Pokémon Chronicles: Z-A - A Fresh Evolution While Staying Faithful to Its Roots

I'm not sure precisely when the tradition started, however I always name all my Pokemon characters Malfunction.

Be it a main series title or a side project such as Pokkén Tournament DX and Pokémon Go — the moniker always stays the same. Glitch switches between male and female avatars, featuring dark and violet locks. Occasionally their style is flawless, like in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, the newest addition in this enduring series (and among the more style-conscious entries). At other moments they're confined to the assorted school uniform styles from Pokémon Scarlet & Violet. But they're always Glitch.

The Ever-Evolving World of Pokémon Games

Much like my characters, the Pokémon games have transformed across releases, with certain cosmetic, others substantial. However at their heart, they remain the same; they're consistently Pokemon to the core. Game Freak discovered an almost flawless mechanics system some three decades back, and has only seriously tried to innovate on it with entries like Pokémon Legends: Arceus (new era, your avatar faces peril). Across all iteration, the core gameplay loop of capturing and fighting alongside charming creatures has stayed steady for almost the same duration as my lifetime.

Breaking Conventions in Pokémon Legends: Z-A

Similar to Arceus before it, featuring lack of arenas and emphasis on creating a Pokédex, Pokémon Legends: Z-A brings several deviations into that framework. It's set completely in one place, the French capital-inspired Lumiose Metropolis from Pokémon X & Y, abandoning the region-spanning journeys of earlier titles. Pokémon are meant to live together alongside people, battlers and non-trainers alike, in manners we have merely glimpsed before.

Even more radical than that Z-A's live-action combat mechanics. It's here the franchise's near-perfect gameplay loop undergoes its most significant transformation yet, replacing methodical turn-based bouts with something more chaotic. And it's immensely fun, despite I feel ready for a new turn-based release. Although these changes to the classic Pokémon formula seem like they create a completely new adventure, Pokémon Legends: Z-A is as familiar as every other Pokémon title.

The Core of the Journey: The Z-A Royale

When initially reaching at Lumiose Metropolis, whatever plans your created character had as a tourist get abandoned; you're promptly recruited by the female guide (if playing as a male character; Urbain if female) to become part of their squad of battlers. You receive a creature from them as your starter and are sent into the Z-A Royale.

The Royale serves as the centerpiece in Pokémon Legends: Z-A. It's comparable to the classic "arena symbols to final challenge" progression from earlier titles. But here, you battle several opponents to earn the chance to compete in a promotion match. Win and you will be promoted to a higher tier, with the final objective of achieving rank A.

Live-Action Battles: A New Approach

Character fights take place at night, and navigating stealthily the assigned battle zones is quite enjoyable. I'm always attempting to surprise an opponent and launch an unopposed move, because everything happens instantaneously. Attacks operate on cooldown timers, meaning you and your opponent can sometimes attack each other concurrently (and knock each other out at once). It's a lot to get used to initially. Even after gaming for almost thirty hours, I still feel like there's much to master in terms of using my Pokémon's moves in methods that work together synergistically. Placement also plays a major role in battles as your Pokémon will trail behind you or move to specific locations to execute moves (certain ones are distant, while others must be up close and personal).

The live combat causes fights progress so quickly that I find myself repeating sequences through moves in the same order, even when this results in a suboptimal strategy. There isn't moment to breathe in Z-A, and plenty of opportunities to get overwhelmed. Creature fights rely on feedback post-move execution, and that information is still present on screen within Z-A, but flashes past rapidly. Occasionally, you cannot process it since diverting attention from your adversary will result in certain doom.

Navigating Lumiose Metropolis

Away from combat, you'll explore Lumiose Metropolis. It's fairly compact, though tightly filled. Far into the adventure, I'm still discovering new shops and elevated areas to explore. It is also full of charm, and fully realizes the vision of creatures and humans living together. Pidgey populate its sidewalks, taking flight as you approach similar to actual pigeons obstructing my path while strolling through NYC. The monkey trio gleefully hang on streetlights, and insect creatures such as Kakuna cling on branches.

An emphasis on city living represents a fresh approach for the franchise, and a positive change. Even so, exploring Lumiose becomes rote over time. You may stumble upon a passage you never visited, but it feels identical. The building design lacks character, and most rooftops and sewer paths provide minimal diversity. While I never visited Paris, the inspiration for Lumiose, I've lived in NYC for almost ten years. It's a metropolis where every district differs, and all are alive with uniqueness that provide character. Lumiose Metropolis lacks that quality. It has tan buildings topped with colored roofs and simply designed terraces.

Where The Metropolis Truly Shines

In which the city really shines, oddly enough, is inside buildings. I adored how Pokémon battles in Sword & Shield take place in football-like stadiums, giving them genuine significance and importance. On the flipside, battles in Scarlet and Violet happen in a field with few spectators observing. It's a total letdown. Z-A strikes a middle ground between both extremes. You will fight in restaurants with patrons watching as they dine. A fancy battle society will invite you to a tournament, and you'll battle in its rooftop arena under a lighting fixture (not Chandelure) suspended overhead. The most memorable spot is the beautifully designed base of the Rust Syndicate with atmospheric illumination and purple partitions. Various individual combat settings overflow with personality that's absent from the larger city in general.

The Familiarity of Repetition

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