By: Daniel Kendle

(Wind blows).

Oh, hello there. It’s me: Mr. Whatshisname. Come sit; my fire’s got enough kindling for another few hours.

You may be wondering why I’m currently sitting in an abandoned Tim Horton’s, holding my hands out to a campfire as green-tinted snow falls around us. Me too! It’s honestly funny how the government tried to hide incoming nuclear fallout from us until the very moment of its conception. Or at least it would be, except for the fact that my cutting knives are made from melted squirrel teeth.

Still not convinced of the nuclear apocalypse’s existence, huh? You recognize that tall, warped monument off in the distance? Eiffel Tower. Boom. Yeah, things have gotten kind of out of hand since the Super Weapon went off. I mean, how did I even get to France in the first place? I live in Minnesota.

Actually, the Super Weapon itself actually was the Eiffel Tower. The monument was secretly designed akin to a giant energy ray, one that shot up into the sky and then down again. This blast caused all this: the snow, the wreckage, the biped horses, everything.

Y’know, this whole thing’s a bit of a coincidence. Just over a month ago the newest mainline game in the ‘Pokémon’ franchise was released, also taking place in a region inspired by France. It’s all I’ve been playing since the apocalypse began. Oh, you’re wondering Why I’ve been playing on my Switch 2 in the midst of a fallout zone? Well now, (chuckles) it’s not like I can lug my Xbox around with me, now can’t I?

But that’s enough preamble. As the embers in front of us slowly wither and die, I thought it’d be fitting to log one last game for this serial before, uh, dying. So without further ado, it’s time to answer this: is ‘Pokémon Legends: Z-A’ a maverick title in the franchise, or does it succumb to the plights of gameplay reinvention and flop as a result? As always, let’s find out.

. . .

4 logs remain.

Let’s begin with an overview of the game as a whole. ‘Z-A’ is a real-time action RPG taking place entirely within a single city in the ‘Pokémon’ world, known as Lumiose City. You play as a tourist who recently moved there, taking up residence in a hotel as you compete in the nocturnal Z-A Royale to prove your strength. Alongside this venture is a quest to solve a mystery plaguing the town involving the ephemeral Mega Energy.

For this review we’ll have multiple chapters: Gameplay, New Pokémon Designs, Graphics, and Music. Hopefully this’ll help keep things on task; the cold’s been numbing my brain, weakening it as a result.

PART 1: GAMEPLAY

This is easily the most extensive section to discuss. The main differentiator between ‘Z-A’ and past ‘Pokémon’ games comes down to its new real-time battling system. The first for the mainline series, this change comes with a bevy of new adjustments to past features from the turn-based system of old.

Battles, whether with wild Pokémon, NPC trainers or other players, function the same: you start by throwing out your selected Pokémon, then use a mix of 4 moves assigned to the A, B, X and Y buttons. Every move in the game has a cooldown period dictating when you can use it. Already here we have a big difference from past combat: PP (Power Points) used to show how many times you could use a move. Now you can use a move indefinitely, with the cooldown balancing PP’s removal.

Your companions aren’t the only ones fighting, though: YOU do too! At all times you and your current Pokémon can run around the battlefield, allowing you to dodge attacks. This is another example of the real-time effect in action: now, dodging attacks doesn’t rely on moves’ accuracy percentages, but your physical maneuvering.

In fact, most past battling components have had their functionality factored. Status ailments don’t whittle down your team members per term, instead over a period of time. For example, poison doesn’t deplete health at the end of each turn, but instead every few seconds your Pokémon’s on the field. “Trap” moves, like Fire Spin and Whirlpool are similar, where instead of dealing damage each turn, they now occupy a space on the floor temporarily, lowering health of any who step inside them. The list goes on, but one thing remains certain: this new battling system is foreign to past entries of the series, and it’s highly-commendable in that regard.

While you could easily zone out in prior titles, ‘Z-A’ instead keeps your focus constantly, a mark of praise that shouldn’t go without overlooking. This reimagined system is among this game’s biggest strengths, and a reason why this game is so replayable. We’ll discuss that latter point a bit later, though.

But what can you do with this new system? Well, aside from ranked online matches, an in-game use for battling is the Z-A Royale, another staple of playthroughs. In universe, these are nighttime tournaments held in Battle Zones where trainers defeat other trainers, gaining points for promotion matches to raise their rank. The overall objective is to climb from rank Z to rank A, becoming the best of the best.

In action, these are simple, but well-designed events. Upon entering one, you’re forced to skulk around, locating other trainers and – hopefully – surprise-attacking one with your Pokémon. Doing so catches them off guard, giving you an advantage. This rule goes both ways, however – if an NPC catches you unawares first, you’ll be stunned momentarily. After engaging each other, a battle commences, with the winner gaining medals (collectibles that translate to in-game currency at night’s end), and points. Gain enough, and you’ll be given a ticket for your promotion match.

Dotted throughout Battle Zones are also cards with varying objectives to complete, such as catching opponents unawares or using a super effective move. Upon doing so an X amount of times, you’ll be given more points and medals, potentially speeding up your time in zones.

Overall, Battle Zones are wildly-fun to mess around in. Levels of your enemies scale per rank, giving you fair fights no matter your place in the main story. They facilitate the short, snappy battles well, and continue being fun both during the campaign and in post-game. A highlight of the game for sure.

