Pokémon Legends: Z-A has finally arrived and it has been a little bit of a mixed bag, with many elements that are rightly drawing deserved praise, whilst others seem to have missed the mark for players and critics alike.
It's currently sitting on a healthy 80 score over on Metacritic, mostly thanks to a story that seems to have gripped players more than usual, and a goofy, humorous approach to gameplay interactions that feels more welcome outside of the mainline series.
One area that now seems to be drawing ire is Lumiose City, the main setting for the game. Though it's comfortably one of the largest urban areas featured in any game, it's not big enough to satisfy players after they have been playing the game for a while.
Over on Reddit, one user shared a post claiming that it only takes seven minutes to walk the circumference of the city (it's round), and further lodging complaints that it simply isn't dense enough in terms of things to do, particularly considering the city is the game's whole map.
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The responses were equally critical, with one saying, "The Pokémon Company's policy has been to make the most profit with the least possible. After seeing in the leaks over the past few days that the game's investment was extremely low, just as the investment for Gen 10 will also be low, I've already given up hope that this franchise will deliver anything like the quality its brand represents."
Another shared similar thoughts, saying, "Honestly not surprising but also not that upsetting. The more I hear about this game and the direction they are going with the franchise, minimal work for maximum profits, the easier the decision gets to abandon the franchise. They've had their hooks and me since I was a small child and it's been decades of buying all the games as soon as they come out. Sometimes both copies."
"Appreciate you testing this - unfortunately it’s just another data point to tell us that Pokemon games have been doing less with more since like Gen 5, and will continue to do so until it hurts their bottom line," a third added.
It recently emerged in the Pokémon leaks that the city itself is one, single and incredibly complex model, with more than a quarter of a million individual faces.
Why they chose to do that is anyone's guess, but it seems to have missed the mark with many.