Pokemon Legends: Z-A Players Criticize Lackluster New Gameplay Mechanic

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Players of Pokemon Legends: Z-A are frustrated with the trainer battles. A key issue is that non-player characters (NPCs) can easily spot you, making fights more difficult than expected. Since the game’s release, many have criticized its gameplay, especially the change from traditional turn-based battles to real-time combat. This new system creates problems with aiming and positioning; for instance, it can be hard to hit Pokemon when they hide behind objects like lampposts, and players often struggle to target the correct enemy.

It’s really annoying in Pokemon Legends: Z-A‘s Ranked Battles when opponents Mega Evolve their Pokemon – it stops your attacks and breaks your target lock. Pokemon games have always struggled with line of sight – older 2D games made it hard to avoid unwanted battles, and in Generation 9, you could easily escape trainer battles by moving around other characters. Now, Pokemon Legends: Z-A has the same issue, and many players (myself included) think it’s a silly problem.

If You Hate Pokemon Legends: Z-A’s Caught Off Guard Mechanic, You’re Not Alone

A Reddit user named MoonAaliyah posted on the Z-A subreddit to express frustration with the game’s “caught off guard” feature. Another user, Shmullus_Jones, agreed it’s flawed, explaining that the game sometimes unfairly marks NPC battles as “caught off guard,” giving enemies an advantage even when the player has a clear view. This issue occurs in both the main game (Infinite Z-A Royale) and the DLC (Hyperspace Battle Zones), making starting fights annoying and wasting time in Hyperspace Lumiose because the timer continues to run while the player is helpless and taking damage.

This issue comes up often in the game, even in situations where it doesn’t make sense. For example, MoonAaliyah’s video shows it happening twice right after defeating an opponent from behind. This raises questions about how the game determines when a trainer is “caught off guard.” Many players agree it’s a flawed system because it doesn’t consistently consider positioning and seems to randomly give the advantage to the opposing trainer, even when they shouldn’t have it.

How Pokemon Legends: Z-A’s Caught Off Guard Mechanic Can Kill Your DLC Runs

This issue occurs when you’re directly looking at an NPC opponent, and I’ve seen it happen repeatedly in the same game instance. While I usually have enough time to react – over nine minutes in one case – it’s frustrating to be caught by surprise while facing an opponent. It’s even more annoying when they suddenly turn around and spot you, stopping your planned attack and costing you valuable time. It doesn’t seem logical, but it happens often, making some NPC battles in Pokemon Legends: Z-A really frustrating.

To be fair, the mechanic can also be used to your advantage in various ways. For example:

  • You can lie in wait for an NPC to turn and then immediately attack them to get advantage, which makes battles faster and easier.
  • If an NPC’s Pokemon faces your way and spots you, but the NPC doesn’t, you still get advantage when attacking them.
  • In Pokemon Legends: Z-A‘s grind for the Shiny Charm, before the DLC added more tasks to get it easily, you could let NPCs in the Z-A Royale spot you and attack you first, or simply start the battle. This made handling the timer at night easier, as it doesn’t count down during Z-A Royale battles.

The “caught off guard” feature can be really good or really annoying, depending on the player and the situation. If the next Pokémon game (Gen 10) uses the battle system from Legends: Z-A, it should build upon and refine this feature.

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2026-01-10 02:04