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I'm not sure precisely when the tradition started, but I always name every one of my Pokémon trainers Malfunction.

Whether it's a main series title or a side project like Pokkén Tournament DX along with Pokémon Go — the moniker never changes. Malfunction switches from male to female characters, featuring dark and violet hair. Sometimes their fashion is flawless, like in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, the newest installment in this enduring series (and one of the more fashion-focused entries). At other moments they're confined to the assorted school uniform styles of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. But they remain Malfunction.

The Ever-Evolving Realm of Pokémon Games

Much like my characters, the Pokémon games have transformed across installments, with certain superficial, others significant. But at their heart, they remain the same; they're always Pokemon through and through. The developers discovered an almost flawless mechanics system approximately three decades back, and just recently seriously tried to innovate on it with entries like Pokémon Legends: Arceus (new era, your avatar is now in danger). Across all iteration, the core gameplay loop of capturing and battling alongside charming creatures has stayed consistent for nearly the same duration as my lifetime.

Shaking the Mold in Pokémon Legends: Z-A

Like Arceus previously, featuring absence of gyms and emphasis on compiling a creature catalog, Pokémon Legends: Z-A introduces multiple deviations to that framework. It's set completely in one place, the Paris-inspired Lumiose City of Pokémon X & Y, ditching the region-spanning journeys of previous titles. Pokemon are meant to live together with people, battlers and civilians, in ways we've only glimpsed before.

Even more radical is Z-A's real-time combat mechanics. This is where the series' almost ideal core cycle undergoes its biggest transformation to date, replacing methodical turn-based fights with something more chaotic. And it is immensely fun, despite I feel eager for a new turn-based entry. Though these changes to the classic Pokémon formula sound like they form a completely new adventure, Pokémon Legends: Z-A is as familiar as any other Pokémon title.

The Heart of the Adventure: The Z-A Championship

Upon initially reaching in Lumiose City, any intentions your created character had as a tourist get abandoned; you're promptly recruited by the female guide (for male avatars; Urbain if female) to join her team of trainers. You receive a creature from them as your first partner and are sent into the Z-A Royale.

The Royale is the epicenter in Pokémon Legends: Z-A. It's similar to the classic "arena symbols to final challenge" advancement from earlier titles. But here, you battle a handful of trainers to gain the opportunity to compete in a promotion match. Succeed and you'll be promoted to the next rank, with the final objective of achieving the top rank.

Live-Action Battles: An Innovative Frontier

Character fights occur during nighttime, while navigating stealthily the assigned battle zones is very entertaining. I'm constantly trying to get a jump on a rival and launch an unopposed move, because everything happens in real time. Attacks function with recharge periods, indicating you and your opponent may occasionally strike simultaneously concurrently (and knock each other out at once). It's a lot to get used to initially. Despite gaming for almost thirty hours, I still feel like there's much to master in terms of employing my creatures' attacks in methods that complement each other. Positioning also factors as a major role during combat as your Pokémon will trail behind you or go to specific locations to perform attacks (certain ones are distant, while others need to be in close proximity).

The live combat makes battles progress so quickly that I often repeating sequences of attacks in identical patterns, even when this amounts to a suboptimal strategy. There isn't moment to pause during Z-A, and numerous opportunities to become swamped. Pokémon battles rely on response post-move execution, and that information remains visible on the display in Z-A, but flashes past rapidly. Sometimes, you cannot process it since diverting attention from your opponent will result in immediate defeat.

Navigating Lumiose Metropolis

Outside of battle, you will traverse Lumiose Metropolis. It's fairly compact, though densely packed. Far into the adventure, I'm still discovering new shops and elevated areas to visit. It's also full of charm, and perfectly captures the vision of creatures and humans coexisting. Pidgey inhabit its pathways, flying away as you approach like the real-life city birds obstructing my path while strolling in New York City. The monkey trio joyfully cling from lampposts, and bug-Pokémon like Kakuna cling to trees.

An emphasis on city living is a new direction for the franchise, and a positive change. Nonetheless, navigating the city becomes rote eventually. You might discover an alley you never visited, but you wouldn't know it. The building design is devoid of personality, and most rooftops and sewer paths provide minimal diversity. While I haven't been to Paris, the model behind the city, I've lived in NYC for nearly a decade. It's a city where every district are the same, and all are vibrant with differences that give them soul. Lumiose City lacks that quality. It has tan buildings with blue or red roofs and flatly rendered terraces.

Where The Metropolis Truly Shines

Where the city truly stands out, oddly enough, is indoors. I adored the way creature fights in Sword and Shield take place in arena-like venues, providing them genuine significance and meaning. On the flipside, battles in Scarlet and Violet happen in a field with two random people watching. It's very disappointing. Z-A strikes a middle ground between both extremes. You'll battle in eateries with diners observing as they dine. An elite combat club will invite you to a tournament, and you will combat in its rooftop arena under a lighting fixture (not Chandelure) hanging above. The most memorable spot is the beautifully designed base of a certain faction with atmospheric illumination and magenta walls. Several distinct battle locales brim with character missing in the overall metropolis as a whole.

The Comfort of Routine

Throughout the Royale, as well as quelling rogue Mega Evolved Pokémon and completing the creature index, there's an inescapable feeling of, {"I