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Pokemon Legends Z-A's 2025 release window is still quite some time away, but plenty of fans already have high hopes for the title based on the success of its predecessor, Legends Arceus. While Legends Z-A takes place in a new locale (Lumiose City in the Kalos region) and will have its own gameplay mechanics and features, it can still learn a few lessons from Legends Arceus.
Legends Arceus did plenty of things well, pushing the game series forward. However, there are aspects of the title that weren't well-received, and Pokemon Legends Z-A can learn from the prior game's successes as well as its missteps.
Since this is the case, it doesn't hurt to examine the lessons that Pokemon Legends Z-A can learn to shape its own success among fans.
Five lessons Pokemon Legends Z-A can learn from Pokemon Legends Arceus
1) Trainer Battles are Still Valued
Although trainer battles weren't absent from Legends Arceus, they were certainly scaled down substantially compared to previous Pokemon games. Moreover, players couldn't battle online in VGC, which is odd for a modern Pocket Monsters game. While other battles like those against Alpha creatures took their place, Pokemon Legends Z-A should learn that trainer battles still matter.
Fans certainly don't want a plethora of trainer battles to come at the detriment of other gameplay features, but a recurring complaint was that Arceus' world could feel empty at times since there weren't many other battle-hungry trainers populating it. Fortunately, this shouldn't be a difficult thing to address for Legends Z-A.
2) Pokedex Grinding Can Be Tedious
Legends Arceus' Pokedex made a bold move by introducing Research Levels to Pokedex entries. By completing tasks surrounding a Pokemon in the Pokedex, including catching it, seeing it using moves, or defeating it in battle, trainers could complete their Pokedex entry details for a certain Pocket Monster. While this was an interesting move, it felt too grindy for some players.
Adding new mechanics for the Pokedex is certainly a plus. Still, some trainers who are centered on completing the Pokedex may not want to perform tedious tasks just to finish a single Pokemon entry. Research Levels are still an interesting idea, but they may need to be approached differently in Pokemon Legends Z-A.
3) There are Expectations for Visual Quality
This isn't to say that graphics are the lone factor in a game's quality. Moreover, this isn't a lesson that is exclusive to Pokemon Legends Arceus, either. Be that as it may, one of the critiques of Legends Arceus was that the visuals weren't on par with many other Nintendo Switch titles, even those that had a fraction of the budget of Legends Arceus. Pokemon Legends Z-A should take note.
Some speculation has swirled around Pokemon Legends Z-A, which may be released on the next Nintendo console. If that's the case, Game Freak will do itself a service by learning that while visuals aren't everything in a Pokemon game, there's a certain standard that players expect that a plethora of gameplay features can't obscure.
4) A Large Game Map Should Feel Alive
Pokemon Legends Arceus won plenty of praise for its vast game world, even if it wasn't a truly open-world experience. However, some players felt that the massive landscapes of the Hisui region felt a bit empty, save for the occasional wild Pokemon. Most humans stayed in research camps or Jubilife Village, which could make the wilderness regions feel a bit absent of human/Pokemon interaction.
Pokemon Legends Z-A is confirmed to take place in Lumiose City in Kalos, so the map may not include the sweeping landscapes that its predecessor had. Be that as it may, it's important to fill the city and make it feel alive with both people and Pocket Monsters, ensuring most spaces are used wisely to create a world that players want to revisit time and time again.
5) Story and Lore Will Shine Through
More than most aspects of Pokemon Legends Arceus, the game received heaps of praise for its story concerning the ancient Hisui region before it became known as Sinnoh. Players met characters with very different beliefs and motives compared to those seen in mainline Pokemon titles that are more modern, and the game is deeply entrenched in the lore and mythology of the region's creators.
As fun as it was to experience Sinnoh through the lens of history and encounter the godlike forms of Palkia, Dialga, Giratina, and Arceus, Pokemon Legends Z-A must take its own path. Fortunately, the Kalos region is rich with its own history and mythologies of Pokemon, and these should be a heavy focus as players enter Lumiose City and begin their adventures in this new title.
