Pokémon Legends: Z-A Preview - Our thoughts after playing the demos at Gamescom
Pokémon Legends: Z-A is only a month and a half away at time of writing - and at two years and 11 months, the time gap between it and Scarlet and Violet is the longest ever between releases of main series Pokémon games. Unsurprisingly, anticipation for the second game in the Legends sub-series is at fever pitch, and when we saw that two separate demos were available for play at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany, we just had to get our greasy paws on them!
At Bulbagarden, we don’t get invites to events or special media access, so you know our perspective - and our hopes and concerns - are those of any other fan.
What we loved:
- Lumiose City - it's vibrant, varied and seems huge.
- Exciting, fast-paced battles and sneaky stealth.
What we're still unsure about:
- Some of the tactical depth might have been lost.
- Some assets and details still aren't great.
The two ten-minute experiences showcased a gauntlet of battles in the Z-A Royale, as well as an expedition to tame a Rogue Mega Absol on the lamplit streets of Lumiose City; the first saw us take on several Trainers with a team of early-game Pokémon who happily bounded alongside us, while the latter was a boss battle affair with a powerful Lucario to command. As can be expected from a Switch 2 game, both experiences ran very smoothly; there’s none of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s unfortunate juddering. We were watched very closely as we played both demos in order to keep us from going off the beaten path - though in fairness, with a ten-minute hard cut-off it’s not unreasonable to want players to keep focused on the curated gameplay.
Unlike any other main series Pokémon title to date, the combat in Pokémon Legends: Z-A is entirely real-time. Comparisons to FromSoftware's bleak roll-n-stab-'em-up, Dark Souls, are probably overwrought, but there's definitely something more frenetic and heart-thumping about tackling a Rogue Mega compared to the Noble Pokémon of Hisui, where the player could snugly settle into a bout of turn-based combat after launching enough projectiles at the foe. The one apparent trade-off is an emphasis on on-the-fly movement and opportunistic attacks over more considered strategy. Though the upcoming Pokémon Champions title looks set to be the home of more traditional Pokémon battles, some players may be disappointed at gameplay that rewards cramming in as many attacks as possible over making strategic choices each time.
Stealth is also an important factor in getting the drop on opponents. Again, this mechanic will be familiar to players returning from Pokémon Legends: Arceus, but whereas the protagonist would previously use long grass to circumvent aggressive creatures or gain an advantage in catching them, there’s a subtle tonal shift in slowly sneaking around urban obstacles to launch a surprise attack on a fellow Trainer, allowing the player to launch the first strike in battle. It doesn’t take much imagination to see how this mechanic might lend itself to tense situations as the plot of the game ramps up and the protagonist is forced to make more opportunistic attacks on competitors or foes.
Like many others in the Pokémon community, we've been asking ourselves (with a little trepidation) whether or not Lumiose City will boast enough detail and scale to sustain an engaging, full-price adventure. With the disclaimer that we've only had 20 minutes under our belt, we think we know the answer: yes, Lumiose is big and beautiful enough to satisfy. This latter point is especially apparent from the demo - a few steps into the night-time adventure with Lucario and Absol, we caught a nocturnal vista that showcases the variety and verticality on offer in a city that really does look as though it’s been built with both humanity and nature in mind.
Similarly, even a brief glimpse at the map in the Z-A Royale snapshot, paired with the actual experience of navigating the streets, immediately gave the impression that Lumiose will have nooks, crannies, and avenues to explore for hours on end. We still hope there’ll be more locales to come; it seems a dead cert that we'll get to explore Lumiose's underground waterways and perhaps some spooky catacombs, and we're also not ruling out a complete curveball with some time-hopping or dimensional shifting to give us a chance to explore alternate versions of the city.
While the overall atmosphere and art style are utterly on-point, some of the games’ assets could have used a further layer of visual polish (a critique now unfortunately familiar to Pokémon fans during the Switch era). Bushes, trees and hedges might be deployed well to bring vibrancy to the city but closer inspection will reveal thin panes of vegetation bundled together, and an in-engine cut-scene featuring Zygarde catapulting the protagonist to the rooftops - or rather, cutting to black before rematerialising there - looks particularly cheap. It’s important to note that none of this significantly distracted from the experience, but we look forward to improvement in full-fat, Switch 2-exclusive titles.
A few final words on Gamescom itself. For those who’ve not attended previously, it’s a ginormous extravaganza celebrating every conceivable video game genre and the thriving culture around them. From demos to panels to meetups and more, it’s well worth the pilgrimage for any gamer with a few specific activities in mind - and we do strongly recommend having something of a gameplan, because the vast crowds and chunky queues make casual browsing a real challenge. The sheer scale of the occasion did bring certain advantages, though; it was undeniably epic taking on Eternamax Eternatus in Pokémon GO with 100 other players!
In summary, we enjoyed what we played of Pokémon Legends: Z-A. The blend of pared-back battles and stealth gameplay will be highly familiar to Legends: Arceus fans, with new vigour added by the fully real-time combat - and Lumiose City itself is looking great. Though it feels that further polish could have been applied to some assets and animations, we suspect this evolution of the Legends format will appeal greatly to fans looking for a little more trepidation in their Pokémon adventure and we’re especially excited to see what the plot holds in store.
If you’re anticipating playing the full game as much as we are - or frankly, even if you’re not - enter our giveaway to win one of up to ten pre-order copies of Pokémon Legends: Z-A!
