The Protagonist

Greetings, trainers!

We’re in the second week of the Pokemon Legends: Z-A release! Time flies when a new game comes out.

I’m about halfway through the main story. Unfortunately for people like myself, the world doesn’t stop for a new game. If I did have the power to pause any moment in life though, I would pause for a new game or book any day!

Alas, I’ve tried my best to find time around my work and social schedule to play the game. I’m hoping that when I’m off to Japan next month, I can play to my heart’s content while traveling. 😍

But being me, I just couldn’t wait until I finished the game to start sharing my thoughts. I aim to do a full game review and more Z-A content later.

Today I’ll share my thoughts on: the good, bad and mixed. Do you share a similar opinion? Read on to find out!

The good

These are the things that work for me so far. Each of these are a big win in my eyes.

Player customisation options

There’s a crazy amount of player customisation. The fashion and hairstyles in the last few Pokemon games have gotten pretty darn good. In Z-A, however, they’ve taken it to the next level by adding detailed hair colour and styles- you can even get a balayage! As someone who loves going to the hairdressers, I’m super impressed with this.

The customisation options in Z-A truly are the best out of all the Pokemon games. I love the direction they went in.

A dynamic way of battling

Z-A is not turn-based combat like traditional Pokemon games. The battles are more difficult as players need to think on their feet in real time. For example, timing and range are important when using or dodging a move. Players also need to have faster reflexes for execution. Combining this with Mega-evolutions and return of the Alpha Pokemon, battles require more than just spamming moves.

I’m playing on the Switch 1. Although it doesn’t have as many frames per second compared to the Switch 2, performance is smooth enough.

Quality of life improvements

I’ve enjoyed how quickly and easily it is to do tasks that have otherwise been tedious in other Pokemon games. The menu in Z-A is so much better in my opinion. Players are no longer forced to decide on moves or evolve a Pokemon right after battle. They can now choose to do this whenever they want from the menu. And thank goodness for not having to go see a guy in a random town every time you want to change your Pokemon’s nickname! These are changes that I can get behind because they make the game feel more fluid.

Just remember to check the moves of your Pokemon more often though because the notification can be easily missed.

The bad

These are the things I think are lacking in the game. Be warned, there’s a fair few!

Lack of main character energy

I don’t have the highest of expectations when it comes to the story in a Pokemon game. Like most people, I’m here for the Pokemon.

However, I haven’t been able to ignore the main character’s lack of credibility. It’s not the first time either. Z-A focuses on making all the NPCs feel real by exploring their aspirations and back stories, but neglects to do the same for the protagonist. We don’t have any aspirations or real thoughts of our own and therefore feel two-dimensional. When we arrive in Lumiose City, no context is given about where we’ve come from or why we’re here really. Nobody even asks.

We’re just supposed to accept getting exploited by a charming stranger and his friends to save a city we don’t even live in. 🤪

I can see this being a deliberate design choice. The protagonist is a blank slate so you can self-insert. This doesn’t work for me. There’s no sense of mystery or intrigue when no one is curious about us. It feels bland.

I would’ve been happy with a one-liner (and options to pick from) about why we’re visiting Lumiose City. Is it for school? Where are we from? Do our parents even know we’re here? Why are we gifted with Pokemon when we arrived here without any? Z-A is lowkey giving me an identity crisis I didn’t know I would have.

Maybe there’s an explanation later in the game. But, being halfway through the story, I see it as a missed opportunity to build character.

Missing key mechanic

Way back in the day as a Pokemon trainer, we couldn’t run unless we had running shoes. Fast forward to modern Pokemon, we no longer have that issue. We’re running everywhere now, with whatever shoes we’re wearing.

Z-A introduces a lot of parkour, whether you’re climbing scaffolding or gliding across rooftops. If this is the direction they’re taking the game, allowing players the ability to jump makes sense. It’s 2025 and we (still) can’t jump in a Pokemon game. It’s bizarre! Hopefully they’re working on this and one day we can jump.

