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In Pokemon Legends: Arceus, we got a window into Pokemon’s past. It ended up being a means of peeking into the series’ history and seeing how folks handled life with the iconic kinds of creatures in the past. Pokemon Legends: Z-A brings us into the present with a return to a more modern version of Lumiose City from Pokemon X and Y. While this does limit us a bit, as we aren’t exploring multiple regions around a town and surviving in the wilds, it offers fascinating insights into daily life with characters in a new way and results in another must-play Switch 2 JRPG.
Our avatar in Pokemon Legends: Z-A is a newcomer to Lumiose City, moving to the region. Why? Well, we never really get to know the real intentions for coming to their new home, as immediately after arriving they encounter either Taunie or Urbain. This initial encounter shapes their future, as they move into Hotel Z alongside fellow Team MZ members and its owner AZ. Their new dream? To help protect the city and their new friends.
That does mean that, early on, we’re sort of forced to follow along with Taunie or Urbain for a bit as we are introduced to the city and certain concepts. This made passing certain shops or spaces extra tempting. It does take a bit, but it isn’t too long before we’re given the freedom to roam the city and take it all in.
There are two things that struck me about this initial set-up. The first is that our avatar is quite customizable. The initial options are a good start, and once you start buying duplicates of certain items with multiple parts (such as a jacket over a shirt or pants with a belt), you can then mix-and-match to further customize your appearance to really create “yourself.” The other is that Team MZ reminded me of the original Pokemon X and Y, as we weren’t alone then too! We were one of a group with Calem/Serena, Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor. It felt like we had friends back then. There’s that same sort of ambiance with Taunie/Urbain, Lida, and Naveen. I’d say it’s even better and more fleshed out, as we’re frequently working and living alongside them.
Like Pokemon Legends: Arceus, Z-A is a more active entry. We run around the city with six Pokemon partners on-hand. One of these can be wandering alongside us the whole time. Depending on their movesets, you could use their attacks to gather Mega Shards or clear the way of certain types of blockades. While our avatar can’t jump, they can performing a diving dodge that, when combined with certain moves, can allow them to engage in a bit of parkour. We run along the city streets and up along rooftops, visiting stores, cafes, restaurants, special points of interest, and Wild Zones. It’s even possible to use certain Pokemon moves to create bridges across otherwise unpassable spaces.
Lumiose City is a fascinating city to explore in Pokemon Legends: Z-A. One of my favorite things to do was set a side quest as my target, then leisurely jog through the streets in that direction, primarily focusing on taking routes that featured Poke Balls with items, scaffolding parkour I hadn’t attempted, or even rooftops I wasn’t sure I’d explored. Admittedly, I will say it feels slightly more claustrophobic at times than Pokemon Legends: Arceus. The Wild Zones do offer an assortment locations, but they don’t feel like true, different biomes in the way the previous entry’s spots did. I do appreciate that there is no loading between locations on the Switch 2, the visibility means I could see Pokemon clearly over multiple rooftops, and I didn’t notice any lag when overwhelmed by a whole horde of opponents at once.
Said Wild Zones are rather interesting and highlight the concept of creating spaces for Pokemon in a modern city. This means we’ll see the city around us, as well as cars, fighting courts, and other signs of civilization. But at the same time, there’ll be greenery or items to duck behind while sneaking to catch characters unaware. These spaces extend vertically as well as horizontally, so some of the spots might feature tunnels to different portions of the space or allow you to use ladders to reach rooftops. They aren’t the only space to find new creatures, as the streets, trees, allies, and roofs outside the Wild Areas can also be home to characters you can catch.
