I’ve been playing Pokémon Legends: Z-A for the past few weeks, and while it has some disappointing aspects, the overall experience is incredibly enjoyable and hard to put down. This new Pokémon adventure takes players to the Paris-inspired Lumiose City, now undergoing a massive “Urban Redevelopment Plan.” This narrative concept is perfect for creating a detailed, condensed map, making it quite surprising that much of the city feels visually bland.
Pokémon Legends Z-A: A Revolutionary Battle System
Beyond the aesthetics, the most significant and surprising change in Pokémon Legends: Z-A is its groundbreaking battle system. Game Freak didn’t just tweak traditional turn-based combat; they’ve completely transformed it into real-time action.
Battles are now dynamic, real-time sequences. As the trainer, you actively participate on the field with your Pokémon, dodging incoming attacks, strategically positioning your pokemon, and executing moves instantly. It delivers the immersive fantasy many Pokémon fans have dreamed of since the Stadium days as an active participant, not just giving menu commands. While I’ve always enjoyed turn-based combat, I can’t deny how much fun this new system is. After weeks of hands-on experience, it’s hard to imagine going back. It feels reminiscent of Xenoblade Chronicles but with that unique Pokémon signature.
The game also introduces Rogue Mega Evolved Pokémon as intense boss encounters. While many are achievable, they offer a thrilling challenge. These encounters require more tactical thinking, forcing you to balance your own survival with your Pokémon’s moveset.
By focusing the action within Lumiose City, the story becomes more intimate and surprisingly mature for a Pokémon game that generally otherwise feels like its targeting a new player youth demographic through it’s excessively long opening tutorial. But instead of a vast continent-spanning journey, you’re training to protect your community.
Side quests make up a bulk of the game play content and are plentiful, charming, at times silly stories that make the city feel vibrant, despite its visual limitations. I’d encourage any player to embrace these quests to really immerse yourself in the experience.
A stand-out moment for me was being offered the choice of the OG Kanto crew, Squirtle, Charmander and Bulbasaur. As much as I liked the latest starter offerings, it always brings me great joy to hang out with Squirtle and take him through his evolution.
Pokémon Legends Z-A’s Visual and Narrative Shortcomings
Now, let’s address the two most notable flaws, which are so pronounced they almost become part of the game’s quirky charm.
The Repetitive Lumiose City Graphics: Reviews have called the architecture “plain” and “unattractive,” and that’s being really generous. You’ll spend a lot of time looking at walls that appear to be low-resolution textures. Most buildings feature flat, uninspired facades with painted-on windows, at times I thought I was looking at the building designs from 1996’s Duke Nukem 3D. It’s surprisingly bad while the new battle animations and character models are acceptable.
The game also ofters an annoying “Illusion of Choice” in Dialogue. While the core story is solid, the dialogue often feels like it’s written by AI. During key moments, characters make exaggerated gestures as text boxes present choices like, “Do you want an Apple? [A] Yes, I’d like and Apple or [B] Absolutely Yes, an Apple would be great.” The text has no outcome on the story and is pointless being there apart from keeping you awake reading it all.
Similarly, there’s a moment where the Z-A Royale progression jumps you many ranks at once just to push the plot forward. Why? I was genuily looking forward to the grind from Z to A and instead we are skipping the entire concept that the game is named after? That seems like a massive oversight.
Verdict: Is Pokémon Legends Z-A a Good Game?
Pokémon Legends: Z-A marks a significant step forward for the series. It refines the action-focused ideas introduced in Pokémon Legends: Arceus into a really good game. While some of it’s features like the aesthetic flaws and its attempts at branching RPG dialogue are underwhelming, these issues still feel like minor speedbumps. If anything the game has me more excited for the future of the franchise after it shakes the shackles of the original Nintendo Switch that seems to be limiting the progression.
The core battle system is where this game truly excels, offering arguably the best combat the series has ever seen. If you can overlook some visually uninspired environments, you’ll find a great new Pokémon game that delivers an incredibly fun and engaging experience.
Pokemon Legends Z-A is a solid 7 out of 10, so yeah despite some of its flaws I’d still say this is a good game to buy for Pokemon Trainers and Trainers in the making.
