I love Pokemon’s turn-based battle mechanics. For nearly 30 years, Game Freak has tuned its rock-paper-scissors style combat to near perfection. Different generations have added new mechanics and gimmicks to keep things fresh, but Pokemon’s battles have always been built around turn-based combat. With Pokemon Legends: Z-A, however, Game Freak aims to redefine what a Pokemon battle is, a fact which, naturally, gave me some pause. Yet after nearly two hours with the game, I’m convinced they might have pulled it off.
Pokemon Legends: Z-A opens with your character arriving in Lumiose City by train. Unlike Arceus, there is no time travel; Z-A takes place in the present after the events of Pokemon X and Y. Outside of the train station you meet a trainer, either Taunie or Urbain depending on who you pick, who will give you a starter Pokemon: Chikorita, Totodile, or Tepig. Before I was able to pick the Totodile, the clear winner of the three, we were thrown into a Wild Zone a few hours later in the game.
Wild Zones are scattered throughout Lumiose City and are home to wild Pokemon waiting to be caught. The zone I explored was crawling with Houndours and Bunearys. The Wild Zone covered a few blocks of Lumiose City, and was much smaller than the expansive areas we saw in Arceus. Based on a few quick glances at the map, this zone seems like one of the smaller ones, but even the larger Wild Zones appeared to be much smaller than any of the regions from Arceus. However, these Wild Zones appear to use Lumiose City’s density and verticality to their advantage. I found some back alleys and rooftops that hid items and special encounters, including a level 40 Alpha Pikachu that sent me flying off a multi-story building and electrocuted its way through most of my party. Fortunately, there are cafes dotted throughout Wild Zones that can heal your Pokemon for a small fee. If you or all your Pokemon get knocked out, you’re sent back to a Pokemon Center outside of the Wild Zone.