Reef Pokemon Legends: Z-A Review

I think this game is super fun but with some criticism necessary. While I will say there are points that feel were missed (if you were attached to a particular xy character, very likely they are basically in the shadow realm barring a few plot relevant ones) this game does offer a story that invokes what I'd describe as "full circle" for those who were attached to pokemon x and y. I think it offers great elaboration on a story that gravely needed it. Pokemon Legends Z-A has a fun battle system that offers a shakeup for the franchise and LOTS of entertainment value with regards to sheer amount of playtime. The city feels flat at times but I'd argue there's lots to explore and collect. Also for people who actually read dialogue (which imo you Should!), I've found myself very attached to the characters and there are some very out-of-pocket lines of dialogue that made me laugh. As a bonus, significant characters have fun designs and they do express personality with their quirks and appearance. Finally the soundtrack is really awesome despite a lot of it being same-y due to the same themes playing in the main area. The shakeups for battle themes and such being so good counters it though. Now for graphics. Starting with a positive, there aren't lag issues. I'm on switch 1 and I won't pretend it's as buttery as what switch 2 has to offer. But in my opinion that is not an issue with this game. There's some issues with clipping but not the "fall out out of the world" type as with Scarvi. Just the, "hey cmon now thats a little stupid" type. The biggest criticism is of course the modeling/texturing/appearance of the game. Pokemon was Not equipped to take on the intricacies of having a game fully in a city, where all the visual factor of the game would come from Making That City Look Nice ™️. They have gotten better at other models and textures in my opinion, but again, this was city game in city. They did not put a lot of effort into the outside of buildings, which with how much visual appearance matters to some this was always going to be received poorly. I think there was and is valid merit to "but they (the worst offenders) are just the background" if you're someone who chooses be at peace and just have fun. But the fact it' basically right there all the time is actually quite unfortunate. There's also little things they seemingly refused to animate properly, which goes back to I think the same issue as the clipping. Lack of attention to detail. I think it is incredibly important to recognize that The Pokemon Company International (and ofc Nintendo itself) are firmly at Massive corporation status. Which both offers an explanation for why it is the way it is, and gives valid reason to why there's lots of completely fair criticism happening. Pokemon the video game series is seemingly becoming a cash cow that allocates much lower budgets, both in time and money, than it should be for the magnitude of the franchise, all while producing massive profit. There's stuff in the endgame that is sick as heck, but it still had me going "but what if there was budget? what if they put in the time Instead of just trying to meet their deadline?". It however is frustrating because it is so out of the scope of what anyone can truely do anything about due to sheer scale. So in short, I think this game is enjoyable but that doesn't mean I think critics are completely wrong. I'm hitting the recommend button because If you are financially comfy and leaning towards getting it, are a Kalos enjoyer, and/or of course ride or die fans. I'd say full send. You'll probably have fun if you eliminate at least most of "but balconies and my high poly textures" from the back of your head (if applicable), but I'm not going to bootlick Nintendo either.