The upcoming Pokémon Legends: Z-A is making some changes to the long-running series by adding real-time combat into the mix.
During Nintendo’s latest Pokémon Day livestream, the developer provided a new look at the Nintendo Switch title. In what’s billed a “series-first” occurrence, the game will let trainers and their Pokémon take active action during fights with other monsters. Since its inception, the mainline games have used a turn-based system wherein one or two Pokémon take turns going at one another until their enemy’s health falls, with occasional shakeups for specific entries like Dynamaxing.
2022’s Pokémon Legends: Arceus let players roam the field while their pocket monster squared off against a wild beast, who could subsequently target them for attack. Z-A is an evolution of that concept, and players will still command their Pokémon to use specific moves from a selected list of four.
It’s not what you fight, it’s how you fight it
Combat plays a heavy part in RPGs, and implementation can vary wildly from game to game. The real-time, pause-and-play combat of Obsidian’s Avowed is different from the same type in BioWare’s Dragon Age: The Veilguard, for example.
RPG developers have tried playing around with different combat styles for years, and most mainstream titles in the genre have leaned toward real-time combat. Square Enix has tried to have it both ways with its Final Fantasy VII remakes, which let players perform moves in the heat of battle or slow down time and queue up actions (like an attack or potion use) for the character to perform.
Some Pokémon spinoffs like Pokken Tournament and PokePark have also dabbled in the real-time combat seen in Pokémon Legends: Z-A. But as the next installment in what Nintendo is positioning as a key sub-franchise for one of its biggest brands, its implementation here could introduce mechanics to be played around with in future pairs of mainline games to come.