The other type of zone, as well as the last main part of gameplay are Wild Zones. In the story, an influx of wild Pokémon into Lumiose City has caused their creation, allowing trainers to catch them within “natural” habitats (at least, as natural as the Parisian skyline allows). Progressing through the campaign opens more Wild Zones to players, allowing them new Pokémon as a result.

These are a much more controversial aspect of ‘Z-A,’ from what I’ve gathered. While most offer a decent amount of vertical depth, the majority of zones are pretty small and inconsequential compared to the routes of past games. You’ll usually only find a handful of monsters in each zone, making them quick to clear out. Some also have stout layouts, stout enough to where you can explore them pretty fast. There’s 20 overall, so while I can’t expect everyone to hit right, I wish they wouldn’t range in quality so frequently. Also, the fact that they all take place in the city makes them blend together quickly. Sewers, architecture and weather can sometimes help, but there’s not a zone in the game that forgoes containing buildings and streets. A missed opportunity for variance, in my opinion.

I like Wild Zones in concept, but their execution leaves a lot to be desired. They don’t hinder gameplay, but their linearity leaves me longing for the larger landscapes of old. They’re far from bad, but calling them good still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. That, and this squirrel meat.

Forgot about me freezing to death already? Hope not; that kind of leaves the serial’s past 20 episodes a bit of a waste. Anyways, one of my logs is soon to burn out, so let’s wrap this section up soonish with some smaller features.

• Cafés are common sights around the city, acting as optional locales for taking photos with your party members. While not super impactful in my playthrough, their inclusion is justified and respected. Not everything’s black-and-white, of course.
• I seldom change my appearance in games when given the option, so buying outfits also wasn’t of much interest. Again: they’re cool. Just not my cup of tea.
• The same catching mechanic from ‘Pokémon Legends: Arceus’ returns, giving you 360º control of throwing Pokéballs. Since that was a big feature of that game, I’ll ignore diving into it for the sake of time, considering it was translated about the same here. Still super fun, though!
  • Alpha Pokémon and Pokémon attacking you in general were also carried over, but for the same reasons as above I’ll leave it at that.
• Lastly, there’s another large part of battling that we need to discuss, one which initially made its debut over a decade ago. That’s right, I’m talking about…

PART 2: SKY BATTLES MEGA EVOLUTION

3 logs remain.

As a mechanic, Mega Evolution doesn’t stray far from its namesake: in battle, a select handful of Pokémon can Mega Evolve, changing their physical form, stats, and giving a boost in strength. While there were many before, ‘Z-A’ has introduced a batch of new evolutions – 26, in fact!

Mega Evolution has also changed to abide by real-time battling. Mega Evolving is restricted to a set time limit, only able to be paused by retreating your Pokémon. A buff to the mechanic comes in the form of “C+” moves, though. All Pokémon are able to use their normal moves as C+ moves, giving them more power in exchange for some of your Mega meter. All Megas have their moves changed to C+ moves by default, staying that way until the time limit runs out.

Mega Evolution is a well-balanced mechanic, but who cares?! I’m an art student, so all I care about is whether their designs look like they can kill me or not. If you want to skip ahead of this chapter, go ahead: I’ll be bulletpointing my opinions on a handful of Pokémon designs here. If so, then let’s go.

• I chose Totodile as my starter Pokémon, giving me later access to Feraligatr and – even later – Mega Ferligatr. This new design is controversial in how it changes the least from its original form, aside from a fin on its back turning into a giant fake jaw. When it chomps down, it gives Feraligatr the appearance of a giant Totodile, which is both really cute and sick. Some may hate it, calling it akin to Skibidi Toilet, but I honestly think it’s rad.
• Mega Starmie is another debated-upon design, which I think is much more understandable. It’s the quintessential joke form, with the sole change being making the starfish’s legs longer. I’m usually not a fan of dumb designs made just for the sake of being dumb, but I won’t lie and say I don’t get a kick out of it. A textbook guilty pleasure design, in my book.
• Mega Dragalge’s Pokédex entry (the franchise-wide catalog of every Pokémon species) states the following:

“It spits a liquid that causes the regenerative power of cells to run wild. The liquid is deadly poison to everything other than itself.”

See that first sentence? Well, for the uninitiated, you know what else causes the same?

Yup.

• My favorite new Mega Evolution is easily Mega Malamar. The concept remains similar – a psychedelic, malevolent, upside-down squid – but turns them into a colossal squid mixed with a mad scientist/disco hybrid. It’s as raw as ever and among the best designs introduced; my favorite, definitely. Glad they revealed this guy pre-launch for marketing.

That’s about all the designs I specifically wanted to highlight, but obviously not the extent of my thoughts on this new batch. I’d say I generally enjoy the majority of new designs in this game, more so than most. That’s not to say there aren’t any stinkers, but still: a fine batch of new creatures.

. . .

Wow. What a thrilling couple of sections. You can tell I’m excited because of the monotone nature of my voice. It’s also how you can tell I’m slowly freezing to death, funnily-enough.

I think I need to rest. While only a couple sections in, I feel the need to rest my voice. I’ve been talking for so long, long enough to where I’m beginning to attract…predators.

(Wolves howl in the distance).

That’ll be all for today’s episode of JOYSTiCK Reviews. For now I need to figure out how to end these articles better…and how to survive this night.

“Will Mr. Whatshisname survive the frigid Paris night? Will he manage to enkindle a fire long enough to finish this review? And will scientists ever figure out how a Minnesotan high-school student managed to magically end up in France? Find out all of this and MORE in the next episode of “JOYSTiCK Ball Z.”