MeinMMO editor Nikolas Hernes didn’t actually want to buy Pokemon Legends: Z-A. Still, he spent 30 hours on the game over the weekend because the gameplay loop is so good.
When Pokemon Legends: Z-A was announced, I was skeptical. I, too, had been disappointed by many recent games and actually didn’t want to get the game at release. Then the game was available at a lower price right away, and I grabbed it. As a longtime fan, one inevitably gives in.
After surviving the annoying tutorial, I was caught in the gameplay loop. This is meant positively, as I spent almost an entire weekend with a game for the first time in a long while.
A grindfest, but a good one
What makes Pokemon Legends: Z-A so good? First off: I generally don’t care much about graphics while playing. Many textures and representations can be annoying, but on the Switch 2, I could live with the graphics, even though the criticism is entirely justified. What mattered more to me was that the frame rate is mostly stable and loading times are short.
This is particularly important to me, as the grind is the big highlight in the game. In Legends: Z-A, the game structure is based on completing tasks and collecting. For the story, you collect points in battle zones, for Mega Evolutions, shards, and for the Pokédex Pokémon. Apart from new creatures and trainers, there’s not much variety. Even the city is quite compact.
However, the Pokemon Company has created a rather satisfying gameplay loop this time. Everything goes quickly and thanks to the active
battle system, capturing Pokemon feels less tedious. Previous installment innovations also help. Since you can use the box everywhere, I can quickly swap Pokemon, and especially the boss Pokemon are always useful in the story.
While the main quest drags on for a long time, you can ignore it due to the grind structure anyway. Everything you do feels rewarding.
Side quests usually have strong rewards, completing the tasks of the Pokemon Lab is worthwhile thanks to powerful attacks, and filling the Pokédex has been the credo of the series since 1996. But it was the game world that made the grind even more enjoyable for me.
A game world that feels cozy
What makes the game world so good? On paper, the game world looks boring. There is little variety, you only move around in a single city, and most Pokemon are found in fixed zones. But it is this combination that creates a cozy feeling.
You walk through the city to the next wild zone, meet a lot of NPCs, and the good music underscores it all. It’s like walking through a city where you were born. The residents slowly become familiar constants that create a safe space.
I never got bored because everything goes so quickly. You can fast travel or destroy a few crystals on the way. There’s always something to do, even after the story.
I was initially skeptical about the wild zones as well, but this concentrated gathering of Pokemon has the advantage that I am also learning where each creature spawns slowly. I’m excited about the boss Pokemon, and completing the Pokédex becomes less frustrating.
Overall, I feel very comfortable in Illumina City. Like in a café that you visit every week.
The probably most important point: I’ve always loved Pokemon and I still can’t resist it years later. Especially when the grind is so incredibly fun. But even if I’ll play for hours in the post-game: Pokemon has so much more potential and should finally utilize it. If you’re looking for an alternative, you’ll find it here: The new game on Digimon does one thing really well that has always annoyed me in Pokemon
