The Pokémon franchise has been enticing gamers to catch and train up their colorful “pocket monsters” since way back in 1996. And for the first 20 years or so, the games generally followed a common formula. Then, in 2022, the Nintendo game makers shifted things a bit with Pokémon Legends: Arceus.
While traditional Pokémon games were turn-based RPGs with a linear path of Poké gyms and competitive battling, the Arceus spinoff created something new: a real-time run-and-dodge battle system set in a sprawling open world. (Some loved the approach, others not so much.)
Pokémon Legends: Z-A carries on Arceus’ formula of exploration and battling, this time confining all the action to the large, multi-zoned city of Lumiose.
The game begins with your character arriving in the Paris-like metropolis and getting pulled into an open battle royale of sorts. Your inexperienced trainer meets a new friend who helps them settle into Hotel Z, a cozy inn run by the 3,000-year-old owner, AZ.
It seems there’s a mysterious phenomenon sweeping through Lumiose City that causes wild Pokémon to spontaneously “Mega Evolve” and go berserk. A company called Quasartico Inc. is undertaking an urban redevelopment project to find a way to help these struggling creatures and allow Pokémon and humans to exist together in peace once again.
However, that will require help from some skilled trainers, which unsurprisingly, you have a natural propensity to be.
Players start with a single Water-, Fire- or Grass-type Pokémon. There are 18 standard types—including Ghost, Poison, Electric, Rock, Ice, Fighting, Flying, etc.—each with their own strengths, weaknesses, resistances and immunities. (Legends: Z-A offers some 230 different Pokémon to collect.)
Gamers visit Wild Zones within the city (which grow in number as the game proceeds) where they can battle and capture new Pokémon and form a powerful 6-member team. Your character must also join an ongoing Z-A Royale that takes place each night.
In specialized Battle Zones, players can creep up on other trainers and their Pokémon to deliver stealth attacks and take down their team. Each win gives credits toward a “promotional ticket.” And each promotional ticket opens the door to a tournament where trainers can battle and move up from Rank Z to Rank A.
As gamers and their Poké squads get stronger, they also gain the ability and tools to Mega Evolve their Pokémon. This is a vital ability to use when facing a berserking Rogue Mega Evolved Pokémon in the form of real-time boss battles.
On that front, it should be noted that the new real-time battle system requires that players move around a battling arena to take on foes with run, dodge and attack button-pushes. This style forces players to consider the charge time and cool-downs of an attack, along with type matchups and Pokémon positioning. It’s a much more complicated approach to battles.
When you’re not climbing the ranks of the Z-A Royale, filling in your Pokédex with new captures or quelling Rogue Mega Evolved Pokémon, the game offers lots of side quests and exploration opportunities. By completing research tasks, such as catching a quota of Pokémon types or securing each of the different creatures in a Wild Zone, you earn new moves and other rare items.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A is generally a single-player game that does not require an online connection. However, there is online and local multiplayer battling mode accessible through the Z-A Battle Club. That feature includes four-player, real-time battles; ranked online matches; and private battles. Online multiplayer activities require a paid Nintendo Switch Online membership.
This latest Pokémon entry may seem limited at first because of its single-city confines. But the game is jam-packed with a wide variety of battles, activities and side quests to invest time in as your character heroically saves the day.
There are NPC friendships to pursue, scores and scores of colorful Pokémon to seek out and capture and many rewarding areas to explore—from hidden rooftop treasure keeps and creatures to dungeon-like sewers and crawlspaces.
One of the major joys of this game is taking the time to explore the many possible moves that your Pokémon can learn and then blending the right creatures and abilities for a powerful and balanced team.
As you might expect, Pokémon Legends Z-A features many battles that can be percussive and involve cries of pain and explosive effects. (Though, the clashes are never bloody or lethal.)
Parents should also note that those complicated real-time skirmishes can be frustrating for younger Pokémon fans who aren’t used to the run-and-dodge mechanics. Creatures in the Wild Zones can attack in groups sometimes as well, making the battles very frenetic and overwhelming. Some boss battles can be much harder than expected, too.
There are also some subtle gender inclusions in the story mix. It’s mentioned, for instance, that certain Pokémon can be non-gender. And characters can be dressed and coiffed to fit a variety of nonbinary looks.
There’s a Mafia-like loan-shark storyline in the game as well. A young character borrows money for a good cause and then finds herself mired in interest-laden debt. Her friends are forced into running “jobs” for the mob. (Ultimately, the mob boss proves to be altruistic and forgives the excessive interest.)
The latest Pokémon game plays well and is packed with tons of colorful adventuring and creature collecting. But Pokémon Legends: Z-A can be harder than it looks for younger players, and it could require a bit of help from a Poké-playful parent.
After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.
