Pokemon Legends: Z-A review for Nintendo Switch 2

System: Switch 2 (reviewed), Switch
Release date: October 16, 2025
Developer: Game Freak
Publisher: Nintendo

In the modern day, Pokemon games are kind of tough to give a fair review to. As the world’s largest media franchise, the franchise is subject to a lot of scrutiny – which is understandable, given that both Scarlet and Violet and Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl released in rather shoddy states. That being said, I don’t think it’s quite fair to write off the Pokemon series as a whole. Numerous leaks have indicated that Pokemon Legends: Z-A was actually supposed to launch in 2024, but that it was internally delayed to late 2025. That means the game most likely had around three years of development time, and assuming that’s true, it shows – Pokemon Legends: Z-A is up there with Pokemon Legends: Arceus as a real contender for the best Pokemon game on Nintendo Switch. It’s certainly not perfect – there are still classic Game Freak slip-ups here and there, but for the most part I think this is a much-needed step in the right direction for the franchise.

You have to hand one thing to the Pokemon series – it’s willing to experiment. Pokemon Legends: Arceus was one big experiment, in fact, and for the most part it was successful. Pokemon Legends: Z-A continues on this experimentation by honing in on its battle system – this time around, it’s very much like the Xenoblade Chronicles series in that each Pokemon has four moves that recharge after they’re used. There’s also an element of movement – you can run with your Pokemon to help it dodge incoming attacks. Unlike the main series games, positioning is actually very important here: some attacks have a wide area of effect, while other, more powerful ones have thinner hitboxes. And for a game that’s mostly intended to be single-player, this battle system is a breath of fresh air. If you’ve played many previous Pokemon games, you know all about the grind – defeating wild Pokemon and trainers over and over again to slowly level up, and it gets a bit exhausting after a few hours. Pokemon Legends: Z-A’s new battle system makes growing your Pokemon feel quicker than ever. Its battles don’t feel like a grind at all, and being able to move with your Pokemon helps break up some of the repetition. I do think Pokemon’s traditional battling is better for your average “new generation” game, given how they emphasize multiplayer – but Pokemon Legends: Z-A’s battles are a definite highlight.

In addition to normal battles, Pokemon Legends: Z-A also includes plenty of boss battles against Rogue Mega Pokemon. Think of these as the successors to Noble Pokemon from Pokemon Legends: Arceus – you need to pacify a giant opponent with your Pokemon while dodging all of its attacks yourself. Most of these battles are self-explanatory and fairly easy, though a couple of them have extra-powerful attacks that are tough to successfully dodge the first time around. Regardless, I found these boss battles satisfying and fun. You’ll be taking on plenty of Rogue Mega Pokemon throughout the story – there are around sixteen of them, in fact – but I never grew tired of these fights despite their numbers.

With battles out of the way, there’s one more important core gameplay element on offer here: Pokemon Legends: Z-A’s day and night cycle. Like Scarlet and Violet, the time of day isn’t tied to your Nintendo Switch’s clock. After somewhere around 20 minutes, the time of day will change, and so too will your intended activities. During the day, you can catch Pokemon, take on side quests, and advance the main story. You can do all of that at night too, but when the sun sets the Z-A Royale opens. Each night, one section of Lumiose City becomes a Battle Zone where trainers wander. You’ll need to sneak up on them to engage a battle, and by defeating one, you’ll earn points. Earn enough points, and you’ll be able to participate in a rank-up match that increases your position on the Z-A Royale’s leaderboard. You’ll start at rank Z and wind up all the way at rank A, hence the title of the game. And as I mentioned before, battles are very fun, especially in the battle zone. Catching Pokemon during the day and battling with them at night helps separate the game into two different experiences. During the day, you’re preparing for battles, and at night you’re actually participating in them.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A also introduces tons of new Mega Evolutions, and many of them haven’t been officially revealed just yet. It seems Pokemon knew what they were doing, too, because the game actually “rewards” you with glimpses of new Mega Evolutions as you progress through the story. Many prominent trainers have Pokemon with new Mega Evolutions, so as you battle them you will discover more and more. If you’re a huge Pokemon fan and are going into the game unspoiled on the identities of the new Megas, you’ll definitely have fun here. Their designs are also mostly solid, and Pokemon wasn’t afraid to make some of them silly. Mega Victreebel, as an example, dials up Victreebel’s ridiculousness to eleven and winds up becoming a lovable and memorable new form. Not all of the new Megas are hits, of course, but almost all of them are lovable in their own ways. There will no doubt be at least one that you really like.

