Pokemon Legends: Z-A Already Has Me Mourning Scarlet and…

After waiting 3 long years for a new Pokemon game, Pokemon Legends: Z-A has consumed me with its active-time battles, Lumiose City exploration, and new Mega Evolutions. The hype leading up to Pokemon Legends: Z-A had me eager to move on from Pokemon Scarlet and Violet with a return to what I loved about Legends: Arceus after a mediocre experience in Paldea. However, 20 hours into Legends: Z-A, I find myself missing Scarlet and Violet in a way I certainly didn't expect leading up to this latest release.

It's no secret that Pokemon Scarlet and Violet had a pretty controversial launch. Between the various bugs, glitches, and visual and performance issues, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet were in a rough state when they released in 2022. However, heading back to Paldea to check out the Switch 2 improvements to Scarlet and Violet painted the region in a new light, and now that I've spent some time in Legends: Z-A, I find myself yearning for the shiny hunting of Paldea once again.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A's Shiny Hunting Makes Me Miss Scarlet and Violet

Admittedly, there are a lot of pros to shiny hunting in Pokemon Legends: Z-A that I have been enjoying. The return of the shiny spawn sound from Legends: Arceus is a huge quality-of-life feature that was missing from Scarlet and Violet, and the fact that shiny Pokemon don't despawn if you leave a Wild Zone or quit the game makes it much harder to fail a shiny. However, the process of getting a shiny to spawn in the first place is more challenging due to the nature of spawn rates and the limited sizes of Legends: Z-A's Wild Zones.

Shiny Hunting isn't Hitting the Same for Me in Legends: Z-A

Despite Pokemon Legends: Z-A having an AFK shiny hunting location, I decided to test my hand at finding a shiny Litwick, since Chandelure is my favorite Pokemon and I love its shiny version. However, hunting for shiny Litwick in the Lumiose Sewers turned out to be an exercise in frustration, as my strategy was essentially:

Run to room where Litwick spawns
Check if there are any shinies
Fast travel back to the entrance
Exit and re-enter to reset the spawns
Run back to see if a shiny Litwick has spawned and repeat

The kicker is that only two Litwick can spawn at a time in this location, and there are several other Patrat that spawn nearby to complicate things. Although I only spent a couple of hours doing this method without ever finding a shiny, I couldn't help but feel like this method was far less efficient compared to what was possible with Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's best shiny hunting methods.

Why I Like Scarlet and Violet Shiny Hunting More Than Pokemon Legends: Z-A

Comparatively, it seemed like Scarlet and Violet offered a much more efficient way to target specific Pokemon for shiny hunting. I could make a sandwich in Scarlet and Violet with Sparkling Power for an increased shiny spawn chance and Encounter Power for the particular type of Pokemon I wanted to have an increased chance of finding, and it would narrow down the spawns to give me the best chance at my shiny hunt succeeding. Pokemon Legends: Z-A is far more of a gamble when it comes to shiny hunting, as there isn't a way to reliably target a specific critter outside just resetting the Wild Zone they spawn in and hoping one appears.

You can increase the chance of a shiny spawning in Pokemon Legends: Z-A with the Shiny Charm, but it's locked behind the final Mable's Research tier.

The Nintendo Switch 2 Makes Scarlet and Violet the Best Games to Shiny Hunt In

With the release of the Nintendo Switch 2, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet officially became my favorite games to shiny hunt in. The improved power of the Switch 2 allows far denser spawns of creatures to increase the likelihood that one will be shiny, so traveling to a spawn-heavy location like Area Zero can make shiny hunting a breeze.

pokemon-scarlet-and-violet-oni-mountain-litwick

In contrast, having to constantly reset a location in Legends: Z-A because only two Litwick spawn at a time is a painful way to shiny hunt my favorite Pokemon. I would much rather wander around the Oni Mountain area of Kitakami and watch for a shiny Litwick than run back and forth resetting the Lumiose Sewers for a small chance that one of two Litwicks will be shiny.

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