Pokémon Legends: Z-A is by no means my first Pokémon game, but it’s still managed to be a first in a different way. The previous Legends title, Pokémon Legends: Arceus, is one of my favorite games, and definitely my favorite Pokémon game in general—and I’ve been playing since the original Red and Blue versions.
I knew that Z-A upgraded the combat style from turn-based to a more dynamic, real-time battle system. What I didn’t realize was that this would completely change the way I play Pokémon games. Within five minutes of playing Pokémon Legends: Z-A, I was using a feature I had never used before—and had actually gone out of my way to avoid in the past.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A Has Me Using Non-Attack Skills
I’ve Never Used Tail-Whip Before
The turn-based combat of previous Pokémon games has always locked me into an attack-only mode. Using a non-damaging attack meant “wasting” a turn and giving your opponent a chance to get a hit in. As a result, I never used non-attack moves like Tail Whip or Leer. In fact, I got rid of these as quickly as I could, replacing them with more valuable damage-dealing skills.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A changes this by making every attack worthwhile. I’m not just going to sit there and let my Chikorita get hit until it can use Tackle again, so I use Tail Whip while I wait for it to recharge. This leads to a faster victory, and no longer feels like a “waste,” especially when my Pokémon’s damaging moves take longer to recharge.
The new combat style has made all attacks have more value, not just the ones that deal damage. This seemingly simple change has made me take notice of skills that I would have normally swapped out as soon as I could. It’s allowed me to be more strategic with which skills I keep and how I use them, making battles a lot more interesting, since I’m no longer just hitting opponents until one of us drops.
The Pokémon Legends Games Continue To Innovate
The Legends Series Are The Way Forward For The Franchise
It’s not easy to create new games for long-running franchises. Developers like Game Freak and Nintendo have the burden of creating more of what fans love, making new games similar enough to previous franchise entries, but different enough to give fans new things to discover.
Change too little, and you end up with games like the EA sports titles, which are heavily criticized for charging full price for essentially the same title every year. Change too much, though, and you risk angering long-time fans who have come to expect something very specific from the series.
Nintendo seems to have found the perfect solution to this dilemma with the Legends series. Both Arceus and Z-A have created a playground for the game devs to explore new ideas and try new things without alienating existing fans. The success of Z-A’s new battle system may mean we’ll see the new combat style in future mainline games, and that’s exciting news.
For a franchise that runs the risk of becoming stale, Pokémon Legends: Z-A shows that it’s possible to innovate while sticking to the existing formula. The new game has found a way to better integrate an existing feature that I had previously overlooked. The way forward for the Pokémon franchise as a whole is with these Legends spinoff games, which continue to play with the building blocks of the beloved, long-running franchise.
- Released
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2025
- ESRB
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e
- Developer(s)
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Game Freak
- Engine
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Proprietary Engine
