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I'm not sure exactly how the tradition started, but I consistently call all my Pokémon trainers Malfunction.

Be it a main series game or a spinoff such as Pokkén Tournament DX along with Pokémon Go — the name never changes. Glitch alternates from male to female avatars, featuring dark and violet hair. Occasionally their fashion is flawless, like in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, the newest addition in this enduring franchise (and one of the more fashion-focused entries). Other times they're limited to the various school uniform designs from Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. But they're always Malfunction.

The Constantly Changing Realm of Pokémon Games

Much like my characters, the Pokemon titles have transformed across releases, with certain superficial, others significant. However at their heart, they remain identical; they're consistently Pokémon to the core. Game Freak uncovered a nearly perfect mechanics system some 30 years ago, and has only truly attempted to evolve on it with games such as Pokémon Legends: Arceus (new era, your avatar faces peril). Throughout all iteration, the fundamental mechanics cycle of capturing and fighting with charming creatures has remained steady for nearly the same duration as my lifetime.

Shaking Conventions with Pokémon Legends: Z-A

Similar to Arceus previously, with its lack of arenas and focus on creating a creature catalog, Pokémon Legends: Z-A brings several deviations into that formula. It takes place completely in a single location, the Paris-inspired Lumiose Metropolis from Pokémon X and Y, ditching the expansive journeys of previous games. Pokemon are meant to live together with humans, battlers and non-trainers alike, in manners we've only seen glimpses of before.

Even more radical than that Z-A's live-action battle system. It's here the franchise's almost ideal gameplay loop experiences its most significant transformation to date, swapping deliberate sequential bouts for more frenetic action. And it is immensely fun, despite I feel ready for another traditional release. Although these changes to the traditional Pokemon recipe sound like they create an entirely fresh experience, Pokémon Legends: Z-A feels as recognizable as any other Pokemon game.

The Core of the Journey: The Z-A Championship

When initially reaching in Lumiose City, whatever plans your created character had as a tourist are discarded; you're promptly recruited by Taunie (if playing as a male character; Urbain for female characters) to join their squad of trainers. You receive one of her Pokémon as your first partner and you're dispatched to participate in the Z-A Championship.

The Championship is the epicenter in Pokémon Legends: Z-A. It's comparable to the traditional "arena symbols to final challenge" progression of past games. However here, you fight a handful of trainers to earn the chance to compete in a promotion match. Succeed and you'll be promoted to a higher tier, with the ultimate goal of reaching rank A.

Live-Action Battles: A New Approach

Trainer battles occur at night, while navigating stealthily the assigned combat areas is very entertaining. I'm constantly attempting to get a jump on an opponent and launch a free attack, since all actions occur in real time. Moves operate on cooldown timers, meaning you and your opponent can sometimes strike simultaneously concurrently (and defeat each other simultaneously). It's much to get used to initially. Despite gaming for almost thirty hours, I still feel that there is much to master regarding employing my creatures' attacks in methods that complement each other. Positioning also plays a significant part during combat as your Pokémon will follow you around or move to specific locations to perform attacks (some are long-range, whereas others must be up close and personal).

The live combat makes battles go so fast that I often repeating sequences of attacks in identical patterns, even when this results in a suboptimal strategy. There's no time to breathe in Z-A, and plenty of opportunities to become swamped. Creature fights rely on feedback after using an attack, and that data is still present on screen in Z-A, but whips by quickly. Sometimes, you can't even read it because diverting attention from your opponent will spell certain doom.

Navigating Lumiose City

Away from combat, you'll explore Lumiose City. It's relatively small, though densely packed. Deep into the game, 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 living together. Pidgey inhabit its pathways, flying away when you get near similar to actual pigeons obstructing my path while strolling in New York City. The Pan Trio monkeys joyfully cling from lampposts, and bug-Pokémon such as Kakuna attach themselves on branches.

A focus on urban life represents a fresh approach for the franchise, and a welcome one. Nonetheless, navigating the city grows repetitive eventually. You might discover an alley you haven't been to, but you wouldn't know it. The building design lacks character, and many elevated areas and sewer paths provide minimal diversity. Although I never visited Paris, the model behind Lumiose, I've lived in NYC for almost ten years. It's a city where every district are the same, and all are alive with uniqueness that provide character. Lumiose City doesn't have that. It features beige structures with blue or red roofs and flatly rendered terraces.

The Areas Where The Metropolis Really Excels

Where Lumiose City truly stands out, oddly enough, is indoors. I loved the way creature fights in Sword and Shield occur in arena-like venues, providing them genuine significance and meaning. On the flipside, fights within Scarlet & Violet happen in a field with two random people observing. It's very disappointing. Z-A strikes a middle ground between the two. You will fight in restaurants with diners observing as they dine. A fancy battle society will extend an invitation to a tournament, and you'll battle on its penthouse court under a lighting fixture (not Chandelure) hanging above. The most memorable spot is the beautifully designed headquarters of a certain faction with atmospheric illumination and purple partitions. Several distinct battle locales overflow with personality that's absent from the overall metropolis as a whole.

The Comfort of Repetition

Throughout the Royale, as well as subduing wild powered-up creatures and filling the Pokédex, there is an unavoidable feeling of, {"I