Pokemon Legends ZA expands the definition of 'side mission'.

Pokemon Legends: Arceus It's not a particularly long game, but dozens of requests have given it plenty of ways to keep players busy. Pokemon Legends: ZA Aims for the same thing. When players meet Emma at the Looker Bureau, they can begin taking on so-called side missions around town. Each completed story beat usually provides the player with another side mission, each of which offers generous rewards upon completion. But I think this field Pokemon Legends: ZA Side missions fail spectacularly because they seem to have chosen a quantity approach over quality in their design.

ton Pokemon Legends: ZA Side missions can fall into one of two boxes. These are battles against trainers who favor certain gimmicks, or battles with wild Pokémon in strange situations. As a result, most of these quests are just simple diversions. Pokemon Legends: Arceus Although the request included many simple items, Z.A.'s side quests are nothing compared to its best ones. arceus I had to suggest it.

Contains spoilers for side missions and several story beats. Pokemon Legends: ZA.

Many Pokemon Legendary: ZA side missions are not missions at all

Continuing, Pokemon Legends: ZA It asks players to complete side missions, which boil down to battles with trainers using one specific strategy. Examples include:

Debate over whether paralysis and poison are better status conditions
Trainer obsessed with trap moves such as spikes and quicksand
Two trainers who enjoy using buffs and debuffs respectively
Trainer who loves movement
Big fan of the Pidgeot evolution line

Overall, each mission usually consists of a short dialogue, a fairly easy Pokemon battle, and final thoughts on the trainer's chosen strategy. The intention here is undoubtedly a good one. This is Game Freak's way of highlighting obscure or uncommon combat mechanics that players may not be aware of or commonly overlook. However, this affects the entire side mission system. Each of these quests can be opened and closed in less than a minute, and they aren't quests at all, as they don't ask the player to do anything different from regular combat. These side missions can also be old-school trainer battles that you'll see when you follow along. pokemon route.

Missions about Pokémon exhibiting unusual behavior are a bit more interesting, but not by much. To name a few examples, players can:

Battle 3 consecutive battles with the unstoppable Chespin.
Battle groups of Binacles at once
Rematch Hawlucha, who previously experienced Rogue Mega Evolution

Pokemon Legends-Ja-Rematch-Hawlucha-Side-Mission-1

These side missions are a bit more distinctive in that they are snapshots of the core theme. Pokemon Legends: ZA: Complications that arise as humans and wild Pokémon try to live together. However, as they tend to be as short as trainer battles, it's hard to really think of them as “missions”.

Pokemon Legends: Why ZA's Side Missions Are Disappointing

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There are two main reasons why I feel so strongly about these types of side missions. Firstly, Pokemon Legends: ZA Initially, these quests consist of tasks the player undertakes to help Detective Emma. These kinds of quests don't fully live up to their purpose, as they are very trivial and don't involve investigations or complex problem-solving that require a detective's attention, which could make for a more compelling quest.

Second, Pokemon Legends: ZA There were already plenty of better quest blueprints to steal. Pokemon Legends: Arceus. This doesn't tell the whole story PLA The request was groundbreaking. Many of the requests boiled down to “fight me” or “show me your Pokemon”, but many others broke the mold. Players can:

go look for a missing person
Enjoy the balloon popping mini game
Solve the destructive behavior of Pokémon in your village without fighting
Actions on specific items Pokemon Legends: Arceus' Unique Pokédex
Perhaps most memorable is collecting 107 mystical wisps to unlock the Spiritomb.

These requests tried to break the typical gameplay loop just a little bit, requiring critical thinking or thorough exploration from the player to make them feel like real missions. This is in stark contrast to all of the side missions, which all boil down to one-on-one combat, functionally no different from the combat of one of the following: Pokemon Legends: ZAWild Zone or Battle Zone. They are just more profitable.

Z.A. fell arceus' The Pokedex work mechanic instead chooses to reward players for researching Pokémon through Mable's research, which is much simpler overall.

Pokemon Legends: ZA side missions don't need to set standards

mega hawlucha pokemon legend za screenshot

Z.A.'s side missions aren't a total loss. I was fascinated by quests to relocate Trubbish's group near a restaurant or obtain medicine for the ailing Fennekin (who became a key member of my team). Unfortunately, these moderate format breaks still tend to be very easy and very short, so they don't make up for all the repetitive combat missions. I just wish it had half the side missions. Pokemon Legends: ZA They could be more if that means anything.