I’ve been a Pokemon fan since playing Sapphire as a kid in 2002, but lately, I haven’t been nearly as excited for a mainline game as I used to be. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still playing TCG Pocket daily, but the big releases just haven’t been hitting the same. Pokemon Legends: Arceus didn’t fully grab me like I thought it would, and, sadly, I found Scarlet and Violet’s open world quite boring. My interest in the mainline games has been steadily declining for years. I thought, “Maybe it’s my turn to become the grumpy nostalgia guy who misses the old gens.” That is, until I got hands-on time with Pokemon Legends: Z-A last month at PAX West.
I played two short demos that lasted a total of maybe 10 minutes. And those 10 or so minutes of gameplay had me smiling from ear to ear nearly the entire time. This was just a vertical slice preview, but the gameplay in Pokemon Legends: Z-A feels like it takes the most innovative parts of Legends: Arceus and combines them with the most memorable parts of X and Y.
The first demo tasked me with finding and defeating three trainers inside a battle zone area, separate from the rest of Lumiose City. One big gameplay change from previous games is that trainer encounters are far less scripted than usual. They feel a bit like how you ran into Pokemon in the wild in Legends: Arceus. In that game, if you saw a Pokemon, you could initiate a battle by throwing your own Pokemon near it. A similar concept applies to trainers in Legends: Z-A.
If you see a trainer before they see you, you can tell your Pokemon to attack theirs to start the battle at an advantage while your opponent gets stunned. However, the same can happen to you. A trainer can catch you unawares by attacking whichever Pokemon you have following you before you even notice the challenger approaching.
I found myself hiding behind boxes and around corners in the city’s alleys to catch opponents by surprise. It’s a small feature, sure, but it gives you more of a reason to pay attention to your surroundings and stay engaged when other trainers are around. What has me the most excited, though, are the changes to combat.
Pokemon Legends: Z-A really makes you feel like a trainer. By that, I mean you’re in control of your player character at all times – even during battles. You’re given the option to strafe, evade, and reposition yourself as the trainer while you choose attacks or swap Pokemon in and out, in real-time. We saw Pokemon Legends: Arceus lean into this feeling, but Legends: Z-A takes it even further.
This switch from strictly turn-based combat to a system that’s more dynamic and fluid is something I didn’t expect, but welcome wholeheartedly. I didn’t have a problem with Pokemon’s combat at all before playing Legends: Z-A. I generally know what to expect from Pokemon battles by now, and I accept what has become the norm. But this felt like a case of breathing new life into a formula that has been successful for nearly 30 years – much like what Pokemon Legends: Arceus aimed to do in 2022 with its jump into the past.
In the case of Legends: Arceus, I just wasn’t personally interested in the focus on catching and discovering Pokemon because there weren’t actually that many brand new Pokemon to find. Instead, the flashes of wonder came more from the setting and time. For Legends: Z-A, it feels like the reimagined Lumiose City, coupled with the real-time gameplay, has the potential to create more of those awe-filled moments of unpredictability.
And while there are many combat changes in Legends: Z-A, not all of the familiar turn-based elements are lost. During battle, you still have four moves to choose from for your active Pokemon, but instead of being limited by PP, each move is on its own separate cooldown after each use. So, it isn’t a matter of running around and spamming attack moves over and over to win – you still need to know type advantages, when to use attacks versus stat/status-affecting moves, and other strategies.
The second demo reintroduced me to Mega Evolutions, allowing me to use Mega Lucario in a big fight against a wild Mega Absol. This battle felt like a fusion of the two phases you go through when quelling Noble Pokemon in Legends: Arceus. First, you’d have to avoid the Noble Pokemon’s attacks, then you could start a regular battle to defeat it.
In the demo, I did both at once – avoiding Mega Absol’s attacks as the trainer while choosing how and when Lucario should counterattack. And to mega evolve Lucario, I needed to collect energy that fell from Absol as it got attacked. This is when the real-time combat became a challenge in the best way. Mega Absol felt like an actual threat that needed to be overcome through quick thinking, solid reactions, and a bit of move knowledge.
For example, using super-effective Fighting-type moves dropped more energy to allow Lucario to mega evolve sooner, and using moves like Protect kept both Lucario and me safe from strong incoming attacks. This is usually how a turn-based battle would go anyway in terms of move selection, but having to manage cooldowns and instruct my Pokemon on the fly is a feeling I never knew I wanted.
It’s a confusing feeling at first – switching from static, turn-based battles where you had unlimited time to strategize, to becoming a trainer who directs the action as it happens. What sold me on the change was, oddly, my memories of watching the show as a kid over 20 years ago. What young fan didn’t want to run around with their own Pokemon, shouting out moves to use in battle? That’s what this feels like, and I’m happy to say that I can’t wait to play more when Pokemon Legends: Z-A launches next month.
