🔗 Share this article

I'm not sure exactly how the custom began, however I consistently call all my Pokémon trainers Malfunction.

Be it a core franchise game or a side project such as Pokkén Tournament DX along with Pokémon Go — the name always stays the same. Malfunction alternates between male and female characters, featuring dark and violet locks. Occasionally their fashion is impeccable, like in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, the latest addition in this enduring series (and among the more fashion-focused releases). Other times they're confined to the various school uniform designs of Pokémon Scarlet & Violet. Yet they're always Malfunction.

The Ever-Evolving Realm of Pokemon Games

Similar to my trainers, the Pokemon titles have transformed across releases, with certain cosmetic, others substantial. But at their heart, they remain identical; they're consistently Pokémon through and through. Game Freak discovered a nearly perfect mechanics system some three decades back, and just recently seriously tried to innovate on it with entries such as Pokémon Legends: Arceus (new era, your avatar faces peril). Across every version, the fundamental mechanics cycle of capturing and fighting alongside charming creatures has remained consistent for nearly the same duration as I've been alive.

Shaking Conventions in Pokémon Legends: Z-A

Similar to Arceus before it, featuring lack of arenas and emphasis on creating a creature catalog, Pokémon Legends: Z-A brings several changes into that framework. It's set completely in a single location, the French capital-inspired Lumiose City from Pokémon X and Y, abandoning the region-spanning journeys of earlier games. Pokémon are meant to live together with people, trainers and civilians, in ways we've only seen glimpses of before.

Even more radical than that Z-A's real-time combat mechanics. It's here the series' almost ideal core cycle experiences its most significant evolution yet, swapping methodical sequential fights for something more chaotic. And it is immensely fun, despite I find myself eager for another traditional entry. Although these alterations to the classic Pokemon recipe sound like they create a completely new adventure, Pokémon Legends: Z-A is as familiar as every other Pokémon title.

The Heart of the Journey: The Z-A Championship

Upon initially reaching at Lumiose Metropolis, whatever plans your custom avatar had as a tourist are discarded; you're promptly recruited by the female guide (for male avatars; the male guide if female) to become part of their squad of trainers. You're gifted a creature from them as your starter and you're dispatched into the Z-A Championship.

The Championship is the epicenter in Pokémon Legends: Z-A. It's similar to the classic "arena symbols to final challenge" progression of past games. But here, you battle a handful of trainers to gain the opportunity to compete in an advancement bout. Win and you will be promoted to a higher tier, with the ultimate goal of achieving the top rank.

Live-Action Combat: An Innovative Approach

Character fights take place at night, while sneaking around the assigned battle zones is very enjoyable. I'm always trying to surprise an opponent and unleash a free attack, since everything happens instantaneously. Attacks function with recharge periods, meaning you and your opponent may occasionally attack each other concurrently (and knock each other out simultaneously). It's much to get used to initially. Despite playing for nearly thirty hours, I continue to feel that there is much to master regarding using my Pokémon's moves in methods that work together synergistically. Placement also plays a significant part during combat since your creatures will follow you around or move to designated spots to execute moves (some are long-range, whereas others must be up close and personal).

The live combat causes fights progress so quickly that I often sometimes cycling through moves in identical patterns, even when this results in a less effective approach. There's no time to pause in Z-A, and numerous chances to get overwhelmed. Pokémon battles rely on feedback after using an attack, and that data is still present on screen within Z-A, but whips by rapidly. Sometimes, you cannot process it because diverting attention from your adversary will spell certain doom.

Navigating Lumiose City

Away from combat, you will traverse Lumiose Metropolis. It's fairly compact, though tightly filled. Deep into the game, I'm still discovering new shops and elevated areas to visit. It is also full of charm, and fully realizes the concept of Pokémon and people living together. Pidgey inhabit its pathways, taking flight when you get near like the real-life city birds getting in my way when walking through NYC. The monkey trio joyfully cling on streetlights, and insect creatures like Kakuna cling on branches.

An emphasis on urban life is a new direction for Pokémon, and a welcome one. Nonetheless, exploring Lumiose grows repetitive eventually. You may stumble upon an alley you haven't been to, but it feels identical. The building design lacks character, and most rooftops and underground routes offer little variety. Although I haven't been to Paris, the inspiration for Lumiose, I reside in New York for nearly a decade. It's a city where every district are the same, and all are vibrant with differences that provide character. Lumiose City doesn't have that. It features tan buildings with blue or red roofs and simply designed balconies.

The Areas Where Lumiose City Really Excels

In which Lumiose City really shines, surprisingly, is inside buildings. I loved how Pokémon battles within Sword & Shield occur in football-like stadiums, giving them real weight and meaning. Conversely, fights within Scarlet & Violet happen in a field with two random people watching. It's very disappointing. Z-A finds a balance between the two. You will fight in eateries with diners observing while they eat. A fancy battle society will extend an invitation to a tournament, and you'll battle on its penthouse court with a chandelier (not the Pokemon) suspended overhead. The most memorable spot is the elegantly decorated headquarters of a certain faction with its moody lighting and purple partitions. Several distinct combat settings overflow with personality missing in the larger city as a whole.

The Familiarity of Routine

Throughout the Royale, as well as quelling rogue Mega Evolved Pokémon and filling the creature index, there's an inescapable sense that, {"I