If Magikarp can jump, why can’t we? – Elena, 2025, probably

No Pokemon breeding

In Pokemon Legends: Arceus, there was no nursery. As it was the first game in the series, I didn’t think about the future of Legends titles. Z-A doesn’t have this feature either.

For those who knew me in my streaming days, I was an avid Pokemon shiny hunter. One of my favourite methods was the Masuda method (AKA hatching eggs). I didn’t play as much post-game Arceus because of the missing feature. Based on this, the same thing will likely happen with the post-game in Z-A too. We’ll see though.

I know Pokemon breeding isn’t for everyone, but hopefully this clears it up for those who wanted to know for Z-A.

No voice acting

I don’t have much to say on this one except that I thought that this would’ve existed in Pokemon games by now. It’s likely another design decision, but I feel like it hinders the player experience. Voice acting is prevalent in a lot of RPG games to connect and immerse the player in the world. Even small indie games add it to their budget these days.

This is an area that I feel like the Pokemon games are severely lacking in. They don’t need to do full voice acting either to start. Sprinkling in some key phrases or voice lines can make a world of a difference.

Mixed

Finally, these are the other little things that I currently have mixed feelings about. More time in the game might help me decide on these.

The wild zones

I am undecided on how I feel about them. On the one hand, they’re probably my favourite part of the game. This is because I love the excitement of encountering new Pokemon in the wild. I also enjoy the mystery and the thrill of the hunt.

However, on the other hand, I feel like something’s lacking with the design. By mid-game, the zones still feel really small and enclosed. One reason could be due to the limited number of Pokemon in the game that I mentioned earlier. I find that I clear the areas way too quickly without trying very hard. It also gets super chaotic and squishy when you have Alpha Pokemon in the zones chasing you.

The game also shows information about the Pokemon in the wild zones before you’ve entered them. While it’s good from a completionist point of view (to ensure you don’t miss anything), having the visibility to see what Pokemon lives in each zone takes away the novelty for me. I think the game tries and makes up for this by having random Pokemon on the rooftops. But, exploring the rooftops isn’t the same as exploring these special areas. Z-A might have been better off sticking to one style and doing it well.

Money-making capabilities

It’s really easy, perhaps too easy, to make money in this game (if only it were this easy IRL hey). Usually in a Pokemon game, your main source of money comes from battling trainers. Legends games have quests to complete which also can give you money. In addition to these options, Lumiose city is littered with items that respawn frequently.

For the player who wants to interact with every item they see, it can get very distracting (and old) quickly. Imagine trying to get from A to B in the city and everywhere you look, there’s glittering objects, Pokeballs, mega shards, and more glittering objects. The glittering objects are items such as pearls that you can sell for a quick buck.

Not only is it easy to accumulate and sell these items, it sends a signal that money is an abundant resource and you don’t need to work hard for it. The impact on players is that the game feels less challenging or rewarding.

The respawn rate for the items could be adjusted to spawn less frequently. There is a lot to spend money on in this game though so that would need to be considered.

The wild zones / battle zones cycle

Z-A places huge emphasis on the day-night cycles. This is because there are different things you can do during these times of the day. For example, at night, a battle zone appears. This is a designated area where you can battle trainers to earn tickets to rank up in the city’s tournament. There are also wild zones, which are fenced off areas to catch Pokemon. Entry to these are not limited to time of day. However, different Pokemon may show up depending on the time.

In the early game, these areas were pretty repetitive. There’s an unnecessary cut scene every single time it changes. Often, I felt rushed to try and do things before time changed, and it made me feel really time conscious. By mid-game, as the story progressed, I think I adjusted but I’m not sure if I like it.

My overall thoughts so far

I’ll reserve whether I recommend playing Z-A until after I finish the game.

So far though, I’m enjoying it and am glad to be playing it. It’s definitely an improvement over the last few Pokemon games in the franchise but a far-cry from perfection.

As promised, I started my journey with Chikorita. He’s a Meganium now and I adore him!

I’ve almost finalised my Pokemon party for the main story and I’m keen to share the team later.

If you’re about to start your Pokemon journey and you can’t decide on a starter, check out my post.

That’s it for now!

Look after yourself,

Elena