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Story Spoilers Your Thoughts on Pokémon Legends: Z-A

This thread features story spoilers and/or leaks for the games.

How would you rate this game?

  • 5

    Votes: 10 24.4%

  • 4

    Votes: 19 46.3%

  • 3

    Votes: 9 22.0%

  • 2

    Votes: 3 7.3%

  • 1

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    41
Rockapheller

Rockapheller

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Now that the game has released officially and people have started to play it, what are your thoughts on this game?

Did it meet your expectations?
Do you think GameFreak did a great job with the second installment of the Legends title?
What have been the best and worst parts of this game for you?

Discuss here.
 
Alrighty, if I may start, I've only been 6 hours into the game and still early in the progression (Rank V as of now), so I'll just give my first impressions here.
  • I am playing on Switch 1, and the game runs absolutely smoothly! They did a way better job with it than Scarlet and Violet in terms of performance.
  • The cinematic opening of the game is awesome! I knew we were seeing it through a Zygarde cell at the moment it fell from the sky and Floette looked at it in the eye. Also Floette is all in for the drama (and it is so great to finally see Floette as a character in flesh and bones).
  • I love the day and night cycle in the game progression, and it blends in so well. In the day, I am doing the main story aside from the rank battles and side quests. The game in terms of content seems very rich already. The side quests have improved greatly since Legends: Arceus. Most of those felt like a chore to me back then, but in this game, they are engaging and fun. Honestly, "You need to stay away from the streets at night, or you'll be challenged" could have been an awesome implement in the anime. I wish the anime writers had taken this and adapted it in some form.
  • The characters are written good. They don't feel as engaging as the friends from Scarlet and Violet but they seem to have neat backstories that are waiting to be unfold, so I'll be waiting until the end of the game before making a final judgement on that. There is absolutely a potential here.
  • I love the new way of battling. It is so much more fun with the real time action than turn based battling. The reset time of moves is absolutely exciting in the battle.
 
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Hands-down one of the most fun Pokemon games I've played since Gen V

All the characters are extremely fun, funny, and well-written
The music's catchy, memorable, and there's a surprising amount of unique battles themes for characters
The story takes some wild twists and turns and always keeps you guessing
None of the leaks have done the megas justice - they're all outstanding designs
 
Only like 40 minutes in but got my baby. Unfortunately the new battle system is definitely a learning curve I'm struggling with a bit...hopefully I get the hang of it fast.

Y'all I already love Urbain he just spent the first five minutes being a savage for no reason

"Sorry, doesn't ring a bell. Must not have been much of a challenge."

"Right. I'm sure you've gotten muuuch stronger in a day."

Had the weirdest feeling I would like him and so far I'm right lol
 
wanderist said:
Only like 40 minutes in but got my baby. Unfortunately the new battle system is definitely a learning curve I'm struggling with a bit...hopefully I get the hang of it fast.
Click to expand...
I honestly feel the same about the battle system. It's going to take some getting used to. I sort of have a "starter team" of:
Chikorita
Weedle
Fletchling
Bunnelby
Mareep

Not sure who is staying (aside from Chikorita of course)
 
Ok I'm about two hours in.

I'm already pretty charmed by the characters!! So far Mabel is probably my favorite. (Go off child!! Do my court ordered community service for me!! ghkjfdh)

The only thing that's causing me issue atm is that I keep pressing ZR to throw a Poké Ball when I mean to be pressing LR to aim when I'm in a battle. I thought I lost some of my DLC purchase bonus Poké Balls, but thank god Lost Poké Ball guy is a thing! I am headcanoning this dude to be Ball Guy's brother or something lol.

Also a quick nostalgic note: the first female starter I received w/o trying to reset for it was a female Tepig in Black 2.

And I was hoping for Good Ol' Times Sake I'd be able to get a female Tepig for PLZA w/o reseting for it and I did!! ;u; She's so Miss Piggy coded (Impish and somewhat vain!!) I'm so happy about this I literally screamed and caused my roommate to run into my room about it ghfjkhk.

This is so long and I'm rambling on but I'm Overall really happy so far!! I probably should play a little more though lol.
 
To avoid spoiling anything, just gonna say that I'm not really vibing with the cast of characters this time around except for one who we meet a little later on. The cast just feels so small, or maybe that's just me? I dunno.
 
beasttrash said:
Ok I'm about two hours in.

I'm already pretty charmed by the characters!! So far Mabel is probably my favorite. (Go off child!! Do my court ordered community service for me!! ghkjfdh)

The only thing that's causing me issue atm is that I keep pressing ZR to throw a Poké Ball when I mean to be pressing LR to aim when I'm in a battle. I thought I lost some of my DLC purchase bonus Poké Balls, but thank god Lost Poké Ball guy is a thing! I am headcanoning this dude to be Ball Guy's brother or something lol.

Also a quick nostalgic note: the first female starter I received w/o trying to reset for it was a female Tepig in Black 2.

