pokemon legends z-a

it's not perfect. but expecting it to be is ridiculous.

pokemon legends z-a is genuinely the most fun i've had playing any pokemon game since gen 4, which i first played in 2010 with pokemon platinum.

i love that gamefreak is finally starting to take some risks and experiment with changing up the formula. while i don't think that the new battle system is here to stay, it was incredibly fun and felt fresh after the same formulaic turn-based battle gameplay that we've had for literally more than 25 years at this point.

i went into this game almost 100% blind and had a blast. while it's obviously not without its problems, its still a great time playing through this game. it's genuinely long, packed with fun content, side quests, and character development, and has some of the most memorable moments from the entire series.

spoilers ahead!

battle system

this is the flagship new feature of legends z-a, and it lives up to the hype for sure. i saw someone online say that this is the closest we've ever been to pokemon battles that actually feel like how they're shown in the anime.

combat is engaging and i love that i can actually control my pokemon's movement to tactically dodge attacks. it takes a while to get the hang of it (i honestly was just button mashing / waiting for my attack cooldowns to reset before immediately using them again for ~ 70% of the main story). but when you do get the hang of it, it's incredibly satisfying to select the right choice of ranged vs. close up attack, use an attack tactfully to change your pokemon's position and move them somewhere else, or predict an opponent's attack to block at the opportune moment. the battle system honestly starts to feel more like casting spells/ 1v1ing someone in a MOBA than a traditional turn based pokemon battle.

one thing i was surprised at how much i actually ended up loving was the fact that wild / rogue pokemon can actually attack you as the trainer now. while this was also technically a feature in legends arceus, it integrates wonderfully with the rogue battles here. i'll touch more on this in the next section. getting attacked by random wild pokemon also just made the whole experience more immersive, and i love some of the little touches (e.g. i'm pretty sure that dark type pokemon have been coded to attack the player directly instead of going for their pokemon which is a nice easter egg to reflect their supposedly 'evil' nature).

rogue battles

by far the best addition in this game. i normally don't tend to be a fan of the gimmicks that each new pokemon game seems to introduce but these were incredible fun. this is the first time pokemon boss battles have actually felt like boss battles.

each rogue battle has unique attacks, different boss "phases," and the later ones provide a genuine challenge. i'm not ashamed to say that i actually blacked out more than once during some of the rogue battles at the tail end of the main story.

i also think that the final rogue battle at the end of the game is the most cinematic / well designed in the entire series by far. i never imagined that i would be controlling zygarde through a multi-phase boss battle against evil flowers that have taken control of the eiffel tower as part of a pokemon game. it's so well executed and the stakes / scale of the fight feel genuine.

new mega evolutions

on the opposite end, i think that the new megas are unfortunely the weakest part of this game. i'm not a fan of most of the designs and i think they were bland / uninspired. i tried to use a lot of the new megas and crafted a team of 6 full mega pokemon, but i found myself not really getting attached to most of them. i'm a big fan of mega emboar and even mega dragonite actually really works for me (even though everyone online seems to absolutely despise it). mega greninja is also decent. other than that, i really don't think most of the megas are compelling at all.

they were worked into the story decently, as most of the megas are either used by a prominent character or part of a raid that you take on at some point. unfortunately, the megas themselves just don't do much for me.

story & postgame

it's time to finally talk about one aspect of the game that i surprisingly found to be one of the strongest parts of the game.

this is the first time that i've ever been genuinely engaged by the characters of a pokemon game from start to finish. all the side characters are charming and get actual time in the spotlight to grow on you as a player and also reveal parts of their story/personality. i found myself attached to all of them by the end, which makes the ultimate coming together of all the characters at once in the climax even more rewarding. it's so cool to see all these characters that i've gotten to know through my adventure coming together to save lumiose.

i thought that the z-a royale was a cool concept and a nice switch up from the gym system that actually works well. when i played gen 7, i honestly despised the trial mechanic. it was boring, easy, and didn't feel like a satisfying replacement for gyms. legends z-a largely fixes this and does a great job of maintaining satisfying progression while trying something new.

however, i think it could have been implemented better. most of the royale battles are just mindless and can be one shotted by my pokemon. they never pose an actual challenge and the stakes feel very low.

i was also pretty disappointed that you get to just skip a large chunk of the ranks. when i first started climbing ranks i was super excited at how long the game was shaping up to be and how much there would be to do as i climbed up the rankings. just a few hours later, a quest let me skip literally like half the ranks and catapulted me way up the alphabet. while the game still ended up having plenty to do from that point and wasn't as short as i expected it would be after that, it's still not a satisfying way to handle the progression mechanic.

i'm also really happy with the postgame. there is genuinely enough to do that i felt drawn to keep playing for another 10 hours after finishing the main story. that's a pretty big deal considering that i basically dropped pokemon violet right after finishing the main story like an unloved toy because it was just so boring. i still find myself playing regularly as i strive to finish the pokedex, complete all of mabel's research missions, etc.

ranked

the aspect of the game i'm most disappointed with by far. i was so excited to hop on online ranked and try out my teams / movesets. i think that the way ranked is set up is cool conceptually but doesn't work well. you basically get thrown into a lobby with 3 other players and race to see who can get the most KOs in 3 minutes while everyone has infinite respawns. it's chaotic and feels very rng. it feels sort of like playing smash with items on and 4 people -- fun as a party game to play with your friends, but you still want a 1v1 with items off if you're playing ranked.

i'm even more frustrated because i feel like the z-a royale was the perfect opportunity for gamefreak to make an incredibly cool ranked system. i was hoping that online would just be a z-a royale lobby where trainers are all in a lobby together and can challenge each other to 1v1s to progress ranks and compete for the most tickets before sunrise.

the ranked system feels like it would be better fit for a casual online mode. i'm hoping they'll add a 1v1 ranked mode at some point.

problems

1. the fact that the map is all one city and looks as bad as it does is pretty damning. i honestly don't care that much about graphics but pokemon is a billion dollar franchise. we can't keep excusing bad graphics and performance because this is a true triple A game and deserves to be better given the price tag and spending power of the franchise.

2. no voice acting in 2025 is a joke.