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I don't recall exactly how the custom started, but I consistently call all my Pokémon trainers Malfunction.

Be it a core franchise title or a side project such as Pokkén Tournament DX along with Pokémon Go — the name never changes. Malfunction alternates between male and female avatars, featuring black and purple hair. Sometimes their style is impeccable, as seen in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, the newest addition in the long-running series (and one of the more style-conscious entries). At other moments they're confined to the assorted school uniform styles from Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. But they're always Glitch.

The Ever-Evolving World of Pokémon Games

Much like my trainers, the Pokemon titles have evolved across installments, some cosmetic, others significant. But at their heart, they remain the same; they're consistently Pokémon to the core. Game Freak discovered an almost flawless gameplay formula some 30 years ago, and has only truly attempted to evolve on it with entries like Pokémon Legends: Arceus (new era, your avatar faces peril). Throughout every version, the fundamental gameplay loop of catching and battling alongside adorable monsters has remained steady for almost the same duration as my lifetime.

Breaking Conventions in Pokémon Legends: Z-A

Like Arceus before it, featuring lack of arenas and emphasis on compiling a creature catalog, Pokémon Legends: Z-A brings several deviations into that framework. It takes place completely in a single location, the French capital-inspired Lumiose Metropolis from Pokémon X and Y, abandoning the region-spanning adventures of previous games. Pokemon are intended to live together with humans, battlers and non-trainers alike, in manners we have merely glimpsed before.

Far more drastic than that Z-A's real-time battle system. This is where the franchise's near-perfect gameplay loop undergoes its biggest transformation yet, swapping deliberate sequential fights for something more chaotic. And it is thoroughly enjoyable, even as I feel ready for another turn-based entry. Although these changes to the classic Pokémon formula sound like they create a completely new adventure, Pokémon Legends: Z-A is as familiar as any other Pokemon game.

The Core of the Journey: The Z-A Royale

Upon initially reaching in Lumiose City, whatever plans your created character had as a tourist are discarded; you're immediately enlisted by Taunie (for male avatars; the male guide for female characters) to join her team of battlers. You're gifted one of her Pokémon as your starter and you're dispatched to participate in the Z-A Royale.

The Royale is the epicenter in Pokémon Legends: Z-A. It's similar to the traditional "arena symbols to final challenge" advancement of past games. However here, you fight several trainers to earn the opportunity to compete in an advancement bout. Succeed and you will be promoted to a higher tier, with the final objective of reaching the top rank.

Live-Action Combat: An Innovative Frontier

Character fights occur at night, while sneaking around the designated battle zones is very entertaining. I'm always trying to surprise a rival and launch an unopposed move, since all actions occur instantaneously. Attacks function with cooldown timers, indicating both combatants may occasionally strike simultaneously at the same time (and defeat each other at once). It's much to get used to at first. Even after gaming for almost 30 hours, I still feel that there is plenty to learn in terms of using my Pokémon's moves in methods that work together synergistically. Placement also plays a major role during combat since your creatures will follow you around or move to designated spots to execute moves (certain ones are distant, while others need to be up close and personal).

The live combat makes battles go so fast that I often sometimes cycling of attacks in the same order, even when this amounts to a less effective approach. There's no time to pause in Z-A, and plenty of chances to get overwhelmed. Pokémon battles depend on response after using an attack, and that data is still present on screen in Z-A, but whips by rapidly. Occasionally, you cannot process it because diverting attention from your opponent will result in certain doom.

Navigating Lumiose City

Away from combat, you will traverse Lumiose City. It's fairly compact, although tightly filled. Deep into the game, I continue to find new shops and elevated areas to visit. It's also rich with character, and perfectly captures the vision of Pokémon and people living together. Common bird Pokemon inhabit its pathways, taking flight as you approach like the real-life pigeons obstructing my path when walking in New York City. The monkey trio gleefully hang from lampposts, and bug-Pokémon such as Kakuna attach themselves on branches.

A focus on urban life is a new direction for the franchise, and a welcome one. Nonetheless, exploring Lumiose becomes rote eventually. You may stumble upon an alley you haven't been to, but you wouldn't know it. The building design lacks character, and most rooftops and sewer paths provide minimal diversity. While I haven't been to the French capital, the inspiration for Lumiose, I've lived in NYC for nearly a decade. It's a city where no two blocks differs, and they're all alive with uniqueness that provide character. Lumiose City doesn't have that. It features tan buildings with blue or red roofs and simply designed balconies.

Where Lumiose City Truly Shines

In which Lumiose City truly stands out, oddly enough, is inside buildings. I adored how Pokémon battles within Sword and Shield take place in football-like stadiums, giving them real weight and meaning. On the flipside, battles in Scarlet and Violet take place on a court with few spectators observing. It's very disappointing. Z-A finds a balance between the two. You will fight in restaurants with diners observing as they dine. A fancy battle society will invite you to a competition, and you'll battle on its penthouse court with a chandelier (not the Pokemon) suspended overhead. My favorite location is the beautifully designed headquarters of a certain faction with atmospheric illumination and magenta walls. Various individual combat settings brim with character missing in the overall metropolis as a whole.

The Comfort of Routine

During the Championship, as well as subduing wild Mega Evolved Pokémon and filling the Pokédex, there's an inescapable feeling of, {"I