Pokemon Legends Z-A Review, Gameplay Impressions and Videos

Pokemon Legends: Z-A continues a necessary evolution for the franchise that began with Pokemon Legends: Arceus in 2022.

While some may have seen Arceus as a mere one-off release, the Legends series has the potential to run adjacent to the core, traditional dual-release series because it truly enhances the Pokemon world in every way. Pokemon Legends: Z-A features improved gameplay, graphics, exploration, story and quality-of-life features.Â

Pokemon Legends: Z-A is a perfect entry for gamers looking to jump into the world of Pokemon for the first time and especially for gamers who are already fans of the series. Blending mechanics from across different Pokemon titles, Z-A is a must-play for all Switch gamers.

The gameplay system of Pokemon Legends: Z-A makes for a more realistic game as the franchise continues experimenting in that direction. Whereas the traditional Pokemon games may be more lenient for younger or newer games because they can take their time with decisions, this system may be more enjoyable for advanced gamers or those who want a bit more agency and decision-making possibilities in their gameplay. As a result, this gameplay may be controversial to some who have grown accustomed to the traditional turn-based gameplay.Â

While still turn-based in a sense, this gameplay system is active with both trainers making decisions in real time. Gamers must hold down the ZL button to pull up the battle commands for their Pokemon and from there can select different moves. Once a command is used, players must wait for the command to replenish itself in order to use it again. While this is happening, the opponent is operating within the same system so it’s important to be mindful of which attacks have and haven’t been used by the opponent. Waiting for a Pokemon’s move to replenish is a much better system than a Pokemon having a set number of times they can use a move before needing to go to a Pokemon Center or using an item to replenish. Speaking of items, players can use certain items to increase how quickly a Pokemon will replenish their moves, which makes the speed stat feel even more important than in many other games.

Mega Pokemon is the featured mechanic and story element in Z-A. Certain Pokemon can transform into their Mega version if they have a specific item. The Mega mechanic, which enhances a Pokemon’s moves and can make boss fights quite challenging, may be controversial to those wanting to maintain a strictly traditional aspect from the original games. Outside of Mega forms, certain moves can also become Plus Moves, which triggers after a certain amount of time that the player can toggle to perform increased damage. Considering Pokemon has been around for nearly 30 years, it’s wise to continue experimenting. Given that Mega Pokemon are typically reserved for boss battles, it’s a welcomed new wrinkle for this experience.

Among the best aspects of Z-A is the emphasis on battling. While the franchise has always made it a point to feature battling as the player looks to obtain gym badges, Z-A switches the approach by having the player battle to improve their rank, starting at the bottom with a Z rank. From there, it’s all about battling to the top of the rankings. Z-A features an active day/night cycle and nighttime is when one specific area in the city becomes a battle zone for trainers to enter and earn points to eventually enter a promotion match to rank up. Within this battle zone, players can pick up cards that apply certain challenges for the player to meet to earn even more points, for example knocking out an opponent with fire-type moves. All of these systems layer on top of each other to create a highly engaging gameplay loop that is well paced and well done within the story. With the spotlight on battling to earn experience for Pokemon and earn points for promotion matches, nighttime is easily the most enjoyable time of the game.

In the city, wild Pokemon can attack the main character in specific zones called wild zones. If the player takes too much damage, they will black out just like would happen to a Pokemon in other games. It makes for a good addition to the gameplay because it adds another layer for the gamer to be mindful of not just during battles but when exploring the world. This mechanic helps the world feel more alive and dynamic, while providing the gamer with more to consider during battles as they switch between Pokemon. It can also be used as a strategic option to take a hit in place of a Pokemon to avoid them taking damage but the player can only take so many hits before blacking out so it’s an interesting strategy to implement.Â

Players need to be mindful of the environment during battles. For example, if there’s a structure in the way of an attack, the attack will hit the structure and not pass through it to the opposing pokemon. Players can use this to their own advantage as well so it adds another fun layer of strategy to each battle.Â

