Game Freak took a huge risk confining everything to Lumiose City. After Arceus gave us wide open spaces, Z-A goes completely urban. Different districts, rooftops, back alleys, hidden passages. The verticality makes exploration feel fresh even when you’re technically in the same location.
Wild Zones integrate Pokémon habitats into the city which is a cool concept. Day and night cycles actually matter - daytime is for story missions and exploration, and night opens up the Z-A Royale tournament in Battle Zones. It gives you a reason to care about the time of day beyond aesthetics.
The real-time combat is the biggest change. No more turn-based battles. Everything runs on cooldowns instead of PP. You have to actively position and time attacks. It’s divisive and I get why. Personally I think it makes fights more engaging but I can see traditional fans hating it. Rogue Mega Evolutions serve as boss encounters and they’re tough. It really tests if you understand the new system.
I started with Tepig. The other starters are Chikorita and Totodile. Research tasks return from Arceus so there’s still that collection loop. Ranking up from Z to A in the online mode through the Royale gives you extra battle gameplay outside the main story.
The story follows your character through Lumiose City. The single location feels restrictive compared to Arceus.
I’m playing the Switch 2 edition and it looks sharp. The city design is ok, though many districts do start feeling samey after a while. The Mega Dimension DLC drops December 10 which should add more content.
The mixed reception makes sense. The combat overhaul is nice but the single city setting feels very restrictive compared to Arceus. I enjoyed my time with it but I get the criticisms. Worth trying if you want something different from standard Pokémon. Just know what you’re getting into.