Pokémon Chronicles: Z-A - A Fresh Evolution While Staying True to Its Origins

I'm not sure exactly how the tradition began, but I consistently call every one of my Pokemon characters Malfunction.

Whether it's a core franchise game or a spinoff like Pokkén Tournament DX and Pokémon Go — the moniker always stays the same. Malfunction switches between male and female avatars, featuring black and purple hair. Occasionally their fashion is impeccable, like in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, the newest addition in this enduring series (and one of the more style-conscious entries). At other moments they're confined to the assorted school uniform styles of Pokémon Scarlet & Violet. Yet they're always Glitch.

The Constantly Changing Realm of Pokemon Games

Much like my characters, the Pokémon games have transformed across releases, some superficial, others significant. However at their core, they remain the same; they're always Pokémon through and through. The developers discovered an almost flawless mechanics system approximately three decades back, and has only seriously tried to evolve on it with games such as Pokémon Legends: Arceus (different timeline, your character faces peril). Across every iteration, the fundamental gameplay loop of capturing and fighting with charming creatures has remained consistent for nearly the same duration as my lifetime.

Shaking the Mold in Pokémon Legends: Z-A

Like Arceus previously, with its absence of gyms and focus on compiling a creature catalog, Pokémon Legends: Z-A brings multiple changes into that formula. It's set entirely in one place, the Paris-inspired Lumiose City of Pokémon X & Y, abandoning the expansive journeys of earlier titles. Pokémon are intended to coexist with people, battlers and civilians, in ways we've only glimpsed before.

Even more drastic is Z-A's live-action battle system. It's here the series' almost ideal core cycle experiences its most significant transformation to date, swapping deliberate turn-based fights with more frenetic action. And it is immensely fun, despite I feel eager for a new turn-based entry. Though these changes to the classic Pokemon recipe seem like they form an entirely fresh adventure, Pokémon Legends: Z-A feels as recognizable as every other Pokemon game.

The Heart of the Journey: The Z-A Championship

Upon first arriving at Lumiose Metropolis, whatever plans your custom avatar had as a tourist are discarded; you're promptly enlisted by Taunie (for male avatars; the male guide if female) to become part of their squad of trainers. You're gifted one of her Pokémon as your first partner and you're dispatched into the Z-A Championship.

The Royale serves as the centerpiece of Pokémon Legends: Z-A. It's comparable to the traditional "arena symbols to final challenge" progression of past games. However here, you fight a handful of opponents to earn the opportunity to compete in a promotion match. Win and you will be promoted to the next rank, with the ultimate goal of achieving rank A.

Live-Action Battles: A New Approach

Trainer battles occur at night, while navigating stealthily the designated combat areas is very entertaining. I'm constantly attempting to get a jump on an opponent and launch an unopposed move, because everything happens instantaneously. Attacks function with recharge periods, indicating both combatants can sometimes strike simultaneously concurrently (and knock each other out at once). It's a lot to get used to at first. Even after gaming for almost thirty hours, I continue to feel that there is plenty to learn regarding employing my creatures' attacks in ways that work together synergistically. Placement also factors as a major role in battles as your Pokémon will follow you around or move to designated spots to perform attacks (some are long-range, while others need to be up close and personal).

The live combat causes fights progress so quickly that I often repeating sequences through moves in identical patterns, despite this results in a suboptimal strategy. There's no time to breathe in Z-A, and plenty of chances to become swamped. Creature fights rely on response post-move execution, and that data remains visible on the display in Z-A, but flashes past quickly. Sometimes, you cannot process it because taking your eyes off your adversary will spell immediate defeat.

Navigating Lumiose City

Away from combat, you'll explore Lumiose City. It's relatively small, although tightly filled. Far into the adventure, I'm still discovering unseen stores and elevated areas to explore. It is also rich with character, and perfectly captures the vision of creatures and humans living together. Pidgey inhabit its pathways, flying away as you approach like the real-life pigeons getting in my way while strolling in New York City. The Pan Trio monkeys joyfully cling from lampposts, and bug-Pokémon like Kakuna attach themselves on branches.

A focus on city living represents a fresh approach for the franchise, and a positive change. Even so, exploring Lumiose grows repetitive over time. You might discover an alley you haven't been to, but you wouldn't know it. The building design is devoid of personality, and most rooftops and underground routes offer little variety. While I haven't been to Paris, the model behind Lumiose, I reside in New York for nearly a decade. It's a city where every district are the same, and all are alive with uniqueness that provide character. Lumiose Metropolis doesn't have that. It features tan buildings with blue or red roofs and flatly rendered terraces.

Where The Metropolis Really Excels

Where the city really shines, surprisingly, is inside buildings. I adored the way creature fights within Sword & Shield occur in arena-like venues, giving them real weight and importance. On the flipside, fights within Scarlet & Violet take place in a field with few spectators observing. It's a total letdown. Z-A strikes a middle ground between both extremes. You will fight in restaurants with patrons watching as they dine. An elite combat club will invite you to a tournament, and you'll battle on its penthouse court under a lighting fixture (not the Pokemon) suspended overhead. The most memorable spot is the beautifully designed base of the Rust Syndicate with its moody lighting and purple partitions. Various individual battle locales overflow with personality missing in the larger city in general.

The Comfort of Routine

During the Championship, along with quelling rogue powered-up creatures and completing the Pokédex, there is an unavoidable sense that, {"I