(Image via Nintendo)

Staff Editor: Vivian Rose Galindo

Email: vivian.galindo@umassd.edu

On October 16th, Pokémon Legends: Z-A was released for Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 systems.

The game, which is the second in the Pokémon Legends series, has a lot of new features, returning mechanics, and even a new battling system, all of which will be covered.

With everything to unpack, let’s skip the introductions and jump right into the world of Pokémon!

As I discussed in my previous articles on the subject, Pokémon Legends: Z-A takes place in the fictional Kalos region, which is based off of the real life country of France.

The game is entirely contained within Lumiose City, which is the region’s equivalent to France’s capital city of Paris. It even includes its own Eiffel Tower homage known as Prism Tower.

The game makes ample uses of Paris’ aesthetics. From a myriad of cafes and shopping centers, to characters implementing French words and phrases into their dialogue, the game is not subtle about its inspiration.

Speaking of those shopping centers, the fashion options in this game are incredibly vast. There are around 40 different clothing shops, each of which has many different options.

While most clothing items are put into “sets” (Blouson and Off-Shoulder Shirt Set is one you get for free, for example), you can customize within these sets as well, allowing for an immense amount of customization.

While the clothing can be expensive, the game isn’t particularly stingy with cash. Most items like Poké Balls and Potions have gotten even cheaper when compared to past games, so it is absolutely worth it to go on little shopping sprees, and it is genuinely very fun.

Pokémon battling has seen a complete revamp in Pokémon Legends: Z-A. The game has removed the classic turn-based combat that every other game in the series has seen, switching to a live-battle system.

Moves no longer have accuracy, as the player must position themself and their Pokémon to be able to land their attacks effectively.

Replacing the Power Points system, moves now have a cooldown timer. The cooldown timer fills the same niche, though, by ensuring Pokémon can’t just spam the same moves a hundred times.

The system can be a bit clunky, especially when doing the Z-A Royale, which is the replacement for Gyms and the Elite Four.

When it becomes nighttime in Lumiose, an area of the city turns into a Battle Zone, where trainers fight, hoping to move from Rank Z all the way up to Rank A. Supposedly, a Rank A Trainer has a lot of sway in Lumiose, hence why so many trainers strive for it.

The player is somewhat forced into joining the Z-A Royale by the game’s rival, Urbain (or Taunie, for male players). But, pretty much every game forces you to do something, especially if it’s a main piece of the game’s design.

Pokémon Legends: Z-A includes only 230 Pokémon, giving it the smallest roster in a Pokémon game since Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee!, and the smallest roster in a non-remake since Pokémon Gold and Silver.

And for reference, Pokémon Gold and Silver were released in 2000 in the U.S.

In an attempt to make up for this, the game does include over 60 Mega Evolutions, the most ever in a Pokémon game and a direct answer to a potential critique in my last article on the game.

Mega Evolution has also been changed to match the new battle system. Instead of being able to Mega Evolve once per battle, Mega Energy must be earned until a bar in the corner of the screen glows with the symbol of Mega Evolution.

Mega Energy is also only expended while a Mega Evolved Pokémon is outside its Poké Ball, which potentially means that it can be refilled before a Pokémon finishes Mega Evolution.

The issue with this is that only one Pokémon in the player’s party can be Mega Evolved at a time. This means that to Mega Evolve a different Pokémon, they have to drain all the Mega Energy first, which can be really annoying, especially during Z-A Royale battles.

Overall, Pokémon Legends: Z-A is a Pokémon game that strives to be unique, relative to the rest of the series. The game has faced mixed reviews thus far, as is to be expected from a game trying so many different things.

One can only hope The Pokémon Company will take note of what fans like and don’t like, and learn how to best make use of these critiques and compliments going forward.