Pokémon Legends Z-A, the highly anticipated game, is now available. The true experience of it, though, as per reviews, is full of widespread criticism. Instead of taking a step ahead, the game feels its players like a misstep for the franchise. A deep dive into this release has revealed a product that is full of issues, like a controversial combat system, a stripped-down world and more. It makes the $70 price point of it a tough pill to swallow for all, expected its dedicated fans.
Here are some core issues that undermine the latest entry.
Technically bad visual experience in Pokemon Legends Z-A
The visuals in-game are franchise fans’ major point of contention. It makes it look more like a mobile title than a modern console release. Textures appear flat, character models are hollow, and the environment lacks details. Lumiose City feels like a cardboard cutout, irrespective of the polish and life expected from the highest-grossing media franchise in the world, especially on the new hardware.
Barren, lifeless world
Exploration in-game appears hampered by the word that is incomplete and empty. The entire game has been confined to one single city. Here, most of the buildings are just facades, with the painted-on doors that one cannot enter. This lack of environmental and interactivity makes the world feel uninteresting and small. It’s a far cry from some diverse regions that Pokémon is known for.
Turn-based combat is removed
In another baffling move, the classic turn-based combat system is now removed. It is replaced with the real-time action system, where the players spam move-off cooldown while running around the battlefield. It’s a new format that feels unresponsive, messy, and it strips away strategic depth that was the cornerstone of this series for decades.
Unresponsive battle gameplay
The new combat system isn’t just a stylistic change but is plagued with some technical issues. As reported, Pokémon quite often get stuck on the environmental geometry. Apart from this, attacks are being blocked by the minor lips in terrain, and commands look sluggish. The battle flow is constantly interrupted as Pokémon are to be repositioned before the execution of the move. It is causing a lot of frustrating experiences.
Uninspired, repetitive gameplay loop
Core progression includes grinding via some repetitive trailer battles for ranking up from Z-A. But these battles are quite often laughably easier. It features opponents with just 1 or 2 Pokémon. Also, the ranking system now skips a larger part of the alphabet. It makes the journey feel rushed and padded simultaneously.
Pokédex is limited in Pokemon Legends Z-A
Pokemon Legends Z-A features a lower number of Pokémon. As per reports, it is just about 230. This limited amount of roster feels like one step back, in comparison to Pokémon’s previous titles. There are many fans who see it as a deliberate tactic for withholding content for future paid DLC. It’s a practice that erodes goodwill and also offers lesser value in base games.
The story lacks a compelling villain
As the fans suggest, it is for the first time that the game is lacking a villain or an evil team in Pokémon. The plot of the game revolves around indentured servitude to the debt collectors as well as mega-corporations. Yet it bizarrely frames all these entities like good guys. This is the kind of narrative choice that is confusing. It fails to offer compelling conflict, which drives most of the adventures in Pokémon.
Pokemon Legends Z-A offers Negligible upgrade on the new hardware
The Switch 2 version of this Pokémon game offers almost no tangible improvements over the original Switch release. Apart from the frame rate boost to 60 FPS, graphical upgrades herein are minimal or non-existent. Models, textures and draw distances are therefore largely the same. It makes a premium price for the new version, just difficult to recommend.
Lack of innovation and more
Despite the new paint coat, Pokemon Legends Z-A demonstrates a profound lack of innovation for the franchise. It recycles concepts without any meaningful evolution. It thereby sticks to an underwhelming and safer formula. For the series that had so much potential, the entry feels like an opportunity missed for pushing boundaries of what the Pokémon game could be.
High price tag for a product that is incomplete
With the base price set at $70, $30 DLC announced, and a potential requirement for a Nintendo Online subscription for accessing some content, the complete experience of Pokémon Legends Z-A comes at a steep cost. It shows an aggressive monetization strategy that is hard to justify for the game, which feels content-light and is technically inferior, as compared to predecessors and some other modern titles.
