There are a lot of things I really like about the game, so I’ll start with the positives. First, two things that aren’t really related to the gameplay.
The cover art. Just like Arceus, the cover is fantastic. It showcases the
game, not just a legendary. I like how it shows a battle since the game is centered around battling. I think that the covers for Z-A and Arceus is what the covers for all main series games should look like.
I’m really happy that the game was released in October instead of November. Feels like it has given me a lot more time to play compared to if the game had been released now in November. Releasing the game in October also felt like a nice callback to X/Y, which were released in October 2013. I don’t know if this was intentional or not, but I approve of it either way.
Now, let’s get to the game itself. From what I have seen, it seems like many players are bothered by the long tutorial/intro in the game, but I don’t have a problem with it. If anything, I like how the game featured a thorough explanation of the game mechanics and the general concept of the game. It even gave you a bit of freedom at times, which was nice. I have played other games which have far worse tutorials/intros. One very notable example is Persona 4 Golden, which I played last year. I liked the game, but the intro was really long, I think it took me around three hours of gameplay time before I finally got to actually play the game. I have never experienced anything similar to that in a Pokémon game.
In past generations, I have generally not been a fan of when you have your Pokémon out of their Poké Ball on the overworld (especially not when you are
forced to). Or I suppose I should say that I’m not a fan of how it has been executed. The only games where I liked the following Pokémon feature were Yellow and D/P/P, and I liked the Let’s Go/Autobattle feature in ScaVio. In Z-A, you can also have your Pokémon outside of its Poké Ball. And here, I think it works very well. It feels like the Pokémon is walking beside you, not behind you. Plus, you can use them to destroy obstacles in the overworld, directly start battles against wild Pokémon, and start battles against trainers when you are in the battle zones. Overall, it is a great execution of the feature. Between this and how it works in ScaVio, I think they have finally started to make the concept of having your Pokémon outside of its Poké Ball work really well.
Just like in Arceus, I like how Z-A has a list of main missions and side missions. I like how you can choose which mission you want to focus on, and it will be marked on the map. I also like how you can place a custom pin to mark any place of your choice on the map. I don’t remember if this was possible in Arceus, but it is a big plus for Z-A either way.
There are 230 Pokémon in the Pokédex. At first, I was afraid it would be too little, but now that I have played through the game, I think it is actually fine. It feels surprisingly large despite the low number. But more will be added in the DLC, which is great. Speaking of the Pokédex, I like how there is a separate Pokédex for Megas, that makes it easier to look up the Pokédex entries for the Megas.
Having Lumiose City as the setting for the entire game worked surprisingly well. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but they promised us a city, and that’s what we got, so it is all fine. While I generally prefer having a large region with lots of varied environments and wilderness, this was a nice change of pace. I liked exploring Lumiose. The city feels large and there is a fair bit of variation too. You can go up on the roofs of most if not all buildings, there are some parks, watery areas, and even sewers! It is fun. And I’m still discovering new areas even after having beaten the main story and having played for over 60 hours. I keep discovering new (non-hidden) items as well, though I’m not sure if these just respawn after a while.
I think the map in the game is good. One thing I especially like it has many warp points, which is excellent. This is the polar opposite of Arceus, which had way too few.
One other thing I disliked about Arceus was that it didn’t have a minimap, compass, clock and weather indicator on the overworld screen. One thing I like about Z-A is that it has a minimap, compass and “clock” (more like a time indicator) on the overworld screen. Granted, the minimap and compass were first introduced in ScaVio, but the time indicator is new. The game also gives you messages before the time is about to change between day and night, which is great. There is no weather indicator on the overworld screen, but I don’t really think game needs one, weather doesn’t feel all that important in this game. Besides, the weather can be checked by just opening the map. Or you can just see what the weather is on the overworld!
I like how you can change the time between day and night by sitting on benches. Being able to manually change the time was something I missed in ScaVio after it first appeared in Arceus, I’m glad it was brought back in Z-A.
I was surprised to see that there is no “ride Pokémon” in Z-A. After the five in Arceus and the Raidon in ScaVio, I was definitely expecting something, such as Doge Forme Zygarde. But there’s nothing. And that’s actually okay. Running is fast enough, and the many warp points make it easy to get where you want quickly.
Regarding the way you encounter wild Pokémon in the city, I like it. At first, I was worried that there would be too few wild zones, with only 6 in total. But then more got added as I continued with the story, so it is all good. It was fun to see a place that used to be a regular area suddenly transform into a new wild zone! I also like how you can encounter wild Pokémon outside of the wild zones.
