Highlights

  • Pokemon Legends Z-A will likely feature more trainer battles in Lumiose City, shifting away from the wild Pokemon focus of its predecessor.
  • The battle system in Legends Z-A may mirror traditional Pokemon games, with a potential return to the classic turn-based mechanics.
  • The setting of a densely populated Lumiose City in the future suggests a narrative focus on city development and diverse trainer battles.

Pokemon Legends Z-A looks to take much of its DNA from Legends: Arceus, but it can’t be a carbon copy. Due to various thematic changes in Legends Z-A, the Pokemon battles might feel more akin to the traditional titles.

Pokemon Legends: Arceus introduced fans to a whole new way to experience the Pokemon world. Because of its setting in the past in a region just getting started in urban development, Pokemon were still largely wild, and scarce within city limits. This led to relatively few battles with other trainers, instead pitting the player against overpowered wild Pokemon. But Legends Z-A seems to be taking place in the future and will be set entirely within the confines of Lumiose City. These facts combine to suggest that PokemonLegends Z-A might include more trainer battles than its predecessor, leading it to feel more similar to the series’ regular battle system.

pokemon legends arceus close up
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Pokemon Legends: Z-A Will Have a Hard Time Topping One Aspect of its Predecessor

Pokemon Legends: Arceus' made one remarkable choice in its story that Pokemon Legends: Z-A will inevitably have a hard time following up.

The Future of Battles will Likely Mirror the Present

In Pokemon Legends: Arceus, the battle system of the game received a bit of an overhaul. Unlike other Pokemon games, Legends: Arceus created a new way for players to battle. The same types of moves and turn-based system that players were used to made a comeback, but the game handled turn order differently and introduced new move styles that the player could implement once per battle. Using the strong style would boost the power of a Pokemon’s attack at the cost of its next turn, while the agile style allowed the Pokemon to have more priority to potentially attack twice in one turn at a slightly less powerful level. It’s unclear if these innovations will return in Legends Z-A, but it’s a safe bet that the emphasis on battling undomesticated wild Pokemon won’t.

With Legends Z-A rumored to take place in the future, Pokemon have already become tamer by the time the game will take place. This means that the mechanic of including overpowered wild Pokemon as bosses won’t be as thematically resonant as it was in Legends: Arceus. Add to that the fact that Legends Z-A’s single-city setting eliminates the possibility of gym leaders as bosses, and only one obvious option remains. Pokemon Legends Z-A will likely have some class of strong trainers for players to battle as bosses, similar to, yet separate, from the normal games’ gym leaders.

A Dense City Means More Trainers

Lumiose City in Pokemon X and Y was a highly populated area and was important to the Kalos region's culture and lore, which might resurface in Legends Z-A. With the new title looking at the future of the region though, the city will have to be even more densely populated. Exploring an area as crowded as that will give the player a chance to encounter tons of unique trainers. Perhaps the city has several factions of trainers or different trainer classes for fans to battle as they navigate the streets. This would give the game the narrative reasoning it needs to justify battles without as many wild Pokemon being present in the city. However these mass amounts of trainers are implemented, it’s important that the story of the game supports them.

Pokemon Legends Z-A’s story hinges on the plans to redevelop Lumiose City. An overpopulation issue could be the perfect driving factor for the city’s expansion. Presumably, the player will take a heavy role in this effort as the protagonist, which means that they would need intimate knowledge of the city and its population. Familiarizing themselves with the city by learning about the different types of people living there and how they battle might be an effective way to push the player forward in the story. They will surely face many trials and quests on their way to confront, or befriend, the high-class boss trainers of Lumiose City. Pokemon Legends Z-A might feel very different from its predecessor, but the common thread of visiting different time periods of the Pokemon world can bind them together in this adventure.