Pokémon Legends: Z-A balances two separate — and often competing — concepts while giving the same fun experience that the series has delivered for decades now. In some ways, it feels like one of the best evolutions of the series since it made the jump over to the Switch. There’s been a few quality-of-life changes in terms of how Pokémon evolve, learn new moves, and how battles play out in Lumiose City that make the game feel like a big leap from Scarlet\Violet and Arceus. On the other hand, it does feel like more of the same from a series that hasn’t made that many changes in terms of story structure and objectives. Sometimes that doesn’t work and makes a game feel stale, but there’s enough here to make Pokémon Legends: Z-A feel like a fresh and necessary addition to the franchise.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A is set entirely in Lumiose City, five years after X/Y. Wild Zones open up throughout the game, where you can catch Pokémon. At night, Battle Zones appear where you can challenge other trainers. When you battle trainers, you can get points to compete in promotion battles and advance from Z to A. Along the way, you have Team Flare intrigue and a new phenomenon called Rogue Mega Evolution. It’s very much the same tried and true formula of Pokémon that’s worked well since the series started. You get a starter Pokémon, catch more, and build your Pokedex. If this formula has worked for you in the past, it’s going to work for you now because there are quality-of-life features and a new battle system that throws a twist on this.
First of all, let’s take a look at the battle system. We no longer have the turn-based combat of the original games and instead move towards a real-time combat that involves the positioning of the trainer and Pokémon. I like the new combat system a lot. I’m not too attached to the turn-based combat of the main series. I love Pokken Tournament DX, for example, and watching Pokémon fight in real time. I also find it interesting that the trainer can get injured and faint during combat. The change-up from the turn-based combat adds a lot of depth here. I’m not sure I would want every Pokémon game to be like this, but it’s fun having some variety across the franchise.
Next up is the some of the quality-of-life features. Pokémon learn moves here a little differently, and instead of having a prompt to change out moves right after a battle, you go into the menu and can change them out at your leisure. I like this a lot better, so I’m not stressed out trying to figure out what move I want to swap out. I also like how Pokémon don’t evolve right after battle, and instead, you go into the menu to evolve them. Again, I like having the option to wait a little while and keep leveling up my Pokémon.
Another interesting quality-of-life feature is that Lumiose City is littered with feathers, berries, and experience candy. You can get money easily and give your Pokémon experience fairly quickly. You can also have your Pokémon destroy crystals and farm Mega Shards to exchange for experience candy and Mega Stones. The more you walk around and explore Lumiose City, the more you’ll find these items. They’re fairly easy to collect.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A looks beautiful on the Switch 2. The more the series has progressed since the Switch came out, the more it’s looked like what I always imagined a Pokémon game would look like on a home console. I’ve been playing since the first generation and remember the rumors about Pocket Monsters 64 for the Nintendo 64DD. That game, of course, turned out to be Pokémon Stadium, and then we eventually got Pokémon Snap on the Nintendo 64 as well. Those games are great, but what I wanted when I was a kid was more in line with what we have now. It’s taken us a while, but we’re getting closer to the potential of a console Pokémon game. My only complaint here is that some textures look bland, such as the brick walls on buildings.
