Pokémon Legends: Z-A - Review

We'll always have Lumiose.

Console: Nintendo Switch 2

It might’ve taken a while, but the second entry in Pokémons ‘Legends’ series is finally here. 2022's Legends: Arceus is the most interesting Pokémon game released in the last decade. It was the shot in the arm the series needed after Sword & Shield started an era of discourse. Set in the distant past, Legends: Arceus rethought many tropes to bring us a Pokémon experience that felt fresh. One that focused on exploration and catching more so than battling.

Legends: Z-A aims to continue this by doing a similar reinvention by flipping the script. Everything takes place within the grand Lumiose City and the focus this time is on battle. This approach made me excited... and also worried. Excited because Game Freak keeps on experimenting, and is taking a cue from my beloved Xenoblade Chronicles with its real-time battle system. Worried that the setting would lead to a drag, monotonous journey in which these great creatures would be secondary to their use in battle. Now that I've made it to the credits and beyond, I can say that while my worries came true this is still an enjoyable Pokémon game.

Without further ado, let's talk about it!

Years after the events of Pokémon X & Y, Lumiose City is in the midst of a large redevelopment project. The goal is to turn the city into the perfect place for both people and Pokémon. There's even a city-wide night tournament, the 'Z-A Royale', that has the whole city abuzz. Things aren't all rosy, however. Wild Pokémon have been mysteriously Mega Evolving, wreaking havoc. Together with the rest of Team MZ, you are tasked by the company behind the redevelopment project and the Z-A Royale to investigate this Rogue Mega Evolution Phenomenon and bring it to a halt.

The focus of the story, the mystery surrounding Rogue Mega Evolution, is fun enough. The mystery at the heart of Lumiose but until the final act, which was quite exciting indeed, I wasn't all that engaged by it. If you've played Pokémon X & Y, many of the surprises won't be much of a surprise to you. The twists and turns rely pretty heavily on things you learn in those games' story which made them predictable to me.

On the flipside, there are also twists and turns that only really work if you've experienced that original story. You could say that there is something here for both demographics, which I appreciate, even if I feel it’s all rather service-level. That's usual for Pokémon so I don't know why I'm surprised by that.

The narrative’s strength lies with the characters. From some returning characters like Emma & Mable to our new cast, such as streamer Canari and mob-boss Corbeau. It's the little 'micro' adventures you go on with them, such as finding once missing sister, that I enjoyed the most and had kept having fun with in the post-game.

Naturally, the mobb boss is a Poison-type user. 

If you want a bit of a break of the main story than you can always try your hand at catching them all or do one of the many side-quests in the game. The people and Pokémon of Lumiose run into all kinds of situations they need your help with. From Pokémon going missing, to helping a chef make a new dish to clearing out a garden from a Weedle infestation. These side-quests are not very in-depth but they are quaint. They are bite-sized distractions that, more often than I thought, have that 'Pokémon anime feel' to them. Focus on the Pokémon themselves and feel like they could be their own episodes if the premise is expanded upon.

I’d say it’s time to tackle the gameplay. As a sequel to Legends: Arceus, this title carries over the free roaming as well as the dodging and hiding from wild Pokémon. Sneak up on a Pokémon, and you can catch them without ever having the battle them, if you are lucky that is. Don't worry about losing dozens and dozens of Pokéballs either when you miss a throw. There is this handy NPC near every Pokémon station that collects all the Pokéballs that missed the Pokémon for you. Neat.

Even neater is that in Z-A, after 30+ years, you can finally catch Pokémon like the anime. When you defeat them, instead of despawning immediately, the fainting Pokémon sticks around a second. That is just enough time to throw one more Pokéball giving you one last chance to, say, catch that Alpha Whirlipede. Crossing my fingers this carries over to Gen X as it is just so nice to have.

While all of that is nice and well, the big attraction here though, is that Xenoblade-inspired battle system. I was hesitant about this new system at first because I quite like turn-based battles. I like it when I have time to think. Still, as someone with over 300 hours of Xenoblade under his belt I was no stranger to this type of combat and warmed up to it the closer the game’s release was.

Compared to Xenoblade, this system is not that deep. General positioning here is only for dodging attacks, not to achieve secondary effects, and there is no attack chaining or the like. What we have here are very much the basics. Your Pokémon's moves are on a cooldown and you are capable of (indirectly) moving your Pokémon to dodge attacks. Type effectiveness, stats, status move and all that jazz are all still here. Only abilities are sitting out the party.

While I could see all the places where this system could be improved, such as moves that take into account from what side you are attacking, I did have more fun than I thought I would. A big part of that is the challenge. Because these battles play out in real time you've got to think fast. Also, since you the trainer can also be attacked by wild Pokémon and faint, you are also constantly dodging attacks with your trainer character. All of this adds some extra layers to the battles that make them more challenging.

