With its modern-day setting,Pokemon Legends: Z-Acould potentially risk losing a key mechanic its predecessor,Pokemon Legends: Arceus, introduced as part of the series' new approach to open-world gameplay. Despite expectations that a sequel toLegends: Arceuswould be set in another region’s past elsewhere in thePokemonworld,Pokemon Legends: Z-Ainstead opted to return to Gen 6’s Kalos during the present day. However, this decision could have several implications for the upcoming game, especially for any features, abilities, and other integral mechanics that became necessary thanks toLegends: Arceus' feudal backdrop.
One such feature wasLegends: Arceus' crafting mechanics, which were introduced as both a way for players to stock up on Poke Balls and an explanation behind the origins of Hisui’s older, handcrafted Poke Balls. Due to their design and story implications, these Poke Balls played a key role in shapingLegends: Arceus' marketing, gameplay, and Pokemon. But betweenLegends: Z-Asingle-city settingand the modern-day period, players may not need to craft their own Poke Balls, and ultimately, the game could scrap this core mechanic in favor of returning to Poke Centers and Marts, just like the other mainline games.
Pokemon Legends: Z-A Might Drop Pokemon Legends: Arceus' Crafting
Though it hasn’t been confirmed if players can craft balls or other items when exploring Lumiose City inLegends: Z-A, gameplay trailers have already featured the modern version of Poke Balls being used to catch and release Pokemon. While this would make sense given the game is set sometime after the events ofPokemon XandY, especially when Kalos itself is home to the Poke Ball factory in Laverre City, it would suggest thatLegends: Z-Awill replaceLegends: Arceus’featureslike crafting. Instead, it seems likely thatLegends: Z-Acould revert to buying in-game items just like most other present-dayPokemongames.
Despite being a key mechanic inLegends: Arceus, this was arguably only out of necessity; otherwise, players would have been forced to constantly return to Jubilife Village to replenish their Poke Balls whenever they ran out. Moreover, in the wake of otheropen-world games likePokemon Scarlet and Violet, buying balls and items has proven to still be viable even with an open-world approach. But whileLegends: Z-Amight get by withoutLegends: Arceus' crafting, it does potentially highlight a growing risk of futurePokemon Legendsgames losing the things that distinguish them from typicalPokemongames.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus' Crafting Benefited More Than Just Its Gameplay
Besides serving as an ancestor to modern Poke Balls,Legends: Arceussimultaneously reaffirmed the origins of Poke Balls as alluded to in games likePokemonGoldandSilver, where balls were first made from carved Apricorns. Despite leading some to speculateGoldandSilver’sJohto would be the nextPokemon Legends' region, the distinctive Hisui Poke Ball accommodated the game’s historical backdrop, influenced its open-world gameplay, and helped generate intrigue around the game ahead of its launch. It even contributed toLegends: Arceus' regional variants, expanding this same Poke Ball lore to introduce a dedicated Grass/Electric-type Pokemon line with Hisuian Voltorb and Electrode.
Pokemon Legends: Z-A Risks Forgetting What Makes Pokemon Legends Unique
Without its distinguishing features like the Hisuian Poke Ball,Legends: Z-Ais at risk of losing sight of what made the premise ofPokemon Legendsgames interesting. While neitherLegend: ArceusnorLegends: Z-Aare considered spin-offs, their contrast toPokemon’s ever-increasing generation of games sets them apart, like being set in an older region or at a different time. ShouldLegends: Z-Ascrap crafting and lead to futurePokemon Legendsgames set close to the present day, then this subseries could start to lose itsbest features like new Poke Balls, regional variants, and more as they become more like every otherPokemongame.
