If Pokemon Legends: Arceus took a giant leap forwards for the series, then its impending follow-up Pokemon Legends: Z-A is a thoroughbred evolution. The biggest innovation pushing Z-A to uncharted territory is real-time battling, marking this the first Pokemon game to deviate from turn-based combat. Now, trainers and their Pocket Monsters move and attack in tandem – there are no turn orders, static menus or fixed cameras. Early impressions indicate a fresh fluidity to encounters; they’re fast-paced, with strategic depth.
For instance, in Z-A, trainers must issue commands on the fly, utilising their Pokemon’s entire moveset whilst artfully dodging attacks themselves. Paired with this bold, new combat system is the return of Mega Evolution, underlining developer Game Freak’s willingness to shake up a long-running formula. After playing the 20-minute demo at a recent Pokemon Worlds event, journalists are praising these changes: they’re inventive, ambitious, and approachable. Pokemon Legends: Z-A is evolution dealt by a measured hand.
Pokemon Legends: Z-A takes place within Lumiose City, a manicured proving ground of block paving and public gardens that’s as far-removed from Arceus’ Zelda-like wilderness as you can get. The visual magic of dusky hues bathing distant mountains is gone, replaced with streetlit alleyways, hedgerows, office blocks, and benches, and at first glance this feels a downgrade. Lumiose is neat, clean, quiet, and orderly, but as Z-A’s narrative takes shape we discover the city is in flux as a string of urban redevelopments aim to make the streets as habitable for wandering Pokemon as it is for humans. Perhaps, then, the principle behind Lumiose’s design is to be as distraction-free for players as possible.
There are other benefits to transplanting the action to urban environs. Arceus’ vast expanse felt a little too vast at times. There’re indications Lumiose City will harbour more to do: NPC quest givers, random interactions, and more Pokemon dotted about to scoop into your Poke Balls. Players will need to wander into the City’s designated “Wild Zones” for Pokemon encounters and battles. During nighttime, specific Battles Zones appear for the Z-A Royale, providing the chance to challenge as many trainers as possible to level up towards that all-important A rank.
Before we get into discussing the new battle system, it’s apparent that the stealth mechanics of Arceus are carrying over to Z-A. Wandering Pokemon can be captured without challenging them, and – in a move straight out of Team Rocket’s playbook – fellow trainers can be snuck upon, with their active Pokemon ripe for a sneak attack before any battling has begun. It’s a dastardly tactic which isn’t exactly in keeping with the good spirited nature of Pokemon training, but it does inject an element of humour into battles whilst allowing you to get the jump on your opponent – the latter proving valuable given encounters in Z-A, even the seemingly easy ones, won’t be a walk in the park. And also, fair warning, rival trainers can get the jump on you too.
However, now we’ve arrived at the biggest talking point: Pokemon Legends: Z-A’s reworked battle system. Fights are now free-flowing, with players controlling both their Pokemon and their trainer’s positioning as they constantly jostle for the best positions and tactical edges. Demo testers highlight the system’s intuitiveness: Z-Targeting provides the aim, whilst face buttons issue commands. It’s a control scheme not unlike other action-RPGs – so anyone who’s dabbled in the genre will be right at home.
Each Pokemon has access to four commands, with each move governed by cooldown times rather than Power Points. They can be deployed an unlimited number of times, but with each having different cooldown periods it’s wise to spread their use rather than gung-ho all four at once. Worth pointing out here is players won’t have direct control over their Pokemon’s positioning as there’s no dedicated dash, block, or dodge button. Instead, their position is relative to their trainer, and they will default to standing at their trainer’s side should targeting lock-on not be enabled.
This real-time combat system seems to bring a tension not found in earlier Pokemon titles. There’s a balancing act in locking onto targets, issuing commands, and dodging enemy attacks yourself – especially as dodges can’t be executed when the target is locked on. Timing, it seems, is crucial; battles, in this sense, are a fluid chess match: a constant flow of re-positioning in pursuit of better openings, the window for attack slamming shut. Dodge, re-position, attack.
There’s another implication here: a potential for the strongest symbiotic bonds between trainer and Pokemon that there’s ever been, given each are equally exposed on the battlefield. Wild encounters become brisk skirmishes, trainer-versus-trainer battles become high-intensity match-ups. Shifting action to real-time isn’t just a nod towards cinematic spectacle, but it fundamentally changes how players connect with the game.
Pokemon Legends: Z-A is also bringing back Mega Evolution, in what is an illustration of the need to develop a symbiotic connection between trainer and Pokemon. A beloved feature first introduced in Pokemon X and Y but not used in a mainline entry since 2016’s Pokemon Sun and Moon, Mega Evolutions are temporary mid-fight transformations which grant significant stat boosts and performance benefits to Pokemon whilst adjusting their appearance to something more visually striking. Only a handful of Pokemon can Mega Evolve, but when they do it unleashes an energy hidden within them.
When trainers have high bonds with their Pokemon, their Key Stone resonates with the Pokemon’s Mega Stone. Contained in the demo are flashes of a Rogue Mega Absol and a Mega Lucario, the latter who fights alongside our trainer. It appears, this early in the game at least, that players won’t have the ability to Mega Evolve their Pokemon without collecting Mega Power orbs that are dispelled by your Mega Evolved opponent. It’s an interesting secondary mechanic – the collection of energy – as it appears from footage to force trainers into compromising positions in order to gather enough power to Mega Evolve their Pokemon and to maintain its more powerful state. If Game Freak balances Mega Evolution with the game’s real-time combat flow, then Pokemon Legends: Z-A could strike the best mix of strategy and spectacle the series has ever seen.
Where Pokemon Legends: Arceus experimented with open-zone world design and streamlined Pokemon catching, Legends Z-A takes even bolder steps by tearing down on the series’ oldest pillars to present a system that better matches how modern players engage with action-RPGs. Whilst Pokemon Legends: Z-A might not feel like an action-RPG that’s in the Horizon mold, despite its moment-to-moment gameplay being reminiscent, it is reframing how players interact with their Pokemon, making them feel like true partners in battle rather than static avatars.
The return of Mega Evolution only sweetens the deal, reminding fans that this isn’t change for the sake of change. It’s an evolution that respects the series’ past while supporting its reimagined gameplay. Whilst Game Freak have kept most of Z-A’s innovations under wraps – the demo was a mere 20-minute jaunt after all – there’re signs here that they can deliver a full campaign that’s as polished, engaging, satisfying as Pokemon’s best.
For veterans, this could be the shake-up they’ve been craving. For newcomers, it might be the most approachable and exciting entry point yet. Either way, Pokemon Legends: Z-A feels like the future, and for the first time in a while, that future feels fresh.
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.
