Pokémon Chronicles: Z-A - A Fresh Transformation While Remaining True to Its Roots

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

Be it a core franchise title or a spinoff such as Pokkén Tournament DX along with Pokémon Go — the name always stays the same. Glitch alternates from male to female characters, featuring dark and violet hair. Occasionally their style is impeccable, as seen in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, the latest addition in the long-running franchise (and one of the more fashion-focused releases). At other moments they're confined to the assorted school uniform designs from Pokémon Scarlet & Violet. But they remain Glitch.

The Ever-Evolving World of Pokemon Titles

Similar to my characters, the Pokemon titles have evolved across releases, with certain superficial, some substantial. But at their core, they stay identical; they're always Pokemon through and through. The developers uncovered a nearly perfect gameplay formula approximately 30 years ago, and just recently truly attempted to evolve upon it with entries such as Pokémon Legends: Arceus (different timeline, your avatar faces peril). Throughout every version, the core gameplay loop of capturing and fighting with adorable monsters has remained consistent for almost as long as I've been alive.

Shaking Conventions with Pokémon Legends: Z-A

Like Arceus previously, featuring absence of gyms and focus on compiling a creature catalog, Pokémon Legends: Z-A brings multiple deviations to that framework. It takes place completely in a single location, the French capital-inspired Lumiose Metropolis of Pokémon X & Y, abandoning the expansive journeys of earlier games. Pokemon are intended to live together with people, battlers and non-trainers alike, in manners we have merely glimpsed previously.

Even more drastic is Z-A's real-time battle system. It's here the franchise's almost ideal core cycle experiences its biggest evolution yet, replacing methodical sequential fights with more frenetic action. And it is immensely fun, even as I feel eager for a new traditional entry. Although these alterations to the classic Pokemon recipe sound like they form a completely new adventure, Pokémon Legends: Z-A is as familiar as every other Pokémon title.

The Heart of the Adventure: The Z-A Royale

When initially reaching at Lumiose Metropolis, any intentions your created character planned as a visitor are discarded; you're promptly recruited by the female guide (if playing as a male character; Urbain if female) to join her team of battlers. You receive a creature from them as your first partner and you're dispatched to participate in the Z-A Royale.

The Royale serves as the centerpiece of Pokémon Legends: Z-A. It's similar to the traditional "gym badges to Elite Four" advancement from earlier titles. However here, you fight a handful of trainers to gain the chance to compete in a promotion match. Win and you'll be promoted to a higher tier, with the final objective of achieving the top rank.

Real-Time Combat: An Innovative Approach

Trainer battles occur at night, while navigating stealthily the designated battle zones is quite entertaining. I'm always trying to surprise a rival and unleash a free attack, since all actions occur in real time. Attacks operate on cooldown timers, indicating both combatants may occasionally attack each other concurrently (and defeat each other at once). It's much to get used to initially. Despite playing for nearly 30 hours, I still feel that there is plenty to learn in terms of employing my creatures' attacks in ways that work together synergistically. Positioning also factors as a major role in battles as your Pokémon will trail behind you or move to specific locations to execute moves (certain ones are distant, whereas others need to be up close and personal).

The real-time action causes fights progress so quickly that I often repeating sequences through moves in identical patterns, despite this results in a suboptimal strategy. There isn't moment to breathe in Z-A, and plenty of chances to get overwhelmed. Creature fights depend on feedback after using an attack, and that information remains visible on the display in Z-A, but whips by quickly. Sometimes, you can't even read it because taking your eyes off your adversary will result in immediate defeat.

Exploring Lumiose City

Outside of battle, you will traverse Lumiose Metropolis. It's fairly compact, although tightly filled. Deep into the game, I'm still discovering unseen stores and elevated areas to explore. It's also full of charm, and fully realizes the vision of creatures and humans coexisting. Pidgey inhabit its pathways, taking flight as you approach like the real-life city birds obstructing my path while strolling in New York City. The Pan Trio monkeys gleefully hang from lampposts, and bug-Pokémon like Kakuna cling on branches.

A focus on city living is a new direction for the franchise, and a welcome one. Nonetheless, exploring Lumiose becomes rote eventually. You might discover a passage you haven't been to, but it feels identical. The architecture is devoid of personality, and most rooftops and sewer paths provide minimal diversity. While I haven't been to Paris, the inspiration for the city, I reside in New York for nearly a decade. It's a metropolis where no two blocks differs, and all are alive with uniqueness that give them soul. Lumiose City doesn't have that. It has tan buildings with blue or red roofs and flatly rendered balconies.

Where Lumiose City Really Excels

In which the city really shines, oddly enough, is indoors. I loved the way creature fights in Sword & Shield occur in arena-like venues, giving them real weight and importance. Conversely, battles in Scarlet and Violet take place on a court with few spectators observing. It's a total letdown. Z-A finds a balance between both extremes. You will fight in restaurants with patrons watching while they eat. A fancy battle society will extend an invitation to a competition, and you'll battle in its rooftop arena with a chandelier (not the Pokemon) suspended overhead. My favorite location is the elegantly decorated base of the Rust Syndicate with atmospheric illumination and magenta walls. Several distinct combat settings brim with character missing in the larger city in general.

The Familiarity of Repetition

During the Championship, as well as subduing wild Mega Evolved Pokémon and completing the Pokédex, there's an inescapable feeling of, {"I