Lisa
註冊時間: 2025-10-18 文章: 1
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發表於: 星期六 十月 18, 2025 5:42 am 文章主題: Pokémon Legends ZA Review: Why Fans Are Calling It the Most |
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After spending a few days exploring Pokémon Legends ZA on the new Nintendo Switch 2, many longtime fans are left wondering what went wrong. For a franchise that has brought joy to generations of players, Legends ZA feels like a step backward — a hollow experience that fails to capture the charm, challenge, and adventure that define Pokémon. As someone who has played every mainline entry from Red and Blue to Scarlet and Violet, this game stands out not for its innovation, but for how little it offers.
A City Without Life
The first thing most players notice about Pokémon Legends ZA is its visual presentation — and unfortunately, not in a good way. Lumiose City, one of the most iconic settings in Pokémon history, has been reimagined for this installment but stripped of everything that once made it vibrant. Buildings are flat, textures are muddy, and the city feels more like a low-resolution backdrop than a living world.
It’s true that performance is smoother compared to Legends Arceus or Scarlet and Violet, but that improvement seems to come from how little there is to render. The city is static, the NPCs are lifeless, and Pokémon wander aimlessly without meaningful interaction. Even small details that once gave the world personality — Pokémon reacting to their surroundings, people interacting with their partners — are completely missing.
Gameplay Without Depth
Legends ZA abandons the open-world exploration that made Legends Arceus exciting. Instead, it confines players to narrow “wild zones” scattered throughout the city, each containing a handful of Pokémon species. These areas are surrounded by bright neon barriers that break immersion and limit exploration to tiny, uninspired spaces.
Catching Pokémon, once a tense and rewarding experience, has been reduced to routine. You can now catch fainted Pokémon, and if you miss a throw, items are simply returned by scavengers later. There’s no sense of risk or reward — just repetitive button presses.
For players who once loved carefully managing Poké Balls, health bars, and strategies, this feels like a betrayal of what made the series fun. Even completionists aiming to fill the Pokédex will find little satisfaction here, as every encounter feels the same.
Battle System: A Failed Experiment
Game Freak tried to innovate by replacing the traditional turn-based battle system with a cooldown-based real-time approach. In theory, this could have added dynamic combat and faster pacing. In practice, it’s reduced to button mashing.
Moves recharge on timers, and because you can attack freely without major consequences, there’s little need for strategy. The sense of tension — deciding which move to use, predicting an opponent’s response, or managing type advantages — is gone. You can simply spam whatever is available until the battle ends.
For a series built on thoughtful, turn-based strategy, this change strips away one of Pokémon’s most defining features. Even players who usually find turn-based systems slow or outdated may find themselves missing the old ways after a few hours of play.
Story and Worldbuilding: Empty and Artificial
The narrative in Pokémon Legends ZA is another major disappointment. Despite its setting in Lumiose City and the potential for exploring the coexistence of humans and Pokémon, the story feels generic and uninspired. Dialogues are repetitive and lack emotional depth. Many players have even noted that the dialogue reads like it was generated by an AI, lacking personality or nuance.
The main plot — involving rogue Mega Evolutions and the legendary Pokémon Zygarde — barely progresses, and the game fails to make players care about the city’s supposed peril. Unlike Legends Arceus, which was rich with atmosphere, lore, and mystery, ZA offers no sense of discovery. Side quests are shallow errands with no narrative reward.
It’s ironic that a game centered on the coexistence of Pokémon and people shows so little actual interaction between them. The world feels static, with Pokémon standing motionless beside trainers who never move or emote. The heart of the Pokémon universe — the bond between humans and their Pokémon — is completely missing.
What Went Wrong
Game Freak seems to have forgotten what makes Pokémon special: exploration, discovery, strategy, and emotional connection. While Legends Arceus proved the franchise could evolve in exciting new ways, Legends ZA feels like an unfinished experiment released at full price.
Many fans who buy Pokémon ZA items or buy Pokémon for Legends ZA expect meaningful customization, collection, and progression — yet the systems that support these goals are barely present. The world looks and feels like a tech demo rather than a finished product.
The saddest part is that the potential for greatness is still there. Pokémon remains the most beloved gaming franchise in the world, and the fanbase continues to hope for a title that lives up to that legacy. But as long as Game Freak continues to release half-hearted projects, those expectations may never be met.
Pokémon Legends ZA should have been a celebration of everything the franchise stands for — innovation, adventure, and connection. Instead, it’s a reminder of how far the series has drifted from its roots. The lack of polish, depth, and passion makes this one of the weakest entries in the franchise’s history.
Unless you’re a diehard fan determined to complete the Pokédex no matter what, it’s hard to recommend this game. The Pokémon universe deserves better, and so do the players who grew up loving it. |
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