Topic: Pokémon Legends Z-A

@UpsideDownRowlet It's a bit funny to see you saying the wild area is haphazard when I read another review that is really glowing about the city itself XD

https://bsky.app/profile/doofivirus.bsky.social/post/3m35sl5p...

Personally I think Arceus is one of the most overrated games we've had in the last few years, not just Pokemon games, I just mean in general, so I am personally glad ZA is doing its own thing, and wasn't just an Arceus 2.

To me it looks like the reviews are just breaking down into “best combat ever for Pokémon, but do you love the urban environment?”

@rallydefault Yeah, with people who love what the game's urban environment is doing rating it higher, and those who didn't love what the game's doing rating it lower (eurogamer is one example xD)

@rallydefault Pretty much. The enjoyment of the game will basically be built around if you like the idea it takes place in a single city or if you don't like the idea that it takes place within a single city.

My enjoyment of the game when I do play it next year will hinge on the fact that Pokémon is my favorite franchise in the world and I'm basically a sucker for a ton of products involving that franchise, especially the games, lol 🤣

I bought it, yey! What is interesting is, that the Switch 2 version costs 55€ and the Switch 1 version 59€, here in Germany. Thanks for the discount anyway.

Okay, now I will think about which starter Pokémon I will choose. I hope everyone who got it already, or who will get it later, will enjoy Pokémon Legends Z-A. Time to climb my way to the top and to explore Luminous City.

Just a warning to anyone the birds fly away really quick in the city. I lost a Shiny Fletching by the time the sound came up he fly away. I saved the clip and looked back it did indeed spawn in I didn't notice but when I got a bit closer then the sound came in but he flew so quick I couldn't save or anything.

So don't also be reliant on the sound it seems it doesn't play as soon as they spawn in only if you're in a certain range so like SV still be vigilant of your surroundings!

@VoidofLight So far about 5 or so hours in and I don't miss not exploring routes yet. I guess we'll have to see how I feel more we're into the game but so far very much enjoying climbing on rooftops etc!

However so far the early wild zones are a bit underwhelming but I hope the later ones are better.

Finished the first set of side quests after getting distracted by many other things. This is right up my alley.

The small tweaks they've made to Legends: Arceus' catching mechanics have made catching Pokémon even more enjoyable. Catching Pokémon, evolving them and filling up the Pokédex is what I like the most about the series. I'm glad Legends series brings it back into focus. I personally think that many of the problems that people have with the series would go away if they just caught and used more Pokémon instead of blasting through every trainer with the same team from start to finish.

Real-time battles is something they should have tried ages ago. So far they seem to work really well which is great coming from Arceus where battling was the low point. They've preserved most of the main-series mechanics this time around, like held items, which were absent from Arceus. The most notable missing feature is abilities which I do miss a bit but I can understand not including them in the initial transition from turn-based to real-time. Adding them would be a lot of work which would go to waste if the battle system ended up being a failure.

Exploring the city has been fun so far. Especially now that I can actually go to where I want to. I stumbled upon a museum and it was really nice to browse through. I feel like the dev team put some extra love and care into that place. I like that there's a use for moves outside of battle although having to wait them to recharge slows things down a bit.

I'm also having surprising amount of fun with the photo mode. It goes hand in hand with trainer customization. I already completely changed my look. I might share some pictures later.

I've played under 3 hours cause I have been working, so I feel like I am very much still in the tutorial and the game is extremely hand holdy (I just wanna explore the city! 😂)

Playing on Switch 2, while it looks better than Scarlet and Violet, there are still some oddities here, like the occasional really low quality texture mixed in with the higher ones almost like it hasn't loaded properly, but it also doesn't run at like 10 fps like SV did at launch, so I will take it as a win overall.

If the vibe of this opening is the vibe of the whole game, I am happy with that. If I want some grand adventure monster catcher Digimon Time Stranger just came out, this seems more chill and slice of lifey, and I think both should exist and I am happy both do.

Absolutely no clue how I feel about the battle system yet, though. Moving the trainer around in real time doesn't seem to have clear use outside of the boss battles so it just kinda clutters the controls, and right now I'm mostly just spamming my Pokemon changes and moves pretty wildly with no real plan or strategy to it. But almost every Xenoblade game feels like a total cluster eff at the start, and then as you unlock more stuff, you start to understand how everything slots together, so I am hoping this will have that Xenoblade click into place moment, especially when I have some better Mons.

Got my first rank advancement and my experience has been great so far. The vibes are so friendly, peaceful and noble, I love it. My starter Pokémon is Chikorita, because it looks very cute and friendly. I think everything feels more polished, than in Arceus and I am fine with having only the city to explore, because I like being in Lumiose City. It is also great how good the frame rate is and I think the game is beautiful.

As Ive said before, I'm a lukewarm casual fan, so my take may not align with that of longtime Pokémon fans.

I was initially skeptical of the game all taking place in a city. But after playing for a few hours, I think I'm okay with it. Theres so many blocked off pathways you can access as you progress (like getting a TM for a rock smash move which you can then use to crush boulders and navigate through that previously blocked off route), and secret areas or hard to reach areas you have to figure out how to access. Like smashing boulders, then youre blocked off by a lake, so you find a ladder and climb to the roof, battle some Pokemon as you make your way to the ledge on the other side, then drop down.

