Is anyone else not really vibing with this game?

[Puddle]

I'm usually really positive about new Pokémon releases. I've loved all the other Switch games (yes, even BDSP!). But Legends Z-A is the first ever mainline Pokémon game I'm struggling to find the motivation to finish.

Usually when a new Pokémon game comes out, I finish it in a week. But it's been over a month since I bought Z-A and I'm only 13 hours into the story, and the gaps between my play sessions keep getting longer and longer.

There are things I like about the game. The graphics are nice, the new battle system feels fresh and exciting, and the trainer customisation is really good, even if tracking down specific clothing items can be headache. I enjoy climbing up onto rooftops to check out the view and find rare Pokémon.

But despite finding things to enjoy while I'm actually playing the game, I'm not feeling that spark of excitement that would normally keep me coming back. I think a lot of this has to do with the urban setting, which feels claustrophobic and disorienting, and lacks the sense of adventure I've come to love from the series. The paywalled Mega Stones are also a huge bummer, and for some reason the cutscenes are grating more than usual, maybe because my tolerance for them has been gradually worn down by the last few releases.

It could be partly a "me" problem - maybe I have slight Pokémon burnout from playing so many games and need to take a break? - but new releases usually never fail to rekindle my passion for the series. I'm still hopeful that Generation 10 will pull me back in.

I really want to like Z-A, because I'm excited about the return of Mega Evolution and I love the new designs, but I'm just not really feeling it. Is anyone else having a similar experience?

 

[Sayer]

Bro, I don't know your age, but if you were born in the 90's there is only one answear: We are too much nostalgic. We know that this "spark" you mentioned probably will never come back... But we're still here!

 

[Nicolas721]

Yeah, exploration is below average in this game. But I'd say it's still enough to take on a couple challenges for yourself, like catching the elusive pseudos or Eevees or getting all the Namari screws.

And for the story beats, button A smashing is your friend. It may sound harsh but sometimes it's necessary as you still have many long dialogue scenes to go and if you feel you missed something you can always check Bulbapedia or Youtube.

The most important thing is to go at your own pace. Don't force yourself to complete it or keep going back to it, eventually you'll get tons of ideas on how to enjoy it.

 

[Croconaw]

Bro, I don't know your age, but if you were born in the 90's there is only one answear: We are too much nostalgic. We know that this "spark" you mentioned probably will never come back... But we're still here!

I have to agree with this being the case. I bought this game on release day but I feel like I’ve been forcing myself to have fun either with it. Safe to say, I have officially grown out of Pokémon.

I can’t keep pretending that I enjoy the series when I haven’t for years. Our interests change, and that’s fine. We just have to accept it.

I haven’t touched this game for weeks, and I don’t think I ever will.

 

[Sayer]

I have to agree with this being the case. I bought this game on release day but I feel like I’ve been forcing myself to have fun either with it. Safe to say, I have officially grown out of Pokémon.

I can’t keep pretending that I enjoy the series when I haven’t for years. Our interests change, and that’s fine. We just have to accept it.

I haven’t touched this game for weeks, and I don’t think I ever will.

I don't think that is a "interest change" fact, I know we're pretty in love with the entire brand and with our beloved Pokémon. For instance Let's Go is the game that I enjoyed more than others in the last years, because it winks to old gen games. We growed up, it's true (unfortunately), the problem is that The Pokémon Company seems to have no care about old players. But the must know they become what they are only because of us...

 

[Tenjiku]

I got this game as a birthday gift in October and I'm still nowhere near close to the endgame lol. I've been putting it off for a while now and originally was going to get back into playing once the DLC dropped, until I found out all the stuff for it is playable after beating the main game which, again, I'm not even close to; really only got the DLC because of the Mega Raichus, but apparently can't use them currently which sucks. (yes, I'm aware this is the norm for most games, I was just hoping at least the Mega Raichus specifically would be available at any time once it dropped)

But yeah, I'm not really feeling this game tbh. I really liked Legends Arceus, and honestly I still like it more than Z-A; probably because I loved the exploration in that one, while this one is just too 'small' and doesn't entice me to find/explore the wild zones at all, it feels more like a chore to me. I'm also not fond of the battling style in this game compared to other games I've played with a similar style, it's such a slog in this one and feels a little rough, but that could just be me.

That said, two positive things I like about it is some of the new Megas (even if I can't get half of them yet, unfortunately), and the characters. Z-A does have more characters I really like compared to LA; I don't think I really have a character here that I outright dislike completely compared to other games in the franchise, surprisingly.

 

[Norzan]

I can’t keep pretending that I enjoy the series when I haven’t for years. Our interests change, and that’s fine. We just have to accept it.

I used to think this, but i still have a blast with games like Emerald and Platinum, so it's not that. It's just that the recent games, to me at least, just feel incredibly unfulfilling, like something that's missing.