Even outside of battle, this applies to attempting to catch Pokemon. It’s an easy, seamless and more realistic system that avoids some of the nuisances of previous Pokemon games. For example, players can throw a Poke ball at a wild Pokemon to try to catch it if it is tame enough or the player can attack the Pokemon to knock them out first to increase the chances of catching the Pokemon. If a Pokemon is knocked out, the player has a very quick window to try to catch the Pokemon, which is significantly better than the old games where knocking out a Pokemon in battle wouldn’t allow the player an attempt to catch them. At Pokemon Centers, a non-play character will have the player’s errantly-thrown Poke balls available to receive at no cost, which is a brilliant quality-of-life feature because just by nature of the control scheme or camera it can be easy to misjudge a throw. These are just two of the many fantastic quality-of-life features in Z-A.

During battle, all Pokemon gain experience unless they were knocked out. Another smart quality-of-life feature is allowing players who fall to a boss battle to restart with the previous damage they dealt to the opponent. This allows players to avoid the frustration of having to start a boss from scratch after making significant progress. Considering some of these boss battles against Mega Pokemon can be challenging, especially if underleveled, this was a necessary inclusion.Â

Players can evolve Pokemon directly from the menu instead of them automatically evolving after leveling up, which is a great change from the original games in case players don’t want to evolve a specific Pokemon. Players can swap a Pokemon’s moves in the menu instead of Pokemon forgetting moves, which is another amazing quality-of-life feature that the original games would have benefited from including.

Of course, Pokemon Legends: Z-A includes multiplayer for ranked and private battles, plus trading. These features have always been a core aspect of Pokemon dating back to the original Game Boy. Given the enhancements in gameplay, it’s going to be awesome to watch competitive matches and battle friends because of the many different party combinations.

The map is fantastic with clear objective markers to avoid getting lost. It’s easy to identify which missions are for the main story and which are side quests (which there are dozens of throughout the game). Players can fast travel to previously-visited locations quickly with minimal loading time, especially when playing on the Nintendo Switch 2. The verticality of the world is impressive with tons of items to find. One Pokemon can follow the player around, which has always been a welcomed feature ever since it was seen in Pokemon Yellow. It’s not just for show either, it’s crucial for exploration because certain maneuvers by a Pokemon can create new paths or destroy obstacles, such as a boulder or pile of sludge, to progress to new areas or find items.Â

Finally, Pokemon Legends: Z-A runs smoothly with no technical issues or glitches whether running in TV mode or handheld on Nintendo Switch 2. Although there’s still no voice acting, the soundtrack and sound effects are very well done. The game does a good job throughout the story of giving background and personality to the different characters, especially those closest to the main character. Compared to previous games, Pokemon Legends: Z-A is easily the best-looking Pokemon game to date. Environments of Lumiose City look great. Depending where the player is in the city, it can be populated with people and Pokemon, or appear to be barebones and isolated to give it an unsettling atmosphere. It’s awesome to see people and Pokemon both out and about in the city because it makes it feel one step closer to realizing that dream of seeing the anime come to life in a video game. The Legends series has done the best job at recreating that feeling and Z-A is another step in the right direction for the franchise achieving that vision.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A is easily one of the best Pokemon games ever released regardless of genre. The Legends series continues to trend in a more mature direction for the series with its gameplay, graphics and story.Â

The more active, fast-paced gameplay of Z-A requires more quick thinking and planning from the player compared to the traditional turn-based series. There is more challenge in battles and even exploration in Z-A compared to most Pokemon games, which will be a welcomed addition for more experienced gamers. Although the Mega mechanic may be controversial for some gamers, the difficulty spike helps push Z-A to being a more strategic game instead of mindlessly mashing the attack button.Â

Featuring a well-paced story with a compelling mystery and arguably the best gameplay in the franchise to date, Pokemon Legends: Z-A manages to surpass Pokemon Legends: Arceus and cement itself as one of the best games in franchise history. In a packed year for Nintendo featuring Game of the Year contenders Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza, Pokemon Legends: Z-A is a must-play hit.

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