As for my personal gripes, I do wish there was voice acting. I dont really take much issue with the graphics- they're not outstanding but just being a crisp 4k at 60fps is a huge upgrade from what I'm accustomed to with Pokemon. Not dropping to 540p and stuttering at 15fps is a nice change of pace 😀

I also wish there was gyro aiming throwing the Pokeballs like in Arceus. But, at least it lets you lock on with ZL, preventing the need to solely manually aim with the right stick, an archaic input method I can no longer stomach. It would be more fun with gyro than the lock on, but again, at least the lock on negates the frustration of relying on 25-year-dated analog stick aiming.

The battle system is by far the most delightful aspect of the game so far. It kind of resembles Xenoblade Chronicles 3, and as a long time Xeno fan I love that. The dodge roll, sprinting and crouching animations feel more modern than in past games, and as I recall, in the turn based games you couldn't even dodge roll or anything of the like. I like the character and Pokemon designs as well, and the cutscenes are well done, though again, it really suffers from lack of voice acting. Even if they just voiced cutscenes next time and used little grunts and expressions for the minor in-game dialog, I'd be happy with that.

But ya, overall, this is the most fun Pokemon game Ive played, and I really do think this hybrid real time battle system is the way to go moving forward. Not sure how purists will feel about that but, I'm not a purist.

There's one thing that is slightly confusing me about the launch of Legends Z-A today. It's been almost 24 hours since the launch and there are still no NSO user icons for the game yet. What's even more baffling is that a new icon series started this evening, but it's based off of Splatoon instead of Legends Z-A 🤔.

Maybe it speaks more to my ADHD than anything else, but I've seen a lot of criticism about Pokemon's lack of voice acting. And I won't say I disagree with any of it, as Pokemon would be better with voice acting obviously, but I actually play a lot of games without sound, and listen to a podcast or listen to music or something else instead, so the lack of voice acting doesn't really bother me.

I don't really listen to any either, but I think having those beepboop noises like Animal Crossing can be really good

I have been playing just under 10 hours so far.

I have done a lot of exploring. Trying to catch all different Pokemon in the first 6 Wild Areas (out of 20 or so you unlock in the end) and done a handful of side missions.

Currently I just reached rank V and unlocked the first Mega Evolution (will not describe how as to avoid spoilers other than its part of the natural story progression).

I personally really like the combat system. Its fresh and different and allow me to expirement with different move sets, while in the mainline Pokemon games I just slotted the most powerful moves, just to knock out oponents in one shot, to avoid debuffs.

When it comes to Lumiose City. It looks fine. Graphic design wise on par with Sword/Shield and Scarlet/Violet. Its a shame it was a Switch 1 game, so we only get higher resolution and framerates with the Switch 2 edition. While I would have hoped they would have pushed a little further to make the Switch 2 edition stand out more, with more graphical improvements and effects.
But I guess this is typical Nintendo´s outdated/ancient thinking, in that they don´t want to upset the Switch 1 base or something. /Sigh

Overall the City is larger than I thought. It has a lot of secret passage ways for you to find and figure out (both inside Wild areas (to find new different pokemon) and city itself... again will not spoil how to find them, you will find out yourself). It makes exploration actually fun and rewarding. And then I have not even unlocked/found access to the underground (which I think you unlock later on).
While a lot of the NPCs are static and just standing around, in classic Pokemon games fashion, there are in fact roaming NPCs as well. We saw this in Scarlet/Violet in rare occasions, though its more present in this game. Which is an improvement. Again, I guess the Switch 1 version is limiting in what they able to do.

So far, I really enjoy the game. For me personally, I enjoy this game a lot more than Legends:Arceus.
Only explored about 2/3 of the city so far, not seen the underground yet and plenty secret areas/passage ways still to find....

I really wonder how far the Nintendo Life reviewer has come in the game before writing the review, as I have followed some streamers and it took them an average of over 20 hours to unlock 20 wild areas (again to avoid spoilers, I wont tell how). Some of them quite big, especially with verticality in mind).
This specific streamer was still not rank A after 20 hours and most focused on the story, barely done any side missions and pokemon hunting in wild areas even! So the game has a ton of content to keep you busy for many hours.

I am exited to see what the Mega dimensions DLC will bring to the game in February, that will most likely greatly expand the explorable area even more, with more Pokemon and wild areas. Like they did with Sword/Shield and Scarlet/Violet. Those DLCs end up being worth the money and added considerable amount of content.

Scarlet/Violet on Switch 2 is currently my most favorite Pokemon game and Legends:Z/A now follows at second place. Again, just my personal opinion and preference.

@Late Yes! Mechanically everything is a massive improvement over PLA especially catching because now you have 3 options, throw ball w/o weakening. Weaken and then throw ball or faint and throw ball and because battling does not initiate separately everything is so smooth and alpha's are super scary cuz they will continue to chase you unlike PLA when you send out a Mon to stop them in their tracks.

@Hapless Someone who doesn't have the game complaining about "lack of effort" cuz of no voice acting internet for you.

If you actually played the game you will know how much damn well effort as gone into it. To overhaul a complete battle system and rework most old moves alone is far from "low effort"

@Pizzamorg You do get used to it! Especially when you know how long the moves take to charge and cool down then you'll know how to position yourself etc and when to switch out etc