Just like in Arceus, Pokémon don’t automatically evolve once they have reached the required level/conditions, you have to manually evolve them instead. I think this is great. And just like in Arceus and ScaVio, you can nickname your Pokémon directly on their summary screen. Have I ever mentioned how much I love this feature?
I like how you can re-learn moves whenever you want on the move screen for each Pokémon. Plus, you can teach TMs to Pokémon directly on their move screen! And TMs are unlimited, which is fantastic. I definitely prefer it to having one-time or limited TMs, especially in the post-game. I like how hold items are back, and the game has the traditional IV/EV system. I thought the Grit system in Arceus was okay, but I prefer the IV/EV system because I am more used to it and know how it works in full detail. I kind of wish Abilities were in the game, but I guess some of them would have been hard to transition to the new battle system, so I can understand why they were left out.
I like how the Satchel is basically the same as a regular bag, as opposed to the Satchel in Arceus. I didn’t like having limited space in the Satchel in Arceus, and I disliked being forced to upgrade it in such a “cheap” way. Though I wonder how everything can fit in the Satchel in Z-A since it is very small. Is it through magic, or some very advanced technology? It is a complete mystery.
I like the Canari Charms. They are nice, giving you a lot of good bonus effects during the game, which is awesome. And unlike the charms in Arceus, they never disappear, which is excellent.
The button placement and controls feel better than in Arceus. Here, you run with B and crouch when pressing the left control stick, while it was the other way around in Arceus. I prefer the controls in Z-A because it feels better and more convenient.
I’m not a shiny hunter, but one thing that always bothered me in ScaVio was how there was no sparkling or sound effect when you saw a shiny on the overworld. I think I might actually have missed some shinies when playing Violet because of the lack of sparkles. I preferred the way it worked in Arceus, where there were a sparkle and a sound. So I’m very glad that Z-A decided to do the same thing, having both when you see a shiny in the wild. I have found six random shinies so far, I know that I would definitely have missed more than one of them if it wasn’t for the shiny sound.
Like most Pokémon games, Z-A has great music. There are many good remixes and new versions of tracks from X/Y, and I like the new music as well. One thing I especially like is how there is music playing at all times on the overworld, it is much better than in Arceus where it was silent on the overworld far too often.
Character customization was first introduced in X/Y, and it is of course available in Z-A as well. I used it a fair bit here, way more than in Violet where I barely used it at all. Here’s how my character ended up looking in the end:
There were a few other clothes I considered, but I went with this look in the end.
Mega Evolution is back in Z-A, which I really like as it is my favorite “super mechanic”. The game gave us a lot of new Megas, which I think is great. I have wanted to see more Megas ever since OR/AS. I had initially planned to write some thoughts and opinions on all the new Megas, but I scrapped it.
The only ones I have used so far are Emboar, Excadrill, Greninja and Delphox on my in-game teams, Starmie during a side mission, and Zygarde at the end of the main story. I want to use as many others as possible, but I don’t think I’ll be able to use all of them in Z-A. The ones I am the most interested in are Skarmory, Froslass, Scolipede, Scrafty, Chandelure, Chesnaught (once its Mega Stone becomes available), Pyroar, Floette, Hawlucha, Zygarde (for real this time) and Drampa. I’m also somewhat interested in Clefable, Dragonite, Meganium, Feraligatr, Eelektross, Dragalge and Falinks. And maybe I’ll use Victreebel, Starmie (in a more serious manner), Malamar and Barbaracle as well. Then I’ll have used all of them! I have considered using some more old Megas as well, but I’m not sure. I feel that I’m more interested in trying out the new Megas.
I’m happy to see that there are Megas for Pokémon that were introduced after Gen 6, in the form of Drampa and Falinks. From the older generations, there is at least one new Mega from every generation except 3. There was only one from Gen 4, but many from Gen 5 and 6, which I think is a very good thing since these generations previously only had one Mega each. At the time of writing this, the only generation without a Mega is Gen 9. But that will change with the DLC! Regarding the future, I really hope Megas will be kept in Gen 10. As much as I like Z-A, I want to try the new Megas in a game with the regular battle system as well.
Regarding the story and characters. I won’t share any super-deep or long thoughts here, so I’ll just say that on the whole, I really liked the story. I didn’t find it quite as touching as the story in ScaVio, but it was still very good. I enjoyed it a lot. Like in ScaVio, I like how apart from in the beginning and the end, the story only really happened when you wanted it to happen, the game gave you a lot of freedom outside of the story events. While you had to use Zygarde in the final battle, there were no forced legendary captures during the main story, which I approve of.