 

[Croconaw]

I used to think this, but i still have a blast with games like Emerald and Platinum, so it's not that. It's just that the recent games, to me at least, just feel incredibly unfulfilling, like something that's missing.

I still definitely enjoy the older games. I wish they went back to that format, but I’m not getting my hopes up.

 

[Sayer]

I still definitely enjoy the older games. I wish they went back to that format, but I’m not getting my hopes up.

Same here!

 

[falinksedin]

I enjoyed the base game well enough. Not in the upper echelons of Pokemon games, but still good enough for me to have a decent time.
The DLC, however, was another story. The least fun I've had with a Pokemon game - honestly any video game - in a long time. Probably the only Pokemon game/DLC I've ever bought where I genuinely grudge the money. I'm kind of baffled as to how it got past playtesting and QA.
With something like the aspects of the base game that I didn't so much like, I can recognise that's just a case of things not being for me. The DLC, though, I think is just objectively poor value for money, with how lazy and repetitive its "content" is.

 

[Neo Blaze]

I'm kind of the opposite. I did not vibe with Legends: Arceus at all (might honestly be my least favorite Pokémon game ever), Scarlet/Violet was disappointing too (mostly because of its terrible performance), and I did not even bother buying BDSP.

This game however, fully has brought back my love for the series. I haven't had this much fun with a Pokémon game since like USUM (though I even found things to enjoy in Sword and Shield tbh). I even enjoyed the DLC. Not as much as the base game, but I'm still having a good time with it.

All that said however, I can completely see how this game would not be everyone's cup of tea. I fully admit it's flawed in places, and to some those flaws will break the game for them, others (like me) aren't bothered by them as much (I don't find this game as flawed as PLA and SV, but that's me). I will admit I did find the tutorial portions of the game annoying, especially the first few hours of gameplay, but after that it picked up for me. I also like urban exploration and inspecting every nook and cranny (much more than sprawling open world maps with just fields and mountains) so that helps too.

If it's not doing it for you, it's just not doing it. As I said, I did not vibe with PLA at all, and kinda had to force myself to complete the main story. But that's definitely not recommendable lol. All you can do is wait for the next mainline Pokémon game and hope you vibe with that one. I was kinda starting to think I had grown out of Pokémon games, and the new ones were just not my cup of tea anymore, but then ZA unexpectedly brought back the enthusiasm I once had for them (when I had very little expectations for it), so it can happen.

 

[colours]

an interesting divide of sorts when it comes to interest in pokemon games for people is: do you prefer more exploration or more battling? legends: arceus did have a lot of the latter, but had the former in bounds because of the different areas in hisui that you can explore, rather than a single city like in ZA. on the other hand, ZA is quite no-nonsense; you progress the story, you unlock more wild areas, you catch more pokemon in those wild areas for battling. the main attraction is the ZA battle royale, and if that's not it, then it's online ranked battling. there are some other small non-battling things you could do, like taking photos with your pokemon, but generally exploration is pretty limited which isn't going to vibe well with everyone.

the dlc seems to widen this divide because while grinding in pokemon games was more or less on the optional side, you actually now have content where you sort of kind of have to grind to progress, and your progression is mostly determined based on rng (which berries you get), which i can see not being fun for a lot of folk. the gameplay loop of "going into portal, accomplish missions, break golden pokeball, hope it's the right berries i need, rinse and repeat" might not be enticing to some folks who either aren't used to or typically dislike the grindy side of jrpgs. personally speaking, i don't mind, and this is nowhere even close to the worst grind i've had, tbh. at least this dlc makes you engage with its central premise which is the hyperspace portals, for better or worse.

 

[shrinkray]

