Pokémon Legends Z-A Is Making Me Feel Optimistic About This Series Again!

Pokémon Legends Z-A Logo.

Pokémon Day came and went and left us with a new trailer for the upcoming Pokémon Legends Z-A, and I have some thoughts on it.

Now, since I kept my expectations in check, I wasn’t overtly hyped for news. So I didn’t even try to catch the Pokémon Presents at the crack of dawn. Pun intended.

After getting some brunch, I clicked on the Pokémon Presents and, after waiting through a bunch of mobile game updates (yuck) and watching the teaser for Champions, a new battle simulator-type game that looks vaguely interesting, I finally got to the new trailer, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised!

To my pleasant surprise, the visuals are indeed cel-shaded, although they use Pokémon Scarlet & Violet’s style and not a similar style to the former game, Pokémon Legends Arceus. I really love the art style for the latter, and it’s a shame they didn’t do something similar but with a more French look. Luckily, it still looks surprisingly good and clean! A huge upgrade from the visuals of Scarlet & Violet, in my opinion, and what’s more, they went back to more stylized textures for the Pokémon, and they seem to have new models with more saturated colors! I, for one, am extremely happy for this change. I was not at all a fan of the realistic textures in Scarlet and Violet.

Furthermore, I’m glad that my previous worries were unfounded, as I mentioned back in an older post. I was worried that the teams over at Game Freak were going in a new direction visually, a direction I didn’t like as a veteran Pokémon fan. So far, this new game looks to be going in the right direction, in my humble opinion.

Your Player Character.

First, we have the new player characters. I like their designs quite a lot, and unlike Scarlet and Violet’s, these have returned to having their signature oval eyes that make player characters unique from other NPCs in this series. A welcomed return to form there.

Their neon green jackets are fitting, being that we are helping with the redevelopment of the city, and their hats are a nice touch. I also found it interesting that they’re using fanny packs instead of the usual backpack, similar to how in Pokémon Legends Arceus they use satchels. Calem and Serena, the player characters for Pokémon X and Y, for example, used a messenger bag and purse, respectively.

Urbain and Taunie, your rivals.

As for the new rivals, we have, for the first time in the series, a rival that will change their gender to be opposite of the gender you chose for your player character. These are Urbain and Taunie, respectively. I also really like their designs! Just like with the player characters, they both wear the same piece of clothing; a brown jacket in this case.

Being that you get a rival of the opposite gender makes me think there may be some dating elements involved? We had something similar with Curtis and Yancy in Pokémon Black and White 2, after all. These player characters look to be quite older than the norm; the XY player characters are also on the older side, and being that Kalos is based on France, the country of love, it makes a lot of sense to introduce a dating mechanic here. Plus, we have confirmation that these games are to be rated E 10+ (Everyone 10+). So maybe that plays into that?

AZ.

And lastly, we have the return of the immortal AZ, as well as Jett and Vinnie from Quasartico Inc. We don’t know much about them at the moment, but a lot of fans have already singled out Quasartico Inc. as the potential villains. I’m indifferent currently; there isn’t enough information at this point, but they will definitely play a major role in the story. AZ also plays a major role, as you stay in Hotel Z as your home base while playing the game. AZ seems much happier now with Floatte by his side, so that’s great to see! I see him playing a supporting role here, although some had said that he could be the real villain, but I doubt it.

Alright, before I go, we got to see how battles play out in this title, and some new mechanics have been added. Firstly, you can catch and battle Pokémon in different Wild Zones, similar to the Wild Areas of Pokémon Sword and Shield. These seem to act like routes and apparently are diverse enough for a variety of Pokémon species to live within them. Here, we see that there’s a variable that can make Pokémon easier or harder to catch, depending on different factors. Although we haven’t seen any indicator of the latter, so it may not be both ways.

Next, you have a chance to catch a Pokémon if you knock it out, as they get stunned. I’m not sure how long they stay stunned for, but it’s probably enough that you can catch them. Similar to Pokémon Legends Arceus, you could stun Pokémon if you throw a Poké Ball with a Pokémon in it at their backsides.

This is a nice Quality of Life improvement and would save me from accidentally losing a catch because of an accidental critical hit. I also like to note that the visibility icon on the UI is back, so we can expect Pokémon to notice you and run away or attack you, although probably not as savagely as in the last Legends title, being as these Pokémon are used to humans somewhat.

Lumiose City Map.

The battles are the best part of this trailer, in my opinion. Finally, we have real-time battles! You can dodge moves or counter with your own. The first Legends game toyed with this idea, making it more action-based, but now we are in the full precipice of this idea. I’m excited to try these out! I’m sure some moves will play differently, as it is not turn-based anymore, and I’ll bet there will be some cool combinations we could do. Also, your Pokémon now follow you both outside and inside of battle, so the ability to move your player character has functionality, as you can move to dodge attacks and your Pokémon will be right behind you!

Phew! I think I covered all that I wanted to talk about. Color me surprised! I’m now pretty hyped for this new release. Just a few weeks ago, if you told me I’d be excited about a new Pokémon game, I wouldn’t have believed you. For a while, I thought that this may be it for me, and that newer games wouldn’t catch my interest anymore. But I’m glad that I am wrong! The future of this series looks brighter now, and I hope it continues to be that way.

With a new era around the corner with the Nintendo Switch 2, I hope Game Freak moves from its experimentation phase to just keeping a consistent style from here on out and delivering polished games, no matter how long they take.

While I’m more optimistic, I’ll need more proof from Game Freak and The Pokémon Company that they’re actually listening to us and that they won’t repeat their mistakes again, and this is a good start!