Pokémon Legends Z-A Looks Like the Series' Most Exciting Game in a Decade
The one we’ve been waiting for.
Few video game series have the power of Pokémon, bringing entire generations of players together — both at home on consoles and on the go with phones. But there’s real criticism of the franchise’s last few games how they aren’t doing enough different and consistently are dragged down by a lack of polish and visual refinement. The Pokémon games need a spark, and it’s starting to look like Pokémon Legends Z-A could be just that. The latest spinoff game drops you into the urban paradise of Lumiose City, the biggest metropolis the series has ever seen, and is making some promising-looking innovations to exploration, combat, and even visual style.
Revealed with a teaser trailer in 2024, the February Pokémon Presents finally gave us our first official look at Legends Z-A, diving into both the story and gameplay. Z-A is technically the second game in the “Legends” series, following in the footsteps of 2022’s Pokémon Legends Arceus. While that entry wasn’t perfect, it was one of the most exciting Pokémon games we’d seen in years, for a multitude of reasons. It was technically the first “open world” Pokémon we’d ever seen, focused on capturing creatures in the wild instead of through battles, and sported a highly unique art style and more deeply involved story than most of the series’ games.
Z-A looks like it’s directly building on that formula, in particular enhancing two key features, setting and combat. In a drastic change from nearly every other Pokémon game, Z-A is set entirely within the confines of Lumiose City — which is undergoing a “redevelopment” plan to turn it into a high-tech paradise where people and Pokémon live together.
Originally introduced in Pokémon X and Y, Lumiose is a grand city that’s constructed in a circle and clearly based on Paris, with the imposing Prism Tower at its center. Having a Pokémon game set in a single city is legitimately the single thing I’ve wanted the most from the franchise for years — a chance to really embellish on the way culture and society are built around people living together with Pokémon. It also tightens the scope of the game, and without having to create some expansive world to explore there’s real potential for the setting and narrative to feel more compelling, providing robust character development and growth that ties into the culture of the city itself. This is a huge part of what makes the Yakuza franchise so compelling, and I’ve always thought Pokémon could do the same thing, but with that unique twist of coexistence.
Z-A lets you choose from three previous starters, who coincidentally don’t have Mega Evolutions currently. That will likely change.
It’s certainly looking like that idea is going to be central to Z-A’s narrative. This version of Lumiose already looks richly detailed, with little cafes and stores peppering the busy streets, overgrown ivy hanging down from buildings, and people milling about their daily tasks. But the idea of coexistence is also woven directly into the gameplay formula.
In order to better help people and Pokémon live together, the city has created a number of “Wild Zones” where wild Pokémon can roam free and trainers can practice their catching and battling skills.
Those battles also look wildly different, veering more toward the action-based Pokémon people have been pining over for years. Battles seemingly take place in real-time, with moves no longer having usage counts but being on cooldowns instead. You can actively move around the battlefield and command your Pokémon to dodge attacks. At the same time, certain moves seem to have area-of-effect or specific ranges. This means you’ll need to put thought into positioning and placement. Z-A is also bringing back Mega Evolution, letting you turn your creatures into a super-powered version in the middle of combat. Surprisingly, it seems like the game might be taking some cues from the combat of another Nintendo series, Xenoblade Chronicles.
Z-A’s combat looks like it takes inspiration from Xenoblade Chronicles, with cooldowns, character swapping, AoEs, and more.
All things considered, the battling looks like a pretty drastic step up from Legends Arceus. The tried-and-true turn-based battles of the games are great, but the series has never really tried action combat. There’s always been a fascination with what that might look like, and the upcoming game looks to explore that idea more.
It’s become abundantly clear the mainline Pokémon games need a break and more time for developer Game Freak to refine them. An ambitious spinoff like Z-A, which is deliberately trying something new and fresh, might just be what Pokémon needs.
Pokémon Legends Z-A launches Fall 2025 for Nintendo Switch.
