My time with the Pokémon Legends Z-A demo was brief, but I came away excited to see what other surprises the full release would bring. Taking place at night, the main character and his group of friends entered one of many battle zones scattered throughout the city. My goal was to earn enough battle points to buy a ticket to participate in the city’s greater competition. With a small team of four early-game Pokémon, I jumped into the fray.
The first trainer I came across immediately started a fight with me. Unlike in other Pokémon games, this was a smooth transition. The battle started as soon as both of us had a Pokémon in play. The battle also played out entirely in real time, with my Chikorita’s two attacks each having their own cooldown timer.
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This allowed me to attack with one move and follow up with the other, lowering their defense with Tail Whip. By the time the attack animation finished, my primary attack was ready to use again, allowing me to finish off my first opponent.
Gamefreak’s Pokémon Legends Z-A demo was all about battles.
One of the protagonist’s friends was waiting nearby, offering to heal his Pokémon if they got too hurt. With a quick heal, I ran into another friend, who reminded me that stealth was a good way to start a fight. I took that advice to heart, crouching as I approached the next unsuspecting trainer.
Since their Pokémon was already out — a Bug type — I used my bird to Peck at it, starting the fight with a super effective move. Since I had ambushed the poor creature, my Peck attack was immediately available again, allowing me to finish the fight before it had a chance to start.
I felt a little bad, but in a city-wide competition, there’s no room for hesitation. I approached the final trainer I had to fight, forgetting to crouch to sneak up on them. Naturally, they turned in my direction, but I managed to back up out of sight. To my surprise, he continued in my direction, determined to investigate the noise he’d heard, as I continued to backtrack to avoid getting caught.
As soon as he was satisfied, he turned around and headed back to his initial position, allowing me to sneak up and repeat my ambush against the second trainer. Once again, I defeated the trainer, earning me enough points to enter the competition proper. Functionally, this appeared to be a ‘level up,’ but there may be more depth to it in the full release.
Pokémon Legends Z-A offers dynamic real-time combat that just feels good.
With my three enemies defeated, I had the chance to call it a day. However, I was made aware of a very powerful trainer in the area, so I took on this extra challenge. Sure enough, near the back of the battle area, in an area I had yet to explore, was a trainer with a powerful Pidgeotto. Thankfully, I had an electric-type Pokémon, allowing me to shock the poor flying type until I emerged victorious.
Once again, the real-time combat felt more satisfying and dynamic than the turn-based battle system of the mainline games, allowing me and my Pokémon to dodge some enemy attacks before countering, like something out of the Pokémon anime.
The second segment of the demo had me chasing Zygarde’s 10% Forme, which resembles a strange alien dog, across the city. It eventually culminated in a Mega Battle. Unfortunately, my time with the game had run out before I could see this conflict through to the end, but I really enjoyed the time I had with it. As someone who loved Pokémon X and Y’s Kalos region, and especially Mega Evolutions, I am excited to see what else is in store when Pokémon Legends Z-A releases.
Pokémon Legend: Z-A launches October 16 on Nintendo Switch 2.
