Summary
Pokemon Legends: Z-Ais only the second game in thePokemon Legendssubseries, so it will probably take many cues from the success ofPokemon Legends: Arceus. WhileLegends: Arceusintroduced plenty of great features, one of them may not be suitable forPokemon Legends: Z-Ato include.
Pokemon Legends: Arceuswas a first-of-its-kind game, and as such pioneered several new features for thePokemonfranchise. Fans are expecting many of these new features to return forLegends; Z-A, and because they are in the same series, this assumption feels warranted. However, the core premise ofPokemon Legends: Z-Amight disqualify one important part ofLegends: Arceus’ gameplay. The exploration-based experience ofLegends: Arceuswas a natural fit for new ride Pokemon like Sneasler and Hisuian Braviary but sincePokemonLegends: Z-Atakes place entirely within Lumiouse City, an urban area might not be a good fit for rideable Pokemon.
Ride Pokemon May Not Be Necessary in Pokemon Legends: Z-A
Over the past few games in the series,Pokemonhas embraced the idea of players riding on the creatures' backs. While many fans have enjoyed this inclusion, it raises the question of whether this feature is a necessity. The idea likely began as a way to assuage fans' complaints about HM moves. While necessary at the time for gatekeeping in the game, numerous fans complained about having to use move slots on their mons in order to navigate the map, evendevoting one slot on their team to a dedicated HM user. So instead, Game Freak shifted to using certain rideable Pokemon as those gates instead.
Pokemon Legends: Arceustook ride Pokemon one step further, writing them into the game’s narrative. As a game heavy on exploration and varied terrain, the player needed a way to travel through different areas and cut down on the time it took to reach their destination. This was a natural fit with the story element of befriending strong Pokemon. After calming the critter, the player would gain the ability to ride them and reach new locations. This fits the narrative and gameplay so well, in fact, thatsome fans theorize Hisui’s ride Pokemon are the basis of HMsin thePokemonworld. InPokemon Legends: Arceus, Ride Pokemon were an important part of the game, but that may not be so inLegends: Z-A.
Ride Pokemon May Not Fit the Core Premise of Pokemon Legends: Z-A
Since Ride Pokemon have become more prominent in the series, players have assumed thatLegends: Z-Awill feature them the same way its predecessor did. Especially withPokemon X and Ybeing one of the first games to introduce the feature,Legends: Z-Ahas a natural choice of which Pokemon to use as mounts. But the premise ofLegends: Z-Ainvolves staying within the bounds of Lumiose City.
Presumably, the map will be larger than the version of the city players encountered inX and Y, but it will still be an urban area. Locations like that don’t have as many different environments and terrain types as a whole region and are usually flat to accommodate streets and buildings. With that in mind,Pokemon Legends: Z-Amight not have the physical room or the gameplay necessity for rideable Pokemon.
This isn’t to say that the feature will be cut completely. Some mons might be used as a way to explore different areas or move faster through the city, such as flying above buildings or swimming to areas beyond a waterway. But it is likely that Ride Pokemon will be less prominent than inLegends: Arceus. That might be disappointing to some fans, but the good thing about the downgrade is that it would allow Game Freak to focus more on other new ideas.Pokemon Legends: Arceuswas a highly experimental game, andPokemonLegends: Z-Ashould experiment with new mechanicsas well. Experimenting with new ideas and features inPokemon Legends: Z-Ais the best way to push the series forward.