And I was hoping for Good Ol' Times Sake I'd be able to get a female Tepig for PLZA w/o reseting for it and I did!! ;u; She's so Miss Piggy coded (Impish and somewhat vain!!) I'm so happy about this I literally screamed and caused my roommate to run into my room about it ghfjkhk.

This is so long and I'm rambling on but I'm Overall really happy so far!! I probably should play a little more though lol.
Click to expand...

The button pressing issues are definitely me right now. I keep doing the same thing even 3+ hours in.

Mebel honestly made me laugh. Was like "oh yeah, I forgot she's kinda like that." Not sure what I expected out of her because it's been so long and she barely had a presence in XY but I'm happy with how she was implemented here lol

In general the characters are great so far. I already love Urbain so much and seeing AZ and Floette happy after three thousand years makes me happy

In general I'm still not very far because I did not take off work for this (which I'm regretting) but the only problem so far is that I am seriously struggling with the new battle system. Almost lost a story battle just because I barely really knew what I was doing against a Pokemon that wasn't a Bunnelby. Reeaally hoping I get the hang of it soon and it's not a sign of a bigger problem between me and this game because I DO love the concept of it.
 
wanderist said:
Mebel honestly made me laugh. Was like "oh yeah, I forgot she's kinda like that." Not sure what I expected out of her because it's been so long and she barely had a presence in XY but I'm happy with how she was implemented here lol
Click to expand...
I absolutely love her attitude. I don't remember what the context was, but while choosing Kanto starters, she asked me something and she found the option I chose to be a boring answer and roasted the hell outta me without hesitation lol
 
Mega Starmie is literally Walking Wake. (I'm not sorry)
 
Some small details that I wanted to share after 12 hours into the game:
  • I absolutely find it practical that you don't need to tap on A for the items on the ground. It was kind of infuriating to pick them up in the past few games when they are merely glowing lights, especially if you're going fast.
  • Speaking of going fast, I wish we had a bike like in XY games. The running animation is fast enough but I think it would be fun to ride a bike around like in the old days. Or even better, ride some of the Pokémon.
  • And speaking of using Pokémon, I love that we are using the natural skills of our Pokémon similar to HMs now. It has always been the ideal way of using our Pokémon for me, not calling worker Pokémon on an app, not unnecessarily filling move slots on our Pokémon. We are just using their natural capabilities and it works great; feels so much like we are using our Pokémon in daily life.
  • The walking Pokémon animations have been implemented well this time. It is not catastrophic like in Sword and Shield, where no effort was put to implement the feature, and not odd with some Pokémon like in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl.
  • Collecting Mega Shards is one thing, but I keep breaking each of them whenever and wherever I see them, and it is kind of getting tiring. I wish I could just skip them but it feels illegal...
 
I've been enjoying the game so far. As of right now I've been focusing on side quests and working on the research tasks (mainly capturing a lot of Pokémon of different types), and only sitting at rank W for now.

With that said, does anyone know if you can unlock more hairstyles throughout the game? I'm surprised at the small amount of hairstyles the game currently has.
 
I'm enjoying the game a lot so far, even though I'm not terribly far into the story. This is probably gonna be highly controversial, but I can already tell I'm gonna like this game so much more than Legends: Arceus, which I found an incredibly frustrating experience for the most part. I like how wild Pokémon and battles are mostly restricted to their own zones, and you can just calmly go about your way in the streets between the zones. Love just exploring the city and going from assignment to assignment, and hop into a Wild Zone when I feel like it.
 
I'm about 20 hours in now.