It’s not the only way Lumiose feels alive in Pokemon Legends: Z-A. There are a lot of little things. The main campaign sends us around the city, of course, with quests that involve calming Rogue Mega-Evolved Pokemon, climbing the ranks of the Z-A Royale battle league, aiding team MZ in protecting the city, and aiding Taunie/Urbaine. While there are times these can be straightforward, such as going to fight enough in the nightly Z-A Royale battle zone to earn a Challenger Ticket for a promotion match or heading to a specific place, I found they get more involved and help lend personality both to certain people, the city, and the situation. The vast array of little glimmers that turn out to be items you can sell for cash, potions, or handy items make it feel like they’re incidental items dropped by Pokemon or that feel out of pockets on a city street. Most people have something to say as you walk past, with speech bubbles offering commentary, but some can offer more involved talks or will have a yellow background signifying you get something out of chatting with them.
This sometimes happens with the side quests too. There are supplemental missions that show up as blue exclamations on white circles on the map. While some of these do involve a quick battle against an opponent to illustrate a certain concept or idea, others unlock new features for the city or can result in getting something helpful like a Pokemon, a held item, or a TM. I really appreciated the ones that tied into new additions or existing characters and Pokemon, as it almost made me feel like they were “lite” versions of the substories we’d see in the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series.
As for the battles, it feels like it builds on the concepts from Pokemon Legends: Z-A. We can have four moves equipped, and from the menu and status screen we can add more naturally learned or TM moves. There’s no need for a special move learner, as we can access them all in our menus. Boxes are accessed in our main menu too, so there’s no need to find a Pokemon Center to swap. Poke Ball tossing is easily executed with a trigger, and canceled out of with B. Accidental tosses don’t penalize a person, as a QOL feature lets you recover them at a Pokemon Center.
If you’re in a Wild Zone or on a rooftop, there’s no guarantee a Pokemon is hostile. Some of them are peaceful and will play around your avatar. They might even make little happy noises and dance a bit, such as Flabebe or Emolga. Others will be capital-M Mad and attempt to attack you. Alpha Pokemon especially will be larger than usual and stronger, making them quite a challenge to defeat even if your own characters are at their same level. Fortunately, the equipped moves in the moveset will have X, triangle, O, and double circle symbols to show you type effectiveness. There’s also a brief window where if you knock them out, they’ll be woozy for a second and you have a chance to still catch them before they disappear.
The Z-A Royale evening competitions can task you with getting X amount of points over one or multiple nights, while also earning or grabbing medals that increase the amount of money you take away from these encounters. I must admit, I favor this approach to standard trainers in the wild who will fight the second you lock eyes at any time. When you enter one of these spaces, you can sneak around to catch folks off guard with a special attack. Even better, is there will be these “cards” you can collect. Up to three can be held at a time, and they’ll offer a bonus amount of points if you complete the objective on them while in the zone. For example, one might say you get a bonus if you trigger encounters with sneak attacks using electric moves. Another might offer a bonus if you use a certain number of super effective moves of any type. Once defeated, these individuals might also feature a yellow speech bubble signifying they’ll do things like heal your characters, give you more medals, or give you Poke Balls.
I also feel a need to salute the absolute dedication to Mega Evolution in Pokemon Legends: Z-A. In past entries, I didn’t really feel like I’d use the mechanic all that much. Yes, if I needed to or a Pokemon I loved could be enhanced. But I’d always get by and never make a point of specifically going for Mega Evolved characters. Here, there are so many characters that can make use of the feature that I found I ended up with three critters in my primary party who could Mega Evolve even without forcing it. Add to them being the most effective means of dealing with Rogue Mega-Evolved “bosses” and some other fights, and I really felt like the concept mattered after falling to the wayside in some other installments.
Pokemon Legends: Z-A is a follow-up to Arceus that feels both similar and different due to its focus on living alongside Pokemon in a modern city. The two themes are Mega Evolution and embracing life alongside Pokemon, and Game Freak and Nintendo are constantly showing and telling how that works. Admittedly, I miss the more varied biomes and locations from Arceus. But I do appreciate the story, the ambiance, the attention paid to characters, and how much it feels like a real city. After over 35 hours with it, I’m quite pleased.
Pokemon Legends: Z-A comes to the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 on October 16, 2025.
Pokemon Legends: Z-A
Pokemon Legends: Z-A is a follow-up to Arceus that feels both similar