Pokemon Legends: Z-A review

"The first thing I thought upon arriving in Lumiose City in Pokémon Legends: Z-A was, 'Yes. This definitely looks like a modern Pokémon game.' Bright colours, basic textures and oddly flat buildings. Seriously - realising that the balconies and window shutters lack any depth, instead being pasted onto the buildings like stickers, made my brain go strange for a bit. Yet despite this, Lumiose City feels far more rich in life compared to Paldea and the desolate Hisui."

"The true adventure doesn't lie on the streets though, it's found high in the sky. Climb up the right ladder and you'll find yourself running across the city's rooftops. Navigating from roof to roof, building to building and sometimes even across streets is a lot of fun. Mostly because it adds a navigation element Pokémon games have been sorely missing for a while (thankfully, it's not as complicated as the Seafoam Islands.)"

Arrival in Lumiose City reveals bright colours, simple textures and oddly flat buildings with pasted-on balconies and shutters. The city feels livelier than Paldea and the desolate Hisui, populated by people and Pokémon, numerous cafés, and an unprecedented number of clothes shops. Rooftop traversal opens vertical navigation via ladders, allowing running across rooftops and between buildings, adding a missing traversal element and encouraging detours to chase Pokémon or items. Wild Pokémon begin Mega Evolving without trainers, threatening the city's redevelopment through destructive incidents. Team MZ investigates, and the player joins them. The plot resembles a Pokémon movie and shifts focus from typical Champion-and-Pokédex objectives.

Read at VG247