Pokemon Legends Z-A's explosive release came with it a bevy of gameplay enhancements, improved mechanics, and innovation. These upgrades were meant to make fans enjoy the games more while feeling more immersed. They brought speed and action to the delight of Pokemon gamers everywhere.
But there is one feature that can be deemed as the best addition to the game because of how fun and revolutionary it is. It has something to do with catching Pokemon in Pokemon Legends Z-A and we are here to talk about it,
What is Pokemon Legends Z-A's New Mechanic?
Pokemon Legends Z-A gave trainers a very effective and immersive way of catching Pokemon wherein weakening or inflicting status are now considered obsolete with how good this new technique is.
This new catching system will allow trainers to throw a Pokeball to a fainted Pokemon after depleting its HP to zero. Before, once a Pokemon is defeated, it is gone but with this title, players have a short period of time to catch a "dizzy" Pokemon with better odds of bagging it and adding it to their perfectly-built team.
This feature is definitely a blessing not only to old-time fans, but more especially to new players. This new mechanic removes the complexities of effective catching Pokemon because now, even a Pokemon you accidentally (or intentionally) faint can be caught. This makes perfect sense because as per the game, a Pokemon gets too weak or disoriented to dodge or run.
This change adds a strategic angle to hardcore Pokemon gamers by giving options of throwing the ball early, throwing the ball with low HP, or gamble the catch rate by fainting the target. Either way, it was very thrilling.
Closer To The Anime
This new feature will make Pokemon anime fans have a smile bigger than a Loudred's. Pokemon Legends Z-A's catching mechanic is the closest it has been in the animated series. No other Pokemon game had this exact mechanic and fainting a Pokemon just means the battle's over.
In the anime, characters like Ash are always eager to see the Pokemon have spinning eyes before they throw the ball because actually depleting the Pokemon's HP is the most effective way of catching it. With Legends Z-A implementing this, it truly feels cinematic and accurate. Like stepping into the anime world!
More Chances Of Catching Our Faves
If there's one reason to truly love this mechanic, it would be the drastically improved catch rate after throwing your Great Ball to a fainted-slash-dizzy Pokemon. If all Pokeballs you have thrown failed to this point, maybe defeating it is your Hail Mary.
Gone are the days where we get frustrated when a Pokemon faints itself by using moves that hurt itself life Take Down or Explosion or when we miscalculate Toxic or Infestation. We are given countless opportunities to catch our favorites!
False Swipe No More!
Speaking of maintaining HP, we are now longer bound to using keeping a move slot for False Swipe just to control the HP of the opposing Pokemon. We can just use the moves we love, not worrying that such a powerful move can one-hit a Pokemon. Because, again, fainting is not the end!
We don't have to be mad at the Pokemon we're trying to catch for using Recover or Synthesis anymore because a fainted Pokemon cannot use any moves. That's just really convenient and very satisfying to see.
Honorable Mention Features
The new mechanic is supported by other new features added in Pokemon Legends Z-A. One of them is being able to soft reset endlessly without the fear of losing an Alpha shiny because they will never despawn. They will always be there unless you make them faint and save after.
And if you do save your game after failing a catch, you can just keep resetting the game's time by resting on benches non-stop and get another shot at your favorite Pokemon. And when you feel like your balls are being thrown uselessly because of panic or bad aiming, you can always go to Pokeball Collectors to pick up all your wrongly-thrown balls. Pokemon Legends Z-A is truly a catching heaven.
These features, all added together while also upgrading your catching Canari plush, make catching not a chore anymore. Isn't that the goal? Catching Pokemon has always been this franchise's mantra and these improvements makes the nostalgic "Gotta Catch Em All" worth it.
Pokemon Legends Z-A and its new features, such as this catching mechanic, are symbols of how far Pokemon has come. It's a lovely mixture of the anime's efficiency and the game's immersion. It makes sense but moreover, it makes catching our favorite pocket monsters extra exciting. Hopefully, Game Freak and The Pokemon Company realizes how good this is and keeps it in all Pokemon titles moving forward.