I so badly want to fall in love with Pokémon again. I was completely bewitched by the series when it first arrived on the Game Boy, but around the time the third generation rolled around, the spell started to break. I had played those first couple of games gleefully filling in the gaps with my imagination of a grand adventure with my team of adorable (but also kind of scary) monster pals in an unknown world waiting to be explored.
The combat was always secondary to the journey the games were taking me on.
As we approach the launch of Pokémon Legends: Z-A for the Switch 2, I see a ton of changes to the formula that are tempting me back. We’ve seen the open world with Pokémon roaming about and traveling beside us, but the new take on combat feels like the first real attempt to translate what the turn-based combat was standing in for. Also, a tournament with ranks to climb? Say less.
Except that there’s one huge missing piece here that, unless Pokémon Legends: Z-A is holding back a big secret, will hold this game back from being the Pokémon game I’ve been waiting for since Blue.
Don’t cage me in
Pokémon draws people in for different reasons. Some for the collection aspect — they want to “catch ’em all.” Others enjoy leveling up and battling, and some like doing challenge runs. There are even entire communities centered around shiny hunting. The point is, there’s no wrong way to enjoy a Pokémon game.
What got me obsessed with Pokémon even before I had the game itself was the sense of adventure. I fantasized about this wide world filled with strange creatures and new places I could self-insert myself into via this young trainer going out on his own. Even on the cramped Game Boy screen, with only a handful of pixels and even fewer colors, I could see between the lines and envision the world I thought Pokémon was trying to present. The tall grass was long fields of waist-high foliage rustling as I caught just the tiniest glimpse of a new monster to tame.
A lot of that wonder did come from seeing all these Pokémon for the first time, but if it had been presented any other way, I don’t think it would’ve gotten such a chokehold on my imagination as it did.
It took until Legends: Arceus for the series to try and pull that fantasy out of my mind and into reality. I appreciated the effort, especially with how the entire system shifted to be more exploration and discovery focused, but it had too many things holding it back to be the game my 7-year-old had cooked up all those years ago. And the less said about Scarlet and Violet the better at this point.
That meant my excitement for Z-A could only be so high when it was announced, but it has steadily been rising. The game being on Switch 2 gives me hope that it will at least run at a respectable level, and the revamped combat that brings the combat to life the way turn-based fights only suggested is exactly what I’ve wanted. So, what’s the problem?
The setting. The first thing we learned about Pokémon Legends: Z-A was that it was taking us back to Lumios City from Black and White. Revisiting regions isn’t a problem, but the detail that derailed my positive outlook was that the game would be set entirely within this city.
I don’t want to jump to conclusions here. I know that exploration within a city can not only be done, it can even be great. I would love to see various themed districts, unique architecture, interesting layouts, and I’m sure there will be some large park areas so that we’re not completely devoid of nature. I just have a hard time imagining going on a grand adventure that all takes place within a single set location. Exploring a new part of a city is cool, but I’m not discovering anything. There can’t be that sense of being the first person to get somewhere inside a fully urbanized location.
The themes Z-A is promising to tackle all seem great. I love the risks being taken with combat, and the plot looks like a refreshing departure from the usual formula. Personally, I just wish it didn’t come at the cost of letting me feel like a reckless kid running out into the woods to collect monsters, meet friends, and see a world yet to be mapped.
