adjust to initially. Despite gaming for almost thirty hours, I continue to feel that there is plenty to learn regarding using my Pokémon's moves in methods that complement each other. Placement also plays a major role in battles since your creatures will trail behind you or move to specific locations to execute moves (some are long-range, whereas others must be up close and personal).

The real-time action causes fights progress so quickly that I find myself sometimes cycling of attacks in identical patterns, despite this amounts to a suboptimal strategy. There isn't moment to breathe during Z-A, and plenty of opportunities to become swamped. Creature fights depend on response post-move execution, and that data remains visible on the display in Z-A, but whips by rapidly. Occasionally, you cannot process it since diverting attention from your opponent will spell certain doom.

Exploring Lumiose City

Away from combat, you'll explore Lumiose City. It's fairly compact, although densely packed. Deep into the game, I'm still discovering unseen stores and rooftops to visit. It's also full of charm, and perfectly captures the concept of Pokémon and people coexisting. Common bird Pokemon populate its sidewalks, taking flight as you approach similar to actual pigeons getting in my way when walking through NYC. The Pan Trio monkeys gleefully hang on streetlights, and bug-Pokémon such as Kakuna cling to trees.

An emphasis on urban life represents a fresh approach for Pokémon, and a positive change. Nonetheless, exploring Lumiose grows repetitive eventually. You might discover a passage you haven't been to, but you wouldn't know it. The architecture lacks character, and many elevated areas and sewer paths provide minimal diversity. While I never visited Paris, the model behind Lumiose, I've lived in NYC for almost ten years. It's a city where every district are the same, and they're all alive with uniqueness that give them soul. Lumiose Metropolis doesn't have that. It features beige structures topped with colored roofs and flatly rendered balconies.

The Areas Where The Metropolis Really Excels

In which Lumiose City really shines, oddly enough, is indoors. I loved how Pokémon battles within Sword and Shield take place in football-like stadiums, giving them genuine significance and importance. Conversely, fights within Scarlet and Violet happen on a court with few spectators observing. It's very disappointing. Z-A strikes a middle ground between both extremes. You will fight in restaurants with patrons watching as they dine. An elite combat club will extend an invitation to a tournament, and you will combat on its penthouse court with a chandelier (not the Pokemon) hanging above. The most memorable spot is the elegantly decorated headquarters of the Rust Syndicate with its moody lighting and purple partitions. Various individual battle locales overflow with personality missing in the larger city in general.

The Comfort of Repetition

During the Championship, as well as subduing wild Mega Evolved Pokémon and filling the creature index, there is an unavoidable sense that, {"I