Review: “Pokémon Legends: Z-A” Sends off the Series’ Switch Era in Style

[Note: This review is based on the most recent build of the game available on Nintendo Switch as of this writing. Some experiences may be different depending on your version of the game.]

“Pokémon Legends: Z-A” is the latest mainline video game in the Pokémon franchise, and the second under the imprint established by 2022’s highly-acclaimed bestseller “Pokémon Legends: Arceus.” Marking the final main game on the base Nintendo Switch and the first on Switch 2, the game is an experience that is too big to pass up.

The story takes place five years after the events of 2013’s “Pokémon X and Y.” As you, the player arrives in a newly-expanded Lumiose City; a series of strange events occur as the city sees both a new championship called the “Z-A Royale” and the enigmatic Quasartico Company’s “Urban Redevelopment Plan” engulfed in the process. Joining a group of young trainers known as “Team MZ,” it falls to you to unravel what’s really happening and save the city.

Up until the game’s release on October 16 of this year, a mixture of hype and skepticism filled the air. While expanding on the design concepts introduced in “Pokémon Legends: Arceus” always carried a sense of intrigue, the divisive reception to “Pokémon Scarlet and Violet” at launch (even with how much the games have improved since their debut in 2022, including an upgrade on Switch 2) caused a sizable amount of people to doubt whether or not the developers at Game Freak could pull off the shakeup to the status quo they were aiming for.

Time to put those doubts to rest- this game is not only a worthy follow-up to “Pokémon X and Y” on Nintendo 3DS, but the changes to the core gameplay provide ample challenge for new players and longtime fans alike. Even playing on the base Nintendo Switch, the Lumiose City hub is full of sharp colors and a much smoother graphical performance than “Pokémon Scarlet and Violet” at launch. The soundscape is every bit as catchy as ever, with the remixed music themes for shops in Lumiose City and the “Rogue Mega Evolution” music being two standouts.

The biggest change from previous main games is how the gameplay works for battle and captures- rather than the turn-based combat that has been a fixture of the franchise since the original titles on Game Boy (talk persists of plans for the tenth generation of games and the overall 30th anniversary of “Pokémon Red and Blue” in 2026); the game marks a series first: real-time combat and capture mechanics.
Though the redesigned controls and user interface are simple enough to pick up and play, going through the ranks both on your own and in online play remains tough to truly master. This time, the challenge comes from a combination of dodge rolls and mapping each Pokémon move to the face buttons on your controller. This brings a whole new level of depth that compares favorably to a family-friendly take on fellow RPG titles, including “Shin Megami Tensei: Persona” and the “Like a Dragon” games. The game features over 200 Pokémon from the vast history of the franchise, with both returning and new Mega Evolutions to discover.

With the franchise moving to the bestselling Switch 2 for future generations, “Pokémon Legends Z-A” is overall recommended to send this era of the franchise off in style.