Last year, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company released the latest game in the biggest media franchise in the world, “Pokémon Legends: Z-A.” We play as a new arrival in Lumiose City in the Kalos region as the city is swept up in a battle royale and the threat of rogue mega evolution, which endangers both the people and Pokémon of Lumiose. 

Like “Pokémon Legends: Arceus” a few years ago, “Legends: Z-A” takes the series in new, experimental directions. The biggest change is the introduction of real-time battles. Pokémon can attack whenever possible and move during the fight to avoid attacks; they’re almost as free to move as the player in this dynamic combat. While it’s refreshing to have the old formula tweaked and changed, the new system can be difficult to adjust to. Boss fights are long and grueling because both the player and the Pokémon have to avoid incoming attacks and find spots to hit back, often for small amounts of damage. 

The real issue with “Legends: Z-A” is that it’s not as cool as it should be. “Legends: Arceus” established an intriguing premise — exploring familiar regions in a wild ancient setting with old, extinct forms of normal Pokémon while creating the first Pokédex. That conceit would’ve been perfect for Gen 6 and the Kalos region, which had the preestablished history of a Pokémon war 3,000 years ago. But “Legends Z-A” weirdly takes place in the modern day, and only in one city with small pockets of wild Pokémon as opposed to an entire region filled with them. 

The city setting also makes movement feel highly restrictive. The last games set in the Kalos region were one of the first times players could ride Pokémon (also a prominent feature in “Legends: Arceus”), but there’s nothing like that here. We walk, run, climb, and fall. But we can’t jump! Getting around feels slow and annoying. Zooming around a metropolis on the backs of cool Pokémon is an amazing, missed opportunity. 

It’s hardly worth mentioning that the characters and writing are subpar and the music is fantastic, as that’s been the case with the series for years. I’ll always love Pokémon, but this one fell below the mark in so many ways. New ideas are good, but they shouldn’t come at the cost of a decent game. Better luck next time.