🔗 Share this article

I don't recall exactly how the custom started, but I consistently call all my Pokémon trainers Malfunction.

Be it a core franchise title or a spinoff like Pokkén Tournament DX along with Pokémon Go — the moniker never changes. Malfunction switches between male and female avatars, featuring dark and violet hair. Occasionally their fashion is flawless, like in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, the newest addition in the long-running franchise (and among the most fashion-focused releases). At other moments they're limited to the various academic attire designs of Pokémon Scarlet & Violet. But they remain Glitch.

The Ever-Evolving World of Pokémon Titles

Much like my trainers, the Pokemon titles have evolved across releases, with certain superficial, some substantial. But at their core, they remain identical; they're consistently Pokemon to the core. Game Freak discovered an almost flawless gameplay formula some three decades back, and has only seriously tried to innovate on it with entries such as Pokémon Legends: Arceus (different timeline, your character faces peril). Across every version, the fundamental gameplay loop of catching and battling alongside charming creatures has remained consistent for almost the same duration as I've been alive.

Shaking Conventions in Pokémon Legends: Z-A

Like Arceus previously, featuring absence of gyms and focus on creating a Pokédex, Pokémon Legends: Z-A introduces multiple deviations to that formula. It takes place entirely in a single location, the Paris-inspired Lumiose Metropolis from Pokémon X and Y, ditching the expansive journeys of previous titles. Pokemon are meant to live together alongside people, trainers and non-trainers alike, in manners we have merely seen glimpses of previously.

Far more radical than that Z-A's real-time combat mechanics. This is where the series' near-perfect core cycle undergoes its most significant transformation to date, swapping deliberate sequential fights with something more chaotic. And it is thoroughly enjoyable, even as I find myself ready for a new traditional entry. Although these changes to the traditional Pokémon formula sound like they form a completely new adventure, Pokémon Legends: Z-A is as familiar as any other Pokemon game.

The Heart of the Journey: The Z-A Royale

When initially reaching at Lumiose Metropolis, any intentions your custom avatar had as a tourist get abandoned; you're promptly enlisted by the female guide (if playing as a male character; the male guide for female characters) to join their squad of battlers. You receive a creature from them as your starter and you're dispatched into the Z-A Championship.

The Championship serves as the centerpiece in Pokémon Legends: Z-A. It's comparable to the traditional "gym badges to Elite Four" progression from earlier titles. However here, you battle a handful of opponents to gain the opportunity to participate in an advancement bout. Succeed and you'll be promoted to the next rank, with the final objective of achieving the top rank.

Real-Time Combat: An Innovative Approach

Character fights occur at night, while sneaking around the assigned combat areas is very enjoyable. I'm always trying to get a jump on an opponent and launch a free attack, since all actions occur in real time. Moves operate on recharge periods, meaning you and your opponent may occasionally attack each other concurrently (and knock each other out at once). It's a lot to adjust to initially. Even after playing for nearly 30 hours, I still feel that there is much to master regarding using my Pokémon's moves in methods that work together synergistically. Placement also factors as a significant part in battles since your creatures will follow you around or move to designated spots to perform attacks (some are long-range, whereas others need to be in close proximity).

The live combat makes battles progress so quickly that I often repeating sequences of attacks in the same order, even when this amounts to a suboptimal strategy. There isn't moment to pause during Z-A, and plenty of chances to get overwhelmed. Pokémon battles depend on feedback post-move execution, and that data remains visible on the display in Z-A, but whips by rapidly. Occasionally, you cannot process it since diverting attention from your adversary will spell immediate defeat.

Navigating Lumiose City

Outside of battle, you'll explore Lumiose Metropolis. It's fairly compact, though tightly filled. Far into the adventure, I continue to find unseen stores and rooftops to explore. It is also rich with character, and fully realizes the concept of Pokémon and people coexisting. Common bird Pokemon populate its sidewalks, taking flight when you get near similar to actual city birds getting in my way when walking through NYC. The Pan Trio monkeys joyfully cling from lampposts, and bug-Pokémon like Kakuna cling to trees.

A focus on urban life is a new direction for the franchise, and a welcome one. Even so, navigating the city becomes rote over time. You may stumble upon a passage you never visited, but it feels identical. The architecture lacks character, and many elevated areas and underground routes offer little variety. While I never visited Paris, the model behind Lumiose, I reside in New York for nearly a decade. It's a metropolis where no two blocks differs, and all are alive with uniqueness that give them soul. Lumiose City lacks that quality. It features tan buildings topped with colored roofs and simply designed terraces.

The Areas Where Lumiose City Truly Shines

In which Lumiose City really shines, surprisingly, is inside buildings. I adored how Pokémon battles within Sword and Shield occur in football-like stadiums, providing them genuine significance and importance. On the flipside, fights within Scarlet and Violet happen in a field with two random people watching. It's very disappointing. Z-A strikes a middle ground between the two. You will fight in eateries with diners observing as they dine. A fancy battle society will invite you to a competition, and you'll battle on its penthouse court under a lighting fixture (not Chandelure) hanging above. My favorite location is the elegantly decorated headquarters of the Rust Syndicate with atmospheric illumination and purple partitions. Various individual battle locales overflow with personality missing in the overall metropolis as a whole.

The Comfort of Routine

Throughout the Royale, as well as quelling rogue Mega Evolved Pokémon and completing the Pokédex, there's an inescapable feeling of, {"I