I’ve always loved the music of the Pokémon series, and this game is no exception. The music of Lumiose City and the battle music are fantastic. However, the sound effects really need an evolution. They don’t live up to what the Switch 2 is capable of, and the fact that there’s no voice acting is just strange. Watching characters mouth words silently feels unsettling in 2025.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A continues the progression the series has made since arriving on the Switch. It’s a pretty similar formula to what the series has been like since it debuted more than 30 years ago, but with enough quality-of-life changes and a new battle system to freshen it up. It looks gorgeous on the Switch 2, despite some off-looking textures here and there. It’s a promising vision of what’s to come with the long-running series and a great addition to any Pokémon fan’s Switch library.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A balances two separate — and often competing — concepts while giving the same fun experience that the series has delivered for decades now. In some ways, it feels like one of the best evolutions of the series since…
Pokémon Legends: Z-A balances two separate — and often competing — concepts while giving the same fun experience that the series has delivered for decades now. In some ways, it feels like one of the best evolutions of the series since it made the jump over to the Switch. There’s been a few quality-of-life changes in terms of how Pokémon evolve, learn new moves, and how battles play out in Lumiose City that make the game feel like a big leap from Scarlet\Violet and Arceus. On the other hand, it does feel like more of the same from a series that hasn’t made that many changes in terms of story structure and objectives. Sometimes that doesn’t work and makes a game feel stale, but there’s enough here to make Pokémon Legends: Z-A feel like a fresh and necessary addition to the franchise.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A is set entirely in Lumiose City, five years after X/Y. Wild Zones open up throughout the game, where you can catch Pokémon. At night, Battle Zones appear where you can challenge other trainers. When you battle trainers, you can get points to compete in promotion battles and advance from Z to A. Along the way, you have Team Flare intrigue and a new phenomenon called Rogue Mega Evolution. It’s very much the same tried and true formula of Pokémon that’s worked well since the series started. You get a starter Pokémon, catch more, and build your Pokedex. If this formula has worked for you in the past, it’s going to work for you now because there are quality-of-life features and a new battle system that throws a twist on this.
First of all, let’s take a look at the battle system. We no longer have the turn-based combat of the original games and instead move towards a real-time combat that involves the positioning of the trainer and Pokémon. I like the new combat system a lot. I’m not too attached to the turn-based combat of the main series. I love Pokken Tournament DX, for example, and watching Pokémon fight in real time. I also find it interesting that the trainer can get injured and faint during combat. The change-up from the turn-based combat adds a lot of depth here. I’m not sure I would want every Pokémon game to be like this, but it’s fun having some variety across the franchise.
Next up is the some of the quality-of-life features. Pokémon learn moves here a little differently, and instead of having a prompt to change out moves right after a battle, you go into the menu and can change them out at your leisure. I like this a lot better, so I’m not stressed out trying to figure out what move I want to swap out. I also like how Pokémon don’t evolve right after battle, and instead, you go into the menu to evolve them. Again, I like having the option to wait a little while and keep leveling up my Pokémon.
Another interesting quality-of-life feature is that Lumiose City is littered with feathers, berries, and experience candy. You can get money easily and give your Pokémon experience fairly quickly. You can also have your Pokémon destroy crystals and farm Mega Shards to exchange for experience candy and Mega Stones. The more you walk around and explore Lumiose City, the more you’ll find these items. They’re fairly easy to collect.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A looks beautiful on the Switch 2. The more the series has progressed since the Switch came out, the more it’s looked like what I always imagined a Pokémon game would look like on a home console. I’ve been playing since the first generation and remember the rumors about Pocket Monsters 64 for the Nintendo 64DD. That game, of course, turned out to be Pokémon Stadium, and then we eventually got Pokémon Snap on the Nintendo 64 as well. Those games are great, but what I wanted when I was a kid was more in line with what we have now. It’s taken us a while, but we’re getting closer to the potential of a console Pokémon game. My only complaint here is that some textures look bland, such as the brick walls on buildings.
I’ve always loved the music of the Pokémon series, and this game is no exception. The music of Lumiose City and the battle music are fantastic. However, the sound effects really need an evolution. They don’t live up to what the Switch 2 is capable of, and the fact that there’s no voice acting is just strange. Watching characters mouth words silently feels unsettling in 2025.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A continues the progression the series has made since arriving on the Switch. It’s a pretty similar formula to what the series has been like since it debuted more than 30 years ago, but with enough quality-of-life changes and a new battle system to freshen it up. It looks gorgeous on the Switch 2, despite some off-looking textures here and there. It’s a promising vision of what’s to come with the long-running series and a great addition to any Pokémon fan’s Switch library.
by Kayla Merritt