this is actually the first pokemon game where i ever completed the entire pokedex (in the base game at least, i haven't gotten the dlc), and i've even done all of the sidequests. but honestly, that feels more like an indication of how short it is and how there's really not much to do. i'm fine with the concept of the whole game taking place in one city, but i wish the smaller scale meant there would be more focus on the little details, and playing the game, it really doesn't feel like that. the few interiors you can go into are beautiful, but then the actual outside area where you're going to be spending all your time is very same-y, and even if i like the music it gets to be too much when you're hearing the same couple of songs nonstop for so long.
there's enough story and cutscenes to make it a pain to replay or to go through if you don't care about story, but if you actually do care, it feels like every new development or problem gets resolved basically as soon as it happens. it's also weird to me that they have a hotel as an important location, but only one other person who isn't part of team mz ever stays there (and only for one night). it's not like i really needed some kind of mechanic where other npcs stayed there, it wouldn't have drastically changed the game, but i don't like that there's so much time spent talking about how they're trying to advertise the hotel and get more guests when this isn't actually a conflict that matters and it doesn't lead up to anything. maybe it's a nitpick, but it bothered me, especially because the game is so small and empty that it really could've used some kind of bigger sidequest or other mechanic like that.
most of the nice, thoughtful details in the game are character details, like corbeau having a gyarados and jacinthe using lebanne's rotom phone, which is cool but it's not something you'll appreciate unless you're already invested. and then there's the hisui exhibit in the museum, which might be the most lovingly crafted area in the whole game, with all kinds of lore details packed into it, along with what's probably a lot of people's favorite sidequest - all of this for something that has basically nothing to do with lumiose. and it's cool, it's not like i don't appreciate it, but when the rest of the game feels unfinished, i feel a little bitter about all this thought and effort being dedicated to a completely different game.
as much as i'm ranting, i did enjoy it while i was playing it, and a lot of that just came from playing dress up, and the pokemon themselves. i will say that something about the way the pokemon look at you and track you in this game stood out to me, i feel like they have a lot more personality and expressiveness than any other pokemon game so far - this is the first time i've ever really appreciated that there's stuff you can do with 3d models that you can't really do with sprites. i loved seeing bird pokemon up on street lights, the monkeys in the trees, trubbish in the alleyways, magikarp in the water, walking with my pokemon through the city. it's so simple, but i could really see that original vision for pokemon, people and pokemon living together (even if the wild zones feel like the complete opposite of that). i think i can squeeze a lot of enjoyment just out of making my own character and roleplaying living in a city with pokemon. but it still feels like a lot of effort to like this game.
(hopefully it's fine that i ended up basically writing an entire review here. i had a lot of thoughts)

 

[falinksedin]

an interesting divide of sorts when it comes to interest in pokemon games for people is: do you prefer more exploration or more battling?

I largely agree, with the asterisk that "liking battling" refers to specifically battling in these games. As someone who likes battling in mainline games, the battle systems in both Legends games have been pretty big disappointments. So if you know you like ZA's battling, that game, being battle-heavy, is probably great for you, but if you're just a fan of previous Pokemon games who likes regular battling but are new to the Legends games, whether or not you'll like ZA is kind of still a question mark.

 

[lechibang]

It's not the same spark as with B2W2 anymore, it's visually appealing but has no soul to it

 

[colours]

I largely agree, with the asterisk that "liking battling" refers to specifically battling in these games. As someone who likes battling in mainline games, the battle systems in both Legends games have been pretty big disappointments. So if you know you like ZA's battling, that game, being battle-heavy, is probably great for you, but if you're just a fan of previous Pokemon games who likes regular battling but are new to the Legends games, whether or not you'll like ZA is kind of still a question mark.

am i correct in assuming you prefer pokemon battling without any extra bells and whistles to them?

legends arceus was certainly an interesting direction and credit where credit is due; there's actual consequence and weight to decisions that you make on a turn-by-turn basis (moreso than your usual standard pokemon battle). do you go strong style, go for the stronger move and as such, sacrifice turns? or do you go agile style and gain as many turns attacking your opponent as possible? i like that i actually had to think quite a bit before making decisions as being high-level isn't always a guarantee that you can steamroll your opponent. to me, battles felt like they had more stakes to them which is a nice twist over your standard version pokemon games.

in regards to legends: za, i'm honestly a fan of the more "realistic" approach to battling, which is to say using the environment and smart positioning can be key to victory in many battles (this matters a lot more for online ranked than your standard npc battles). i like that the introduction of cooldowns further makes me think twice about making me use a really powerful move because then it has the consequence of using it less frequently, which makes sense. do i opt for flamethrower or fire blast? hydro pump or surf? do i want a more direct attack or a more area-of-affect-esque move? legends: za's battle felt less gimmicky and, much like legends: arceus, the battling felt like it has consequence and weight to it.

i guess in my eyes, i like when the battle system has some extra flavour in it to change things up from your standard version battles. not everyone is going to vibe with it, which is understandable. i don't mind, though.

 

[falinksedin]

am i correct in assuming you prefer pokemon battling without any extra bells and whistles to them?

Yeah, pretty much. "Conventional" Pokemon battling is one of the most cavernously deep strategy games I've ever come across and the potential for creativity and skill expression is near limitless. I'm personally not a huge fan of anything that simplifies that without good reason. The system in PLA felt like a weird half-step towards real-time battles, and the strong/agile didn't really add enough depth to compensate for missing abilities and items (I really especially hate whenever abilities aren't in because they're such a defining part of a lot of mons' identities).

I definitely see the vision more with ZA; it's just not for me personally. I don't disagree with your overall assessment, I was more just pointing out that mainline battling =/= Legends battling for the benefit of like, anyone on the fence reading the thread. Different experiences that you're best off just trying out to see what you do or don't click with.