Pokemon Legends: Z-A - A Fresh Transformation Yet Staying True to Its Roots

I'm not sure exactly how the tradition started, but I always name all my Pokémon trainers Malfunction.

Whether it's a core franchise title or a spinoff like Pokkén Tournament DX and Pokémon Go — the name always stays the same. Malfunction switches from male to female avatars, featuring dark and violet hair. Occasionally their style is flawless, like in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, the latest installment in this long-running series (and among the more style-conscious entries). Other times they're confined to the various school uniform styles of Pokémon Scarlet & Violet. Yet they're always Glitch.

The Constantly Changing Realm of Pokémon Games

Similar to my characters, the Pokemon titles have transformed across releases, with certain superficial, some significant. But at their core, they remain the same; they're consistently Pokemon to the core. Game Freak discovered a nearly perfect gameplay formula approximately 30 years ago, and just recently seriously tried to innovate on it with games such as Pokémon Legends: Arceus (different timeline, your avatar faces peril). Throughout every version, the core mechanics cycle of capturing and battling alongside charming creatures has remained steady for almost as long as my lifetime.

Breaking the Mold with Pokémon Legends: Z-A

Like Arceus previously, with its absence of gyms and focus on creating a Pokédex, Pokémon Legends: Z-A introduces several changes to that formula. It's set entirely in a single location, the Paris-inspired Lumiose Metropolis from Pokémon X and Y, ditching the region-spanning journeys of previous titles. Pokémon are meant to coexist with humans, battlers and non-trainers alike, in manners we have merely glimpsed previously.

Even more drastic is Z-A's real-time combat mechanics. This is where the franchise's near-perfect gameplay loop undergoes its biggest evolution yet, swapping deliberate turn-based bouts with something more chaotic. And it's immensely fun, despite I feel eager for a new traditional entry. Although these changes to the classic Pokemon recipe seem like they form a completely new experience, Pokémon Legends: Z-A is as familiar as any other Pokemon game.

The Heart of the Journey: The Z-A Championship

When first arriving at Lumiose Metropolis, any intentions your custom avatar had as a tourist get abandoned; you're promptly enlisted by Taunie (for male avatars; Urbain if female) to join her team of trainers. You receive a creature from them as your starter and you're dispatched into the Z-A Championship.

The Royale serves as the centerpiece of Pokémon Legends: Z-A. It's comparable to the classic "arena symbols to final challenge" progression of past games. However here, you battle a handful of trainers to earn the opportunity to participate in a promotion match. Succeed and you'll be elevated to the next rank, with the ultimate goal of reaching rank A.

Real-Time Battles: A New Frontier

Trainer battles take place at night, and sneaking around the designated battle zones is very entertaining. I'm always trying to get a jump on a rival and launch an unopposed move, since everything happens in real time. Moves function with recharge periods, indicating you and your opponent may occasionally attack each other at the same time (and defeat each other simultaneously). It's much to get used to initially. Even after gaming for almost thirty hours, I continue to feel like there's plenty to learn in terms of using my Pokémon's moves in ways that work together synergistically. Placement also plays a significant part during combat as your Pokémon will follow you around or go to specific locations to perform attacks (certain ones are distant, whereas others need to be up close and personal).

The real-time action causes fights go so fast that I often sometimes cycling of attacks in identical patterns, even when this amounts to a less effective approach. There's no time to pause during Z-A, and plenty of chances to get overwhelmed. Pokémon battles rely on feedback after using an attack, and that information remains visible on screen within Z-A, but flashes past quickly. Sometimes, you can't even read it since taking your eyes off your adversary will spell certain doom.

Exploring Lumiose City

Outside of battle, you'll explore Lumiose City. It's relatively small, although tightly filled. Deep into the game, I'm still discovering unseen stores and elevated areas to explore. It is also rich with character, and fully realizes the vision of Pokémon and people living together. Pidgey inhabit its pathways, taking flight when you get near similar to actual city birds obstructing my path while strolling in New York City. The monkey trio gleefully hang from lampposts, and insect creatures such as Kakuna attach themselves to trees.

An emphasis on city living is a new direction for the franchise, and a welcome one. Nonetheless, exploring Lumiose grows repetitive eventually. You might discover a passage you haven't been to, but it feels identical. The building design is devoid of personality, and most rooftops and underground routes provide minimal diversity. Although I never visited Paris, the model behind the city, I've lived in NYC for nearly a decade. It's a city where no two blocks are the same, and all are vibrant with differences that provide character. Lumiose City lacks that quality. It has beige structures topped with colored roofs and simply designed balconies.

Where Lumiose City Truly Shines

Where Lumiose City truly stands out, surprisingly, is indoors. I loved how Pokémon battles in Sword & Shield take place in football-like stadiums, giving them real weight and meaning. On the flipside, fights within Scarlet & Violet happen on a court with two random people watching. It's a total letdown. Z-A strikes a middle ground between the two. You'll battle in restaurants with patrons watching as they dine. A fancy battle society will extend an invitation to a tournament, and you'll battle on its penthouse court with a chandelier (not Chandelure) suspended overhead. My favorite location is the beautifully designed base of a certain faction with its moody lighting and magenta walls. Several distinct battle locales overflow with personality missing in the overall metropolis as a whole.

The Comfort of Repetition

During the Championship, along with quelling rogue powered-up creatures and filling the creature index, there is an unavoidable feeling of, {"I