The generation of Pokémon games that I grew up playing the most was Ruby & Sapphire. Up until this day, there hasn’t been a game in this franchise that has hit the way Generation 3 has, at least for me. Everything from the roster of Pokémon to the core turn-based gameplay loop and story (plus the mysteries to solve and legendaries to catch) it all just hit so well and still does whenever I end up going backwards to see and play those games again.
Since Ruby & Sapphire however, the other games never really hit the same. Sure, I played a solid amount of Generation 4 (Diamond & Peal and HeartGold & SoulSilver) on the Nintendo DS, but by Generation 5 is where the games had faded for me. Black & White, X & Y, even the reboots of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire just didn’t “hit.”
Even though I have picked up at least one game from every generation of Pokémon, always hoping it was “the one” that got me back in, none of them really did. By Gen 5, the fatigue of the franchise really set in for me, even if the desire to keep trying and playing didn’t go away. It just felt like a chore to play and grind through.
But something about Pokémon Legends: Z-A has reignited my flame for the franchise… I picked it up with the same desires as before that I would get back into it, and oddly enough… it worked?!
It turns out that the introduction of real-time Pokémon battling and catching is a game changer for me. After two decades of playing these games, switching the formula up of how this game is played was the spark needed to get me to a point where not only did I sink over 30 hours into the game already, but also want to go full completionist mode on all main story quests, side missions, wild zones, and the Pokédex. From a pure gameplay standpoint, this game just rocks to play and tows the line of casual and hardcore quite well.
Story-wise, it’s quite okay. I enjoyed it enough to keep progressing and finding out what was going to happen next and how the big ole’ trouble brewing would be resolved, even if that aspect of the game didn’t really hook me in and eventually felt repetitive.
From a mechanical standpoint, the story itself also feels different from what I’ve grown to expect from a Pokemon game. The trainers you fight to progress feel uniquely meaningful and as if there’s something on the line for winning and losing while the rogue mega evolutions you chase around the city feel like MMO-like boss fights! No longer are you running gym-to-gym to collect badges, only to then go face the elitest of trainers, and then “yay, you did it! now go catch the legendary on the box of the game you bought”. Don’t get me wrong, I actually enjoyed that flow in the classic games, but the way this new format has me craving more of this (and even wishing for a co-op option for the boss fights).
Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire will forever remain my #1 favorite Pokémon games, especially for nostalgia reasons, but for the first time in several generations of the franchise, a new Pokémon game is outranking all the rest of them. To me, Legends: Z-A has reinvented the gameplay in a mainline game in a way that just feels incredibly fresh and exciting to play in a way it just hadn’t for such a long time.
