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I'm not sure precisely when the custom started, but I consistently call all my Pokemon characters Glitch.

Be it a core franchise title or a spinoff like Pokkén Tournament DX and Pokémon Go — the name always stays the same. Glitch switches from male to female characters, featuring black and purple hair. Occasionally their fashion is impeccable, like in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, the latest installment in this enduring series (and among the more style-conscious entries). Other times they're confined to the assorted school uniform styles from Pokémon Scarlet & Violet. Yet they remain Malfunction.

The Ever-Evolving World of Pokémon Games

Much like my trainers, the Pokémon games have evolved between releases, with certain cosmetic, some substantial. However at their heart, they stay the same; they're always Pokemon to the core. The developers uncovered an almost flawless mechanics system some 30 years ago, and has only truly attempted to evolve upon it with games such as Pokémon Legends: Arceus (different timeline, your character faces peril). Across every iteration, the core gameplay loop of capturing and battling with adorable monsters has stayed steady for nearly the same duration as my lifetime.

Breaking Conventions with Pokémon Legends: Z-A

Like Arceus before it, featuring lack of arenas and emphasis on compiling a creature catalog, Pokémon Legends: Z-A introduces several deviations into that framework. It's set completely in a single location, the Paris-inspired Lumiose Metropolis of Pokémon X and Y, ditching the region-spanning journeys of previous titles. Pokemon are meant to coexist with people, trainers and non-trainers alike, in manners we've only glimpsed previously.

Even more drastic is Z-A's live-action combat mechanics. This is where the series' almost ideal gameplay loop experiences its most significant evolution yet, replacing deliberate turn-based bouts for something more chaotic. And it is thoroughly enjoyable, despite I feel ready for another traditional entry. Although these alterations to the classic Pokemon recipe sound like they create a completely new adventure, Pokémon Legends: Z-A is as familiar as every other Pokémon title.

The Core of the Adventure: The Z-A Championship

Upon initially reaching at Lumiose Metropolis, whatever plans your custom avatar planned as a visitor are discarded; you're immediately recruited by the female guide (if playing as a male character; the male guide if female) to become part of her team of trainers. You're gifted a creature from them as your first partner and you're dispatched into the Z-A Championship.

The Royale serves as the centerpiece in Pokémon Legends: Z-A. It's comparable to the traditional "gym badges to Elite Four" progression of past games. However here, you fight a handful of opponents to earn the opportunity to participate in an advancement bout. Succeed and you'll be promoted to a higher tier, with the ultimate goal of reaching the top rank.

Real-Time Battles: An Innovative Approach

Trainer battles occur at night, while sneaking around the assigned battle zones is quite entertaining. I'm always trying to surprise an opponent and unleash an unopposed move, since all actions occur instantaneously. Moves function with recharge periods, meaning you and your opponent can sometimes strike simultaneously at the same time (and knock each other out at once). It's much to adjust to at first. Despite gaming for almost 30 hours, I continue to feel like there's plenty to learn in terms of employing my creatures' attacks in ways that complement each other. Positioning also plays a major role in battles as your Pokémon will trail behind you or go to specific locations to execute moves (certain ones are distant, while others must be in close proximity).

The live combat causes fights go so fast that I often sometimes cycling through moves in identical patterns, despite this amounts to a less effective approach. There's no time to pause in Z-A, and numerous opportunities to get overwhelmed. Creature fights depend on feedback after using an attack, and that data remains visible on screen within Z-A, but flashes past rapidly. Sometimes, you cannot process it because diverting attention from your opponent will spell certain doom.

Exploring Lumiose Metropolis

Away from combat, you'll explore Lumiose Metropolis. It's relatively small, although tightly filled. Far into the adventure, I continue to find unseen stores and rooftops to explore. It is also full of charm, and perfectly captures the concept of creatures and humans living together. Pidgey inhabit its pathways, flying away when you get near similar to actual pigeons getting in my way while strolling through NYC. The Pan Trio monkeys gleefully hang from lampposts, and bug-Pokémon such as Kakuna attach themselves to trees.

A focus on city living is a new direction for Pokémon, and a positive change. Even so, navigating the city becomes rote over time. You may stumble upon a passage you haven't been to, but it feels identical. The building design lacks character, and most rooftops and sewer paths provide minimal diversity. While I haven't been to the French capital, the model behind Lumiose, I've lived in NYC for nearly a decade. It's a city where no two blocks are the same, and all are alive with uniqueness that give them soul. Lumiose City lacks that quality. It features tan buildings with blue or red roofs and flatly rendered balconies.

Where The Metropolis Truly Shines

Where the city really shines, oddly enough, is indoors. I loved how Pokémon battles within Sword & Shield occur in football-like stadiums, giving them real weight and meaning. Conversely, battles in Scarlet & 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 restaurants with patrons watching while they eat. An elite combat club will invite you to a competition, and you will combat on its penthouse court under a lighting fixture (not Chandelure) suspended overhead. My favorite location is the beautifully designed base of a certain faction with its moody lighting and purple partitions. Several distinct combat settings brim with character missing in the overall metropolis in general.

The Familiarity of Routine

Throughout the Royale, along with quelling rogue Mega Evolved Pokémon and filling the Pokédex, there's an inescapable sense that, {"I