Pokémonhas been a huge part of my life, from the trading card games and anime to the plethora of video games. I remember my brother getting the Game Boy Advance SP for his birthday and watching him playFireRedfor hours on end, dreaming of the day I could play it myself. I remember my grandmother surprising me withPokémon Blackon the DS, completely unaware of what a Pokémon was, but knowing it meant a lot to me anyway. I remember spending countless nights under the duvet playingPokémon, hoping my parents wouldn’t catch me.
I’m not alone in my love ofPokémon, of course. Unfortunately, neither am I alone in my declining interest in the franchise.Pokémonmay have been a big part of my life during my formative years, and I’m grateful for that, but I’d be lying if I said it was still just as important to me. I’ve gone from unequivocally loving anything remotely associated with it to critiquing it endlessly, hoping the nextPokémongame fixes the franchisefor the better. Which is whymy desire to skipPokémon Legends Z-Aboth baffles me and makes perfect sense.
I Love The Pokémon Games
I Have Since I Was A Child
While not as big of aPokémonaficionado as so many others are - I do have a Squirtle and Turtwig plush, but that’s about as far as my collection ofPokémonmedia goes -I have always had a genuine fondness for the series. I would catch episodes of the show on TV as a kid before school, or, when recording live TV was still a thing, would trawl through my backlog of assorted episodes from vastly different seasons and arcs and still absolutely love it. I even had threePokémonmovies entirely in French without subtitles and watched them religiously.
When it came to the games, I’d play everything from the mainline entries to the verybestPokémonspin-offs, especiallyMystery Dungeonon the Game Boy. My siblings and I would battle each other; my sister and I attempted to beat the Battle Subway onPokémon Black and Whitenumerous times; I would also frequently escape the darker moments of my life to distract myself with sessions of grinding inPokémonor searching for the elusive Garchomp. No matter how bad it gets, much likeDoctor Who,I will always lovePokémon.
Pokémonhas been getting worse, and for a long time now.
However,Pokémonhas been getting worse, and for a long time now. It wasn’t even just thedisastrousPokémon Scarlet and Violet, nor the lacklusterSword and Shieldbefore it. Time has not been kind toPokémonas it roots itself so firmly in the past. It feels like it is, rather ironically, incapable of evolving. Returning toPokémonnow can be a chore, especially when there are so manybetterPokémon-like indie gamesthat capture the spirit of the original games while offering something fresh and new to sink our teeth into.
Pokémon Legends Z-A Is Changing Too Much
It Doesn’t Feel Like Pokémon Anymore
It is then hypocritical of me to skipPokémon Legends Z-Adue to it changing too much of the series' core formula, and yet here we are. It isn’t like I haven’t been suggesting thatPokémonshould copy RPGslikeXenoblade Chroniclesor vastly improve its narratives to be more in line with JRPGs.I wantPokémonto change and move beyond the self-imposed shackles it has been tied tofor so long. However, I guess when it comes to actually seeing those changes in motion, I realize it’s more important for it to improve what it already has.
Pokémonmay be outdatedin a lot of ways, but there is something about the formula it has been using since the very start that isn’t just nostalgic, but also extremely comforting. In the same way that Ubisoft games serve the same function as popcorn movies,Pokémonhas always felt familiar, assured, and predictable. There’s a novelty to that, a purpose and function that feels somewhat similar to the safety cozy games provide.Pokémon Legends Z-A’smany changes threaten to remove that sense of familiarity, rather than improve upon it.
It reminds me of Nintendo’s approach to both theAnimal Crossingseries withNew Horizonsand even the modernZeldagames withTears of the Kingdom. Both games took what worked about their predecessors and complicated things with additional mechanics that may have elevated one aspect of the experience, but interfered with and worsened others as a result. They didn’t elevate the gameplay loop that fans have enjoyed those series for, but rather changed them. It is a gamble that can work, and has in some cases, but in these it, at least in my opinion, didn’t.
Nintendo is very much in its mechanics-focused era, withMario Kart Worldintroducing tricksthat make it a more skill-based affair and alienate part of its fanbase.TOTK, as aforementioned, added a swathe of new gameplay mechanics rather than honing in on the exploration and atmosphere that madeBOTWso special.New Horizons’focus on crafting and gameplay innovations stripped it of the communication aspect that made the series so special in the first place. I’m worried thatLegends Z-A’schanges could hurt the corePokémonexperience in the same way.
Pokémon Legends Z-A Could Still Be Incredible
It Has A Lot Of Potential To Change Pokémon For The Better
Of course, the changesPokémon Legends Z-Ais making could absolutely be for the best. As much as I feelLegends Z-Ais wasting its settingand is still lacking the fundamental featuresPokémonshould have implemented a long time ago, there is a lot of promise in what has been shown off so far. From the intriguing Battle Royale mode to its single-city location that could allow for a deeper exploration of themes the series hasn’t been able to tackle yet,there are a lot of exciting ideas inPokémon Legends Z-Athat I genuinely believe could be game-changing.
Pokémon Legends Z-A’scombat changesare also numerous and significant, perhaps the biggest change the game has made to the series, which could influence how Game Freak approaches combat in future entries, much like howLegends Arceuschanged how players interact with the open world.While I’m not opposed toLegends Z-Aswitching up the series combat, I do think it will prove to be the most controversial addition, especially if it isn’t as good as Nintendo’s other first-party title,Xenoblade Chronicles, of whichZ-Aseems to be copying verbatim in this respect.
I also find that there is a lot ofpressure onLegends Z-Ato succeed, especially with, despite its enormous sales numbers, how much goodwillPokémon Scarlet and Violetlost for Game Freak. I fear that rather than perfecting the original formula, such as by making the experience more cinematic, adding voice acting, increasing the variety ofPokémon, and making turn-based battles more visually complex while stripping away the features that have made the series so painfully easy,Legends Z-Ais just changing it in the hopes of moving on from the series' past mistakes.
As much as it pains me to say it, I think all of this, the change in identity, the mechanical approach to innovation rather than driven by a will to improve what already exists, the contentious additions, and the mounting pressure, will make me skipPokémon Legends Z-Aand see how its success or failure affects the series' future. Of course, like the aforementionedDoctor Who, the stuff I enjoyed still exists, and I can return at any point. And who knows, maybe one day I’ll playPokémon Legends Z-Aand realize how horribly wrong I was this whole time.
