Pokémon Legends: ZA Rotom Phone review: better camera, higher jumps

Although the Pokémon Rotom gaming phones haven’t really changed much in terms of design over the past few years, each generation has introduced new features that have made upgrading a no-brainer. Sword / Shield‘s Rotom Phone, the very first, was equipped with a simple camera that made it easy to take wide-angle (screen) photos in the wilds of the Galar region. The camera of the second generation Rotom Phone Scarlet / Purple It was a significant improvement, but the true standout feature of the device was its ability to keep you from plummeting to your death if you fell from a great height.

Although none of the early Rotom phones were as visually interesting as Pokémon Legends: Arceus“Arc Phone, they both explained how the Pokémon the consumer technology of the universe has become increasingly streamlined and robust. This trend continues in Pokémon Legends: ZA with a new Rotom phone that seems to have been designed for urban exploration.

Like its predecessors, the conservative design of the third generation Rotom Phone is a reminder of how PokémonGadgets have lost some of their personality since Pokédexes moved from physical objects to downloadable apps. But what the new phone lacks in aesthetics, it makes up for with improved hardware and a few new tricks – including one that lets you jump across rooftops in the blink of an eye – that make it a must-have for anyone visiting today’s Lumiose City.

As nice as it is to see Scarlet / PurpleRotom’s phone comes with a second lens, one of the most frustrating things about the device was that there was no way to zoom in on things remotely while you were walking around Paldea. This second objective seemed not really to be TO DO Nothing. You had to get physically close to the wild Pokémon and SO open the Camera app to take eye-catching photos of them, which made it very easy to get attacked. It would have been a failure in Z.A.This is Lumiose, where partnerless monsters will do everything possible to fight humans without hesitation.

But as well as adding a handy new zoom function by way of a (very functional) third lens, the new Rotom Phone’s rear-facing camera array can also be used while you’re on the move – opening up a new world of possibilities for shutterbug trainers. It’s easy to post up in Lumiose’s wild areas, hide in tall grass, and take photos of wild Pokémon without them realizing you’re there. And being able to move around while you’re using the rear cameras also makes it relatively easy to get out of dodging in cases where something spots you and decides to launch an attack. (However, you still need to stay still while using the new Rotom phone’s improved front camera.)

While the front camera of the new Rotom Phone can be used for video calls, when you try to take a selfie, the electric pokemon/ghost living inside the device will automatically activate the rear cameras and rotate the handheld. Previously, you had to hold the second generation phone in your hand or with a selfie stick to take photos of yourself with your favorite pokemon partner. But the new phone’s resident Rotom can be asked to move the device while taking photos from different angles and distances, giving you the ability to strike a pose hands-free.

This is especially useful if you downloaded the app to participate in Lumiose’s ZA Royale and want to update your profile picture with something exciting. A major downside, however, is that the new owned phone requires you to stand still while you ask it to take photos of you. With the phone’s limited selection of built-in music, you can lull your Pokémon to sleep or excite it before taking a candid or dramatic photo. None of the third-generation Rotom Phone’s built-in filters are terribly great, but it’s easy enough to transfer them to another device if you want to do your own artistic post-processing.

Along with the ZA Royale hub, an updated, Lumiose-specific Pokédex is the most useful app on the new Rotom phone. It does all the basic Dex tasks, like tracking how many Pokémon you’ve seen and caught, where specific species live in the city, and how they move around. It also offers a separate list of Pokémon with Mega Evolved forms, but what’s great about this version of the Pokédex is that it gives each Pokémon you can catch its own unique entry, which wasn’t the case on the last Rotom phone for some reason.

Unfortunately, the new Pokédex doesn’t display the same kind of fanciful illustrations for monsters as Scarlet / PurpleIt’s done. But the new interface is cleaner, more intuitive to use and removes the excessive skeuomorphism of the last generation. The default map app also provides you with useful information on which Pokémon appear in Lumiose’s Wild Areas, where ZA Royale Battle Zones appear, as well as details on locations such as shopping malls and Pokémon Centers.

By far, the new Roto-Glide feature is what sets this generation of Rotom phone apart from the rest. The latest phone featured a safe landing mode that activated whenever it detected you were suddenly falling a considerable distance. Roto-Glide builds on this idea by giving you a brief boost when you jump off a ledge, allowing you to do a sort of bounce in the air. It’s ideal for jumping over rooftops or completing some of Lumiose’s many scaffolding obstacle courses.

Like the Arc Phone and the other two Rotom phones, the new model offers fantastic battery life and call reception, at least in Lumiose City. I wasn’t able to test the phone beyond the city limits, and it’s unclear whether this model would work outside of the Kalos region. I also haven’t been able to figure out how to enable the phone’s widescreen tablet mode, but other people seem to like it. But the thing works like a dream.

My biggest problem with the third-generation Rotom phone is that there don’t seem to be as many cool accessories (if any) to help make it more personal. The device appears to be available in a variety of colors, such as red, blue, yellow, white, and a stony gray. But it would have been great to see this model benefit from some of the nifty phone cases that can be purchased at Paldea.

Roto-Glide aside, the new Rotom Phone is a somewhat incremental upgrade if you’re coming from the last generation, but you’ll need it if you really want to get the most out of your time in Lumiose City. The beefed-up camera alone makes it a much more useful tool when you embark on your next Pokémon travel, and if there are stylish accessories in preparation, the device will be almost perfect.