“Pokémon” has officially gone next-gen: “Legends: Z-A,” the sequel to 2022’s successful open-world spinoff “Pokémon Legends: Arceus,” is a major step-up with enhanced graphics and brand new combat that longtime fans and newcomers will appreciate.

In a 20-minute hands-on demo, “Pokémon Legends: Z-A” showed off its exciting real-time combat, a first for a mainline “Pokémon” game. “Z-A” departs in several ways from its predecessor “Arceus”: there’s a brand new city, time period and battle system. Trainers are no longer stuck in ancient times in the Hissui region; instead, “Z-A” takes place entirely in the modern-day Lumiose City from “X and Y’s” Kalos region. It’s a great change of pace from the typically varied environments that most “Pokémon” games are known for. Instead of running around

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