Pokemon Legends Z-A promises to take players back to the Kalos region for a new adventure, but where will it take place?
The Pokemon series has been taking a new approach with its visits to old regions, with the Let’s Go games returning to Kanto in a style reminiscent of Pokemon Go, while Pokemon Legends: Arceus featured an open-world trip to an ancient version of the Sinnoh region.
The next region to return will be Kalos in Pokemon Legends Z-A. Players will get the chance to go back to the region introduced in Pokemon X & Y, which was based on France, mainly the area around Paris.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus featured the rolling hills, spooky forests, and open fields of the Hisui region, but what about Pokemon Legends Z-A? Will players get the full Kalos experience, or will they be stuck within one location throughout the game?
Pokemon Legends Z-A takes place entirely within Lumiose City
According to the game’s description on the official Pokemon Legends Z-A website, players will be restricted to one location. Pokemon Legends Z-A is set entirely within Lumiose City, which was the area in Pokemon X & Y that was based on Paris.
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Fans are likely disappointed to learn that there won’t be the large outdoor areas from Pokemon Legends: Arceus, but it will still be a huge game world. Lumiose City was massive in Pokemon X & Y, with players often getting lost among its maze-like streets, so there’s plenty of scope for it to be the setting for a full game.
Seeing how the Pokemon series handles a game without outdoor areas will be fascinating. The first trailer for Pokemon Z-A mentioned a redevelopment project that would unite Pokemon and humans so we could see packs of wild Pokemon wandering the city streets, just waiting to be caught.
There’s also the question of how well the Nintendo Switch will handle running a large city, considering the awful threadbare towns from Pokemon Scarlet & Violet. Hopefully, the extended development time will help the designers create something impressive.
While restricting Pokemon Legends Z-A to one location might sound underwhelming, it offers the team the chance to do something brand new for the series, which fans have been asking for for a long time.