The Good:
  • The new battle system is REALLY good. I knew this was the thing that would completely make or break my experience. Safe to say my fears are totally unfounded. Its made me appreciate features of the game that have been around forever a bit more (such as how you set you moves list, that you want moves with power, but you also want moves with a good amount of PP/cooldown time.) I'm pretty floored at how much I love it.
  • CUSTOMIZATION AHHHHH. I'm so glad that they brought back customization. I am having trouble saving money because its all going into clothing. Ngl, wanting to beat as many trainers as I can during the Z-A Royale so I can play dress up more is a Very good motivator to keep playing the game.
  • The characters are just really fun? I think because you spend so much time talking to folks around Lumiose, they start to feel fully formed and fleshed out. Vinnie being really worried about his new Buneary after you defeat him!! Tarragon being the most supportive grandfather to Canari! Ivor's unbridled enthusiasm!! These characters are so silly and I love them. It more than makes up for the lack of returning characters imho. That said: I also think the character development that some of the returning characters received is really good. I really love how confident and assured Emma is, but she's also really down for the silliness too lol.
  • I feel like this is a game you appreciate more if you're someone who really loves the lore of the games. There are so many callbacks to not just the original XY but to other games in the series. Galar and Hisui being the most prominent. At the same time, it doesn't feel like nostalgia bait, nor do the callbacks feel like their obsessed with their own history (which imho, was a problem with the original XY.) It really makes the world feel even more connected.
  • The side missions are really cute and I am enjoying them more then PLA! Idk I think the fact that its all one city makes it easier to just jump from one side mission to another. My favorite ones so far are the Spewpa in the Museum and the Slurpuff field trip. Oh!! And the Budew talent show!!! Completing them really does make the city feel a lot more alive.
  • THE MUSIC. It so funny because you really do keep hearing the same music over and over again but thats ok because they're all really dynamic and catchy!! I also love how the promo matches after Rank F have their own battle themes!! XY was never my favorite soundtrack when it came to battle music. In fact, I felt it was one of the weaker parts of those games. But the remixes blow the originals out of the water imho.
  • The character animations are really good! The characters all feel really expressive and fun... also helping is take's character design. I am so happy she seems to be taking the lead on character design!!
  • Lost Poké Ball guy is a Saint and he is my favorite NPC. Again, I think he is the sibling to Ball Guy from Galar lol.
  • Probably more I am forgetting.
The Bad:
  • Sometimes I don't really get how my Pokémon will still get attacked first despite me approaching and attacking first. It's really weird how that's calculated and I find it more frustrating then not.
  • Lack of hairstyles, I know they'll probably add more in the DLC but eeeh that seems really annoying. Especially as you can't even choose your own hairstyle until you go to the salon. I kind of want the customization of this game and the hairstyles of SV.
  • The tutorial is probably longer then it needs to be. I mean this with all sincerity as someone who wanted to take the tutorial slow because I was unsure of the new battle system and wanted time to learn it. I think it took me 5 hours to finally be let free? Thats... too long.
  • I would really like to be able to pet my Pokémon. Like, I feel there are so many times and places that they could have put in a Pokémon Amie moment but decided to hold back intstead. I think its really cute that you can take pictures of yourself drinking coffee with your Pokemon, but it also feels empty after the first few times. I really wanted more from this in particular.
  • Yes the fact that Lumiose is all one map and that windows are textures is a Problem. Albeit a minor one that isn't impeding my ability to play and my overall enjoyment of the game.
And the one thing I'm mixed about:
  • Voice acting. I think the cut scenes and dialogue should be voice acted at this point. It's uncanny that they still don't have voice acting besides the player character's grunts. That said. I think trainers calling out moves in battle would get very annoying very quickly. I kind of realized this yesterday after tuning into Vinesauce streaming the game. Yeah Vinny was joking but good god I realized how awful it would be to hear "Totodile use Water Gun" over and over again. So voice acting cut scenes and dialogue? Yes. Battles? No thanks.
Overall, I am still having a lot of fun with these games! I'm not like, completely impressed. But I really dig the characters and the gameplay loop. Maybe I'll end up changing my tune about them once I beat it, but so far so good. I'm gonna stop babbling and play the game some more lol.
 
I've been playing it while off sick, and I'm liking it so far, although the battling system took me some getting used to. I prefer turn-based gameplay because I've always struggled with my hand-eye coordination, but I'm managing to get through it so far.

I'm also shocked by how well it plays on the Switch 1 - that was one of my bigger worries going into it, but I've barely noticed any real issues. The longer wait before it came out definitely feels worth it!

And of course, I'm very happy to be able to have Totodile as my starter again! It took me about an hour to notice that it's a girl this time, and she evolved into a Croconaw not long after. :bulbaLove:
 
my partner and I are both really enjoying it so far!! We have just the one switch so we’ve been switching (lol) off back and forth and it’s been really, really nice. I’ve been enjoying seeing the small differences in Urbain and Taunie’s dialogue and characterization between our two playthroughs!

Like everyone, I imagine, I’m pretty sad that the Z-A Royale is kind of… not real? I’m sure it was done for balancing reasons but it’s SOOO fun I would have absolutely loved to really grind up all the actual ranks.

In general, I think I’m somebody who is a big fan of alternating modes of play, I really enjoy the dynamic between using nights to battle and save up money and daytime to do catching, side quests, and shopping! It’s a fun balance that keeps things feeling fresh, at least as far in as I am! ^^

I’m really enjoying the exploration and tight-knit cast of characters. Everybody is so charming and the writing has been a joy so far!!

Cant wait to see even more of it!
 
Still idk when I'll be done since I have been doing dex filling in between story (halfway-ish to the dex I think) so my thoughts are still all over.

Just got to Rank C in story so prob still a way's off from seeing plot done but honestly I'm enjoying the battle system and pleasantly surprised how well it's been running for me on my Lite. Only real complaint I get is that I seem to have had ping issues when doing the ranked battles when I went to get my stone but I was going in expecting that. Overall might be on its way to being my favorite entry in franchise Although the lack of jumping or any real vertical takeoff barring the weird rotom glide is kind of making getting some colored screws annoying with input delays as well as some awkward issues with the fighting system on terrain on spaces that really don't do well to let two giant monsters fight it out. Also kind of annoyed link cable didn't come back but that's a personal thing.
 
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