Since Pokemon Legends Z-A's release, countless Pokemon fans from around the world have spent numerous hours seeing what it has to offer, and whether or not it lives up to expectations. While the game is disappointing in certain aspects, players should be satisfied as it provides an enjoyable experience overall.
However, as someone who has played both Pokemon Legends: Z-A and Pokemon Legends: Arceus, I would say that the latter is the much better game between the two. The 9th-generation title feels like a step down compared to the standalone prequel, and one big reason for this is its setting.
In Pokemon Legends: Arceus, the entire plot of the game took place within the Hisui region. You could truly feel how vast the world was, as there was a variety of environments and Pokemon to discover. It made players want to explore and see everything, providing a sense of discovery unmatched by most other Pokemon games.
However, the same cannot be said with Pokemon Legends: Z-A. Throughout the entire playthrough, you will be stuck in a developed version of Pokemon X and Y's Lumiose City, and while the location itself isn't bad, the fatigue of seeing the same familiar building sets in quickly.
The game tries to make up for its singular setting with Wild Zones, but these are essentially just extremely compressed natural Pokemon environments that are still within the confines of the city walls. There are other things to discover in Lumiose City, like the Museum or the shops, but they don't provide that feeling of wonder that Pokemon Legends: Arceus' variety of areas did.
The other reason why Pokemon Legends: Z-A isn't as good as its predecessor is because of how it handles battles. The 9th-generation game provides fans with an all-new combat system that allowed players to fight opposing Pokemon in real-time. It was meant to stray away from the traditional turn-based style, making fights more action-packed and engaging than ever before.
While it is more active, it's not very fulfilling, as for the most part, it is just spamming the buttons that let you attack and waiting until you can do it again. Pokemon Legends: Arceus's battles may have been turn-based, but they were still exciting and provided a great challenge.
It even had a semblance of real-time action when the game forced players to take on Frenzied Pokemon, and while it was mostly dodging attacks with a mix of traditional battling, how it was handled still felt better than any of the fights in Pokemon Legends: Z-A. There was also more strategy involved, as you had to carefully plan out what to do every turn, rather than mindlessly pressing the button of whatever move isn't on cooldown.
Game Freak already had a great formula with Pokemon Legends: Arceus, so it's a mystery how the developer didn't manage to capture the same magic with the latest mainline entry. Pokemon Legends: Z-A tried to take what its predecessor did and head in a few new directions of its own, but it fell short, which is disappointing for fans of the franchise.
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