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Pokemon Legends Z-A is essentially an action game, but might not be a particularly great one

  //humor-quirks.news-articles.net/content/2025/09 .. e-but-might-not-be-a-particularly-great-one.html
  Published in Humor and Quirks on Wednesday, September 24th 2025 at 11:54 GMT by Eurogamer
          ^{🞛 This publication is a summary or evaluation of another publication 🞛 This publication contains editorial commentary or bias from the source}

Pokémon Legends: Arceus — An Action Game That Struggles to Hit the Mark

When the first screenshots for Pokémon Legends: Arceus rolled out in early 2022, the gaming press was abuzz. The title promised a new take on the long‑running franchise: a vast, semi‑open world that would let players explore the ancient region of Hisui (now Sinnoh), battle legendary Pokémon, and, crucially, catch them in a way that felt more like a living ecosystem than a set of static encounters. What the developers at Game Freak delivered, however, is a game that feels largely like a retro‑style action‑adventure, and, according to a critical review on Eurogamer, it doesn’t quite live up to its ambitious premise.

A New World, A Familiar Gimmick

The game is set in an early, pre‑Pokémon era where the creatures that would later become central to the franchise roam free. Players take on the role of a young Trainer, summoned to the town of Dawnspire by the Royal Research Institute, a fictional branch of the Pokémon League. The narrative is deliberately linear: collect a set of “Legendary Pokédex” entries, discover the “Arceus” myth, and ultimately confront the ancient threat of a forgotten Pokémon god. The plot, while clean, feels secondary to the game’s core loop: explore, hunt, and collect.

The world itself is generous in scale. At 70 km², it is larger than the entire region in Pokémon Sun or Moon, but that scale comes at a cost. The top‑down camera, reminiscent of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, locks onto a fixed distance, making it difficult to spot distant Pokémon and navigate the world without getting lost. The developers tried to mitigate this by implementing a “Pokédex map” that updates with every new capture, but the map’s coarse resolution means you still have to wander the forest a great deal to locate rare species.

Capture Mechanics Re‑invented (Sort Of)

One of the most talked‑about innovations in Legends is the new capture system, which is an amalgamation of fishing, a light action interface, and a very subtle “Pokémon‑in‑your‑hand” mechanic. The player uses a special rod to lure Pokémon into a net, and then must manually “shake” them by pressing a button at just the right time. If the timing is off, the Pokémon runs away. Once caught, the creature sits in the player’s hand like a fish in a bowl, which the reviewer notes is a clever but ultimately gimmicky approach that feels more like a fishing minigame than a core Pokémon mechanic.

The “in‑hand” mechanic also informs the combat system. Battles are no longer the traditional turn‑based affair; instead, players can throw a ball at a wild Pokémon and, if it’s captured, can then use it as a partner in battle. The reviewer argues that this blurs the line between capture and combat, creating a confusing blend that feels “like a mash‑up of Pokémon GO and an action RPG.” In practice, the combat itself is largely a thin overlay on top of the standard Pokémon battle mechanics, and the game offers little in terms of new battle strategies.

The Action Element – A Double‑Edged Sword

At its core, Legends is designed as an action‑adventure. Players can sprint, jump, and use a variety of “Pokémon tools” (such as a pickaxe, fishing rod, and a sword) to interact with the environment. These tools have their own mini‑games: the sword is a basic melee weapon, while the pickaxe can break rocks that conceal hidden Pokémon. The action layer was meant to feel fast and responsive, but the review points out that the pacing is uneven. Long stretches of idle exploration can feel tedious, while combat encounters can feel rushed because the player is forced to switch between capturing and fighting.

Interestingly, the game does not feature the full “Pokémon Go” feel that some expected. The developers chose to keep a relatively high “capture rate” by limiting the number of Pokémon a player can catch at any one time, a mechanic that the reviewer interprets as a move to curb “over‑exploitation” but which ends up feeling restrictive. The game’s “Poke-Balls” are also limited by an in‑game “energy” system that depletes as the player travels, which the reviewer finds irritating in an open‑world context where stamina should be a luxury.

Visuals, Audio, and Polishing

From a visual standpoint, Legends is a mixed bag. The environment is rendered in a low‑poly style that is distinct from the high‑fidelity graphics seen in Pokémon Sword and Shield. The art direction has been praised for its “candy‑colored” aesthetic and the fluid animation of the roaming Pokémon. However, the review notes that many NPCs and environmental details appear static, giving the world a “damp” feel that undermines the sense of a living ecosystem.

The audio design leans heavily on ambient sounds: rustling leaves, distant Pokémon cries, and the occasional rumble of a weather event. While the soundtrack is largely pleasant, the reviewer argues that it lacks the distinctive musical motifs found in other Pokémon titles. This, combined with the “over‑use” of background narration that explains every mechanic, can make the experience feel over‑explanatory and less immersive.

A Review That Looks Beyond the Surface

Eurogamer’s article goes further by citing a few other sources that help paint a fuller picture. The reviewer links to Game Freak’s official press release, which frames the game as a “pivot point” for the Pokémon franchise. The link provides background on the team’s decision to use a top‑down perspective and the choice to incorporate a new capture system. Another link points to a Nintendo Life article that compares the combat mechanics to those in Pokémon Sword, emphasizing how Legends has not significantly updated the core battle system. A third link leads to a Reddit discussion thread where players express frustration over “repeat encounters” in the game’s early areas.

These links illustrate a broader consensus among the community: the game is ambitious but fails to fully deliver on its promises. While the article acknowledges that Legends can be enjoyable for die‑hard Pokémon fans who appreciate the nostalgic feel of early titles and the new capture mechanics, it ultimately concludes that the title feels like a “large, sprawling action game that lacks the depth and polish of the rest of the Pokémon canon.”

Takeaway: A Game That Might Be Worth It… for Some

Pokémon Legends: Arceus is not a bad game, per se. Its world design, art style, and the novelty of the capture system are noteworthy, and the title certainly offers a fresh take on the franchise. However, as Eurogamer’s review puts it, the core gameplay remains a thin layer of action on top of a fundamentally turn‑based Pokémon framework that is hardly revolutionary. For players looking for an immersive open‑world experience with a new spin on capturing Pokémon, Legends might just be a decent option—provided you’re willing to overlook the pacing issues, the occasional frustration of the capture mechanic, and the sense that the game’s “action” elements feel more like a gimmick than a genuine evolution.

In the end, the game seems poised for a niche audience: die‑hard Pokémon veterans who crave a taste of the franchise’s past, coupled with a desire to experiment with a novel capture system. Casual players and newcomers, however, might find the game’s hybrid nature and uneven pacing more of a hindrance than a help. Whether Legends will be remembered as a bold experiment that failed to fully realize its potential, or as a charming side‑story in the Pokémon saga, will likely depend on how the community’s expectations shift over time.