This brings me to another point: Pokemon Legends: Z-A takes place entirely within Lumiose City. At first, I was very confused by this angle – isn’t that just needlessly limiting the game? To my surprise, it’s not as big of a deal in the final experience as I thought it would be. Lumiose City isn’t huge – you can run around its entire perimeter in around seven minutes – but it has a ton of secrets within. You can jump up on the rooftops (which is really fun, by the way), weave through hidden alleyways, and even explore the sewers. I do think the game would’ve been better if you could explore the Lumiose City outskirts to catch wild Pokemon during the day. This game has a really solid engine and an improved art style compared to Scarlet and Violet, and I would’ve liked to explore some lush green plains or rocky mountains or a lake or something. I never grew tired of Lumiose City, but I often wondered how much more this game could be if it decided to take a step out of its comfort zone (in other words, a step out of the city).

In terms of art style, Pokemon Legends: Z-A absolutely clears Scarlet and Violet. Actually, I think Scarlet and Violet’s Pokemon looked good – it was its environments that rightfully drew criticism. Pokemon Legends: Z-A’s environments still aren’t quite at the level you’d want them to be – the buildings are mostly flat and textured with things like windows – but it’s at least a couple steps above Scarlet and Violet. There are actual building interiors to explore this time around, which I really shouldn’t have to list as a positive, but here we are. As with most Pokemon games, the character animations and transitions still feel rather lacking and a bit stiff. There are two kinds of cutscenes in this game: fully-animated, unique cutscenes and in-game cutscenes that play during conversations and side quests. The fully animated cutscenes are far and few between, but showcase some of Game Freak’s best visual work yet. The in-game cutscenes are about what you’d expect out of Pokemon at this point, with animations that start and finish in a choppy manner. Some NPCs, while walking, still come to a complete stop, turn to face a different direction, and then keep going. None of this is a huge deal on its own, to be clear – but Pokemon does have a ways to go in making its human characters move in a less robotic and calculated manner, if that makes sense. Most players probably won’t mind this, though.

My biggest complaint with Pokemon Legends: Z-A, however, is that it still does not have voice acting. Its cutscenes are animated as if they do have voice acting, which winds up feeling awkward. I think many of the game’s best story moments could have been greatly enhanced with voice acting, and Pokemon is definitely capable of pulling this off. My second-biggest complaint is pretty typical for recent Pokemon games: the first two or three hours are chock-full of tutorials. Of course, it’s important to know what you’re supposed to be doing in the game, but with no voice acting to speak of it’s easy to get burnt out on the dialogue and mash through after a while. Fortunately, this game’s writing is actually quite good, especially in terms of side quests and random NPC dialogue. I’ve come across plenty of NPCs who say things that are unexpected and completely out of the blue. One NPC I saw said something like “The more people that are around me, the lonelier I feel”, and I decided to walk away from him because I didn’t want to sit on that thought for too long. Thanks, Pokemon!

As for performance, the Nintendo Switch 2 version runs just fine with no noticeable frame drops. I do see that the resolution seems to change dynamically, and in certain areas (like the crowded boutique malls) things seem to get a bit blurrier. On the original Nintendo Switch, the game runs at 30 frames per second instead of 60, but the frame rate is at least consistent. You should definitely play this game on Nintendo Switch 2, if possible – the higher frame rate really helps things feel smooth and satisfying. It’s still perfectly playable on the original Nintendo Switch if that’s the only console you have, though, so no worries there.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A is a solid step forward for the franchise. It’s still got some graphical flaws that we’ve come to expect out of main Pokemon titles, but its gameplay loop is as addictive as ever and the story has plenty of neat and nostalgic ties to the original Pokemon X and Y. If you’re burnt out on Pokemon, this game might not win you back, but it’s the best attempt at doing so since Pokemon Legends: Arceus in 2022. Pokemon Legends: Z-A is a breath of fresh air that isn’t afraid to experiment with new ideas, and almost all of them land. I’m personally very excited to see what the Pokemon Legends team cooks up next.