Pokémon Legends: Z-A’s gameplay will change depending on the time of day

Real time day / night cycles have been featured in a lot of Pokémon titles since the Gold and Silver era, but Pokémon Legends: Z-A is going to take the classic mechanic in a wild new direction. During today’s March Direct presentation, Nintendo dropped a new Pokémon Legends: Z-A trailer showcasing a few of the game’s returning monsters and revealing more about how battling will work in this new take on Lumiose City. 

Unlike the franchise’s previous games where you had to catch wild creatures out in, you know, the wild, Legends: Z-A will involve hunting down pokémon found throughout Lumiose itself as the city undergoes a massive redevelopment plan to make it more hospitable to both humans and pokémon. 

The trailer makes it seem as if, in the daytime, Legends: Z-A’s gameplay will be more focused on catching pokémon, and NPC trainers you encounter won’t necessarily want to fight on sight. At night, however, the city’s “aura” changes and battle-hungry trainers flood its streets to participate in the Z-A Royale, which sounds like a competition to figure out who’s the best. Trainers participating in the Z-A Royale will be found in designated battle zones where making eye contact is all it takes to get things rolling.

But, similar to the way you could get the jump on wild pokémon in Legends: Arceus, players will also be able to get the jump on Z-A Royale battlers by sneaking up behind them and sending out a pokémon to initiate a fight. Surprising NPCs will give you an advantage over them, but the trailer also makes it look like timing and dodging within the battle will be key to mastering Z-A.

It’s also clear that participating in the Z-A Royale and going from Rank Z to Rank A will be necessary to complete the game’s story. But given how differently the game seems like it will play depending on the time of day, it feels like Nintendo wants this to be a Pokémon game you play how you want.