“Pokemon: Legends ZA” is several steps forward, several steps back | Video games

The Pokémon series has recently been in need of some serious development. 2022’s “Pokemon Legends: Arceus” tweaked the traditional Pokémon RPG formula by introducing real-time combat elements, a semi-open world, and a new way to progress through the story. It was a breath of fresh air for the franchise that had a stagnant turn-based combat system.

While “Arceus” was a prequel to the Pokemon Diamond and Pearl games, the new entry “Pokemon Legends: ZA” is a sequel to those “Pokemon X and Y.” This time around, ZA is making some bold changes from “Legends: Arceus” for better, but also for worse. ZA’s combat system has been much improved, but the game is hampered by bland exploration. It also runs incredibly well on Nintendo Switch 2, but its presentation in other areas is lacking, notably in the graphics department.

“Pokémon Legends: ZA” takes place five years after the events of “Pokémon X and Y”. Lumiose City is currently undergoing a redevelopment plan, which has caused the rise of Rogue Mega Evolutions, where certain Pokémon are forced to undergo further changes to make them even stronger. Players must uncover the mysteries behind Rogue Mega Evolutions while climbing the ranks of ZA Royale, a Pokémon fighting tournament. As players progress towards the top, the winner will be able to have one of their wishes granted.

Pokémon has never had the most complex stories, and “Legends: ZA” is no different. However, what’s confusing is that after all these years, the Pokémon games still don’t have voice acting. It’s really jarring to see NPCs in cutscenes “talk” but make no sound. What makes the experience even more confusing is that NPCs make noises of exertion. For example, if a character whips their arm to throw a Pokeball, you can actually hear the sound effect of an arm going through the air. There are a few emotional scenes involving key characters from Pokemon X and Y’s storyline, but these scenes fail due to the lack of voice acting.

It’s so hard to feel invested in the story of “Legends: ZA” that halfway through I started to ignore it. However, what kept me until the end of the story was ZA’s fun combat system. While “Legends: Arceus” changed the combat to turn-based, ZA engages entirely in real-time action. This makes combat more exhilarating, and attacks have been cleverly adapted to take advantage of this.

In the mainline Pokémon games, it was easy to achieve this by making your Pokémon know four attack moves and leaving the other non-damaging ones alone. For example, moves like Tail Whip would lower your opponent’s defense stat, but you would want to maximize your damage, thereby getting rid of that for an attack that deals actual damage. However, with the new real-time combat system, these non-damaging attacks suddenly become more important than ever.

Each attack has a cooldown period, and so between the wait time you’ll want to use other moves. This is where moves like Tail Whip can come in very handy. While you wait for your Tackle attack to recharge, you can use Tail Whip and lower the opponent’s defense stat, ensuring that the next Tackle will knock them out. While this strategy works just as well in the main turn-based Pokémon games, the nature of these real-time battles recontextualizes them, allowing “Legends: ZA” to stand out from its predecessors.

The day and night cycle is used in this game where you can challenge other NPCs in fights during the night in designated battle zones. By defeating trainers and completing secondary objectives such as hitting a specific weakness a certain number of times, you can earn points to earn a challenge ticket. This generally progresses the story by allowing you to fight the next boss, a welcome change from the typical Gym Leader structure that the mainline Pokémon games had.

During the story, you will also be asked to take care of Rogue Mega Evolved Pokemon in order to keep Lumiose City safe. If you defeat these giant Pokémon, you will earn their Mega Stone, which allows you to summon their respective Mega Evolutions, provided you have the correct Pokémon. I really enjoyed these as they changed the pace of the game.

The biggest disappointment with “Legends: ZA” is how boring Lumiose Town is. In “Legends: Arceus,” players have the entire Hisui region to explore. But all of “Legends: ZA” is confined to a single town with designated wild areas for catching Pokémon. These wild areas are entirely too small and with the new combat system, fights can feel claustrophobic. These wild areas lack any discernible features and seem as muddy and uninspired as the rest of Lumiose City.

Outside of the Pokémon models and characters, Lumiose City is so boring to explore. The buildings are dull and the columns and windows aren’t even 3D. Textures are literally flat images copied and pasted onto the buildings themselves. Lumiose City is so unimaginative, especially coming from the open regions of “Legends: Arceus”.

I really don’t understand how Pokémon can be one of the most profitable media franchises in the world and yet not be able to produce a decent looking 3D main game. Other Nintendo properties like “The Legend of Zelda” and “Donkey Kong” have undergone complete artistic overhauls and creative design directions, but the Pokémon games don’t receive the same level of meticulous care. Besides the lack of voice acting, these games continue to feel cheap.

At the very least, Legends: ZA runs incredibly well on the Nintendo Switch 2, a far cry from the technical issues that plague the latest mainline Pokémon games. While there are still some annoying glitches with characters and Pokémon sometimes appearing out of nowhere, the game is smooth and playable.

“Pokémon Legends: ZA” continues the experimental direction of “Pokémon Legends: Arceus,” opting for real-time combat that makes battles more strategic and engaging compared to the traditional turn-based format. However, the game suffers from uninspiring exploration, dated graphics, and a continued lack of voice acting. Despite this, if you are a Pokémon fan, this game might still be right for you. Even though it remains stuck in the past, it’s a difficult franchise to leave behind.

A copy of Pokemon Legends: ZA was purchased by the reviewer. It is now available.