‘Are you kidding me?!’ Pokémon fans decry old mechanic in Legends Z-A demo after its removal 15 years ago

In a brief section of another player’s demo recording, we can see that poison damage also takes place over time during combat, not after every move like in turn-based games.

Higher difficulty or just a gimmick?

Some fans replied to Stealth’s video, saying poison damage will make the game a bit more difficult. Others weren’t too impressed and said it would be an annoyance. And I mean, I’m part of the second group.

“Are you kidding me?!” an incredulous fan replied. “A Pokémon game having some form of difficulty? insane,” a second added.

Pokémon games usually offer loads of ways to heal your Pokémon’s status conditions. Some Pokémon moves cure poison, like Blissey’s Heal Bell. Antidote and Pecha Berry cure poison, too. How annoying poison will be boils down to how much access players will have to these items and Pokémon Centers in Legends: Z-A. Considering previous titles, it should be easy to stock up on Antidotes to cure your poisoned ‘mons.

Otherwise, moving somewhere where you can heal your party isn’t usually an issue. Even in Scarlet and Violet’s open world, it’s easy to get to Pokémon Centers quickly, especially once you earn the right to fly everywhere, which is a staple in the series. Even in Pokémon Legends: Arceus, it’s easy to fast travel to your tent to heal, so it’s safe to assume the same will happen in Legends Z-A.

Poison damage outside of combat will call for us to be mindful, but probably won’t be a major problem. It might hinder our progression for a few minutes, forcing us to retreat, but that’s it.

You should be worried about poison during combat

I think poison’s main issue will be during Pokémon battles, which is when it’s the most annoying, especially if you consider the long Rogue Mega Pokémon fights. Imagine being poisoned early into a five-minute combat and taking poison damage every three seconds. This sounds like a nightmare and something you want to avoid.

This perspective makes poison damage out of combat the smallest of issues. You want to be mindful of poison during battles, because they will be much, much longer than in turn-based games.

Players who like the Nuzlocke challenge would hate this mechanic, but there’s good news for them. The demo video shows that poisoned Pokémon are left with 1HP and can’t faint from poison out of combat, like Stealth’s Flectchling. In Nuzlocke, among other rules, you must consider a Pokémon dead and release it whenever it faints. So, since they can’t die out of combat to poison, that’s one less thing to worry about on your next Nuzlocke run.