Z-A is a sequel to X/Y, but it is a bit different compared to previous sequels. G/S/C and B2/W2 were more direct sequels since they were released immediately after R/B/Y and B/W, respectively. Z-A is different since it was released 12 years after X/Y, with several other games in-between. This meant that the game and the story couldn’t rely too much on the story in X/Y. I think the game handled that very well. There are several references to events in X/Y, and some returning characters, but my feeling is that the game can mostly stand on its own, you don’t need to have played X/Y in order to understand the story.
As for the characters. I liked them a lot, I can’t think of a single one that I downright disliked. Like in ScaVio, I like how there was no real “villain” in the game. Some characters did bad or at least questionable things, but nobody was evil at their very core. I like how we got to see some old characters return in the form of Emma, Mable and Lysandre. Plus there were some hints to what had happened to some other characters, and it seems like some of the new characters are related to characters from X/Y (like how Lida is probably Tierno’s sister).
I liked the side missions in the game. One thing I especially like is how the majority of them integrated a specific Pokémon species in some way, and the mission revolved around the Pokémon and its/their special traits. Like using the Elemental Monkeys to prepare tea, Honedge sharpening its edge against Pupitar, or brambles suddenly appearing because of a Phantump. There were also some fun references, like the “Sky battle” side mission. Plus, the Kakuna Master. Is this a
Smogon reference or just a big coincidence? It was cool either way. Another one I liked was the mission where you got to catch a shiny Mareep.
Three side missions that deserve a very special mention are the ones you can do early on, where you get the Kalos starters as gift Pokémon after completing the missions. They were fun, and it was a great way to get the Kalos starters since they aren’t available in the wild zones until much later. I definitely prefer this over how they handled the Sinnoh starters in Arceus, where Chimchar was available relatively early while it took a while before you got access to Piplup and Turtwig.
I like doing the Pokédex research requests for Mable. I prefer them over the Pokédex requests in Arceus, I like it better when the requests are about Pokémon on the whole, not just locked to a specific species.
Regarding the performance of the game, I played it on Switch 1 as said, and I think it was fine. The game flowed way better than ScaVio. It was more on the same level as S/S and Arceus, probably even better. That said, it wasn’t perfect. There were a few notable stutters from time to time. My game also crashed once, completely out of nowhere. It happened near the end of the main story, right before I was about to battle the berserk Mega Heracross and Gengar. Thankfully, it had autosaved not too long before, so I didn’t miss out on any notable progress. Regarding the loading times, they were very short. The game always loaded very quickly, much faster than Violet.
What about the graphics? This will be a very unpopular opinion, but I think the game looks just fine. I don’t really have anything to complain about regarding the graphics. I guess I just have low standards, but at the same time, I’m thankfully not a spoiled modern gamer who requires super “good” graphics for a game to be enjoyable. The game could of course have looked better, but I’m very satisfied with how it looks.
So yeah, there are a lot of things I like about Z-A. But I don’t think the game is perfect. There are some things I don’t like, and I’ll go over them as well.
I have been negative towards Arceus at many earlier points in this post, but there is one thing I think it just plain does better than Z-A. That is the ability to get trade evolutions without trading. It is something I really think should have been kept in Z-A, the fact that it isn’t feels like a big step backwards. This is honestly my biggest issue with the game. Fortunately, I was able to get the trade evolutions easily thanks to the
community codes that were set up by Austin John Plays.
One common criticism towards the game that I agree with is the lack of voice acting. Many other modern games I have played recently have featured voice acting, so the lack of it in Z-A just makes the major cutscenes feel very empty. I think the game would have been better with voice acting. I don’t think they should have voices for everything, but it should have been in all major cutscenes and major dialogue scenes at least. I feel that the lack of voice acting removes a bit of immersion for me. Having voices in a (non-fictional) language that I can understand gives a completely different feeling compared to not having voices. The lack of voice acting in Z-A (and in other modern Pokémon games) isn’t a deal breaker for me, but it is definitely a negative.
Like in Arceus and ScaVio, some of the game physics are pretty bad. It can be tricky to navigate the obstacle courses since it feels like the game is not made for that kind of gameplay. Walking off edges is also weird since the game has a very odd idea of what an edge actually is. If you try to walk off edges slowly, your player character is basically standing in the air. Like this:
So yeah, Game Freak still needs to work on their game physics. I hope they will be improved in the next game, but seeing as both Arceus and ScaVio had issues and Z-A does as well, I’m not expecting them to be better in the next game.
One very minor thing I don’t like is how the Pokédex doesn’t open up to show the Pokédex entry when you register a new Pokémon. This is something that has existed in several other recent games (not sure when it started), and I find myself missing it when playing Z-A as it forces me to manually open the Pokédex to check on any newly registered dex entry.
