Photo Courtesy Creative Commons

For many people, Pokémon is an important childhood memory. The franchise is titanic, and through the games, shows and cards, children across the world have been captivated by these fantastical creatures. The heart of the franchise is the games, which appear to have mastered the recipe for profit. With Pokemon Legends: Z-A, however, the formula was changed up in ways that weren’t really necessary.
The traditional formula of a Pokemon game is that the player has a ‘region’ which they explore. Along the way, they fight evil organizations, catch Pokémon and become the champion. Pokémon Legends: Z-A takes a different approach. There is no ‘region’ in this game. The whole game occurs in Lumiose City, a location from another game. Z-A adds detail to the city, but that doesn’t make up for the loss of being able to explore an entire country.
Previous games had cities like Lumiose, as well as towns built within volcanoes, ruins with prehistoric creatures and enchanted forests. The increase in detail doesn’t make up for the loss in variety and creativity. Even the increase in detail is questionable, as graphics on some windows and buildings are janky. This is an unfortunate trend with the past few games, the franchise is so big that regardless of quality, the sales will be good.
The positives for Z-A are an altered combat system and new forms, called mega evolutions, for some classic pokemon. These modifications, while worth praise, don’t detract from the game’s flaws. Worst of all, the game costs $70, and there’s an entire DLC which costs an additional 30. Accessing several of the game’s new forms demands another 20. A consumer could end up paying $120 for a mediocre product, and while the game has fun aspects to it, the pros don’t outweigh the cons.