With the release of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet in 2022, Game Freak—the developers of Pokemon—faced considerable backlash for a variety of performance issues in the game.  Despite a sale of 26.79 million units cementing it as the most successful Pokémon game on the Nintendo Switch, it was plagued by glitches, poor graphics, and framerate issues. The release of the Nintendo Switch 2, however, seemed to solve many of the aforementioned technical problems, giving a more promising outlook for the company.  Could this, paired with the recently released game Pokémon Legends: Z-A, reinvigorate the franchise?

The second installment in the Legends series, Legends: Z-A had big shoes to fill from its predecessor, the highly rated Pokémon Legends: Arceus.  The game is set in Lumiose City, a stark contrast from the previous release, Scarlet and Violet’s, open-world concept.  Initially, I—along with multiple other fans—had their doubts on the whole setting being confined in a city, being accustomed to the usual Pokémon games’ huge maps, with multiple cities, biomes, and areas.  Unfortunately, this worry was proven somewhat true.  The map is small, and the textures of the buildings can be repetitive and dull.  Yet, the smaller size enabled the developers to take a “quality-over-quantity” approach, with multiple side quests, items, and Pokémon placed throughout the city, providing a nice silver lining.  

The abundance of content still allows the game to feel exciting and fresh, still capturing Pokémon’s core theme of exploration.  The story was another strong point worth mentioning—this, along with the new characters with interesting designs, unique personalities, and fun dialogue, definitely elevated the gameplay a lot.  Pokémon has a unique, characteristic dry humor that I enjoy, and I feel this also added to the game’s charm.

While multiple critics previously criticized the new Pokémon installments for being too stale and uninventive, Legends: Z-A pleasantly surprised fans by implementing a completely new battle system.  Pivoting from the staple turn-based Pokémon battling, the new system resembles an action game, with the player controlling their trainer and Pokémon’s movements.  Having to dodge and launch attacks added a whole new layer of strategy, and while it was initially slightly hard to get used to, I found it a welcome change of pace.  Paired with the 26 new Mega Evolutions (the powerful, temporary special forms of certain Pokémon) debuting for the first time, Legends: Z-A still manages to feel fun and refreshing.

Overall, I found my experience with the new game to be quite enjoyable.  Online reviews seem to reflect the same sentiment, with 77% on Metacritic and 8/10 on IGN.  While I don’t think the game was anything particularly groundbreaking or revolutionary, it still seems to represent the Pokémon’s willingness to go in a new direction, hopefully turning a new leaf in the franchise.