Pokémon Legends Z-A: When Nostalgia Meets Modern Mediocrity

Look, I wanted to love this game. I really did. I haven't touched a Pokémon title since the Game Boy Color days, and when Legends Z-A dropped, I figured it was time to see what the franchise had become. Spoiler alert: what it's become is a confused mess that's more concerned with checking boxes than delivering a solid gaming experience.

Let's start with the elephant in the room: the character design is atrocious. The writers clearly had a story they wanted to tell, and honestly, the bones of it aren't bad. But the character design completely torpedoes any immersion you might build up. I couldn't tell who was male, who was female, or what the hell was going on half the time. And before you come at me, this isn't about being hateful—it's about basic character design principles. Give me clear options. Give me two or three distinct choices and let me pick. Instead, they went full androgynous across the board, and every time I walked into a shop, I felt like my character just traded in their identity for a Subaru and a participation trophy. You want to be inclusive? Fine. But don't sacrifice the player's ability to actually connect with their character to score points with people who probably aren't even playing the game.

Now onto the gameplay itself, and this is where it goes from annoying to just plain lazy. The map is embarrassingly small. It's essentially one town laid out in a circle, and once you've made that loop a couple of times, you've seen everything. Every Pokémon is visible throughout the city, which means catching them feels less like an adventure and more like spawn camping in a shooter. There's zero sense of discovery. You want a specific Pokémon? Just walk to its area and wait. That's it. That's the gameplay loop. For a franchise built on exploration and wonder, this felt like a slap in the face.

Here's the hard truth: Pokémon Legends Z-A feels like a kids' game that forgot what made Pokémon magical in the first place. It's too busy trying to fit into the current cultural moment to bother being a great game. The small map gets stale fast, the catch mechanics have no challenge or thrill, and the character design choices rip you right out of any immersion the story tries to build. It's not the worst game I've ever played, but it's the kind of forgettable title that'll be collecting dust in the bargain bin while Game Freak pats itself on the back for being progressive. If you're a die-hard Pokémon fan, maybe you'll find something to enjoy here. But for this old-school gamer coming back after two decades? What a disappointment