I am not a fan of how you have to play online in Ranked battles just to get the Mega Stones for the Kalos starters. I will do it because I really want those Mega stones, but I am still sour about it. I used a free 7-day trial of NSO to get the Greninjite and Delphoxite now in Season 2. To get the Chestnaughtite and other future exclusive Mega Stones, I will need to pay for NSO. I have had my Switch since 2018 and I have never paid for NSO before. Out of all the games I have played that could have made me pay for NSO, I never expected Z-A to be the one that actually made me do it.
The post-game is fun, but some Pokédex requests are a bit grindy. Having to catch 50 Pokémon from each type felt a little too much. I did it, but it took a while. Having to beat 1000 trainers also feels a little too much. The good thing is that it gives me a reason to train some new teams in the post-game, which I will do.
So that’s what I think regarding most of the gameplay and content in Z-A. There are both positives and negatives, but I think the good outweighs the bad by far.
Tangled Feet: Perhaps Attack and/or Movement Speed could be increased instead?
Snow Cloak: Perhaps snow could boost special defense in addition to defense?
Sand Veil: Akin to Snow Cloak, sand could boost defense (in addition to special defense for rock types). Thankfully Garchomp is not a rock-type and so does not benefit from the Sp.Def boost inherent to sand.
Gale Wings: The way priority moves get translated is by having quick animations and short cooldowns. Applying this logic, Gale Wings could reduce the cooldown of Flying-type moves and (if we're feeling feisty) increase the speed of their animations. Also remove the max-HP requirement. I want Talonflame back.
Prankster: Same as above, except with status moves.
Stall: chat I have no idea. Why is this an ability anyways? I guess they could increase the cooldown time for all moves, but why would they do (some) Sableye dirty like that? Uhh maybe instead it could be a boost to both defenses, because Big Stall and all. It's a non-mega Sableye, how bad could it be?
Pickup: The tricky thing now is that the end of a battle is not well-defined anymore, what with wild pokemon constantly entering and exiting the fray. Perhaps then the item pickup chance could proc either upon KOing pokemon or restrict it to trainer battles, whose ends are better defined.
Run Away: Some moves like Infestation and Thousand Waves have a trapping effect. Just like ignore it. Alternatively, it could make it so switching out is quicker.
Analytic: The games keep track of how many moves a pokemon has used (for the sake of the Timer Ball), so the attack boost could be granted if your target has moved more than you have. This would be interesting in PvP, as when you switch in you'd have an advantage against everyone who has been there for a bit. To make this not as ridiculous, they could make the attack boost start out small (idk 5%?) and scale as the move usage differential increases.
Cute Charm: This would need a re-introduction of infatuation, which I think could be done. Have moves that specifically target whoever infatuated you have a chance to fail. Infuriating, sure, but it's also infuriating in other games. Plus (in the 1v1v1v1 setting) it's not nearly as bad as freeze, which is in-game. Also they should rework it to take egg groups instead of gender into account, as I think that would be more interesting.
Trace: To account for scenarios where there are many enemies when the user is sent out, the ability should proc when you first either lock-onto or target a pokemon, at which point you'd copy their ability. This gives a new layer of control which IMO makes the ability more interesting.
Pressure: So PP is not a thing anymore, but low-PP moves tend to have higher cooldowns. Perhaps it could be a passive-effect ability where the move cooldowns of opponents near the user recharge slower.
Quick Draw: Have it behave like an always-equipped Quick Claw.
Suction Cups: I feel like auto-switch out moves like Dragon Tail could be implemented. In PvP and Trainer battles they'd work as described (without counting as one of your opponent's switches in PvP) and if the target could not be switched out (if there are no pokemon in the back or if it's a wild battle) it could just have high knockback. Actually, Whirlwind is already in the game, right? Whatever it's effects are, they could just... do that + damage. Also Suction Cups would be immune to them.
Hustle: Akin to the accuracy-boosting abilities, perhaps Hustle could make the default targeting worse/less accurate. That is to say, perhaps attacks have a chance to be aimed slightly to the side of their target. Given the real-time aspect of dodging, this might not be as big of a downside as in other games, as the 'bad accuracy' may accidentally catch opponents dodging.
Skill Link: As multi-hit moves already shoot out the maximum number of times, this could perhaps add a slight homing effect to projectiles, making them better able to hit moving targets.
Parental Bond: Honestly a bit surprised this isn't implemented in-game, seeing as this is M-Kangaskhan's whole identity and it is an iconic Mega. Anyhow, the second hit could happen shortly after the first. This might make move animations a bit longer, but I think it would be worth it.