Battles are also made more difficult through some rebalancing, prime amongst them Mega Evolutions. They are not as overpowered as they used to be, not by a long shot. Not only are they now on a timer but each Pokémon can now 'upgrade' their moves to 'plus moves'. These are powered attacks that are extra effective against Megas. It's for this reason that I once Mega evolved my Froslass against a wild Alpha Pokémon only for it to go down before I could even launch a single attack.

Rogue Mega Evolution fights are even a step above that challenge-wise. These are your mini-bosses, with each Mega having a large health bar and some unique tricks to spice up the battle. Mega Bannette uses double team to make copies of itself while Mega Beedrill summons hordes of Kakuna to stall you. With how aggressive these Megas are, actively attacking you, the player, they are worthy of that ‘mini boss’ label. Mind you, they can still be cheesed if you know what you're doing. Mega or not, Dragonite can't shake that quadruple Ice weakness.

Mega Dragonite's trick is to fly up high above the battlefield making him impossible to hit for a while. 

Can we talk about the Mega Pokémon themselves really quickly? With bringing back the Mega Evolution mechanic comes a box full of new Mega forms to play around with. Yes, there are some misses - Mega Victreebell is way too goofy to me, and Mega Skarmory’s superlong talons just look weird. Most of the designs however, have my approval. Both sets of Mega Starters are top-notch, Mega Scolipede is just plain awesome (and I have Alpha one to boot!) and my long-awaited Mega Froslass did not disappoint in its design. If it only she weren't so frail...

Right, back the battling with the Z-A Royale. Every night a section of the city becomes filled with trainers doing the classic 'challenging you on the spot' trick. You earn points for beating trainers with the goal of earning enough for a promotion match to get to a higher rank. All the way from the bottom of the barrel Z-rank to the top of the mountain that is A-rank. Helping you earn more points bonus cards that have callenges on them that give you more points. Sneak up on trainers, use super effective moves etc, all before the night is over. A novel way to add a little more punch to this entire idea of a city-wide competition.

Speaking of Lumiose City, while I know that this adventure taking place in a sprawling city is the entire concept behind the game, I wouldn’t recommend that Game Freak do it again. I see the things they did to diversify the setting, the Wild Zones, the scaffolding and sewers and such, but it just isn't enough in terms of giving you that 'adventure' feel. To give you the idea that there's something new to discover around every corner because, well, you are in a city. A city that, unlike its real-world inspiration, has no architectural distinction between its districts and has no catacombs underneath it.  A Wild Zone becoming a winter wonderland due to the Ice-type Pokémon living there was as diverse as it got in that department.

Even before Legends: Z-A came out there was a ton of discussion about its graphics. About how people find that Pokémon should have very detailed textures and shading and whatnot. I do enjoy games looking the best they can be, it is a feather in Horizon Forbidden West's cap, but not every gaming series need this. Variety is the spice of life and to me, Pokémon works best with simpler, anime-like graphics. Yes, many buildings textures are nothing more than flat images, but I did not notice it until it was pointed out to me. Even after that, it didn't bother me at all and I basically forgot all about it while playing.

The last slice of the gameplay that I want to talk about are the research task professor Mabel hands out. These are tasks such as 'catch 50 Normal-type Pokémon' and 'Evolve 5 Pokémon'. Not very exciting but the rewards are pretty good. Lots of HM's and, the cherry on top, the Shiny Charm. The latter is a true grind to get but let’s be real – not something the casual player will even care about. Also, I encountered a couple of Shiny Pokémon just by playing the game without the charm, including a Shiny Falinks that I promptly added to my team, another powerful Mega Pokémon.

That team wasn’t all that diverse, to be honest. Out of the 10 Pokémon that rotated in and out, 7 were Pokémon capable of Mega Evolution. That is a big focus of Legends: Z-A, but a handful of more non-Mega related Pokémon would’ve made the Pokédex a bit more welcoming and diverse. Still, with over 200 Pokémon and nearly 70 mega evolutions currently in the game, it’s not like you’re starving for choice. Also, unlike X & Y, you can get all but a few Mega Stones before the post-game, so you can actually use them during your playthrough.  

Closing things out are some brief words on the soundtrack. Just like with Legends: Arceus many of the music tracks are remixes of X & Y tracks. The Lumiose Sewers theme, for example, is a new version of the Glittering Cave one - and it works really well too! The tracks that stand out to me most though are the brand-new ones, specifically the battle themes. The electro swing battle theme of one of the Z-A Royale matches is a particular standout and very enjoyable to listen to.

Conclusion

With Pokémon Legends: Z-A, Game Freak continues to experiment to fun but mixed results. The game is both bold and messy, with elements that are fun but often feel undercooked. The real-time battles are a neat new challenge, and it’s good to see Mega Evolutions again, but it lacks depth. The narrative is rather underwhelming, safe its ending and the city setting limits the sense of adventure and discovery.

Even with these flaws, I’m glad the Legends series continues to push boundaries. Z-A hit as hard as Arceus did, but it is still a very enjoyable title that nudges the series further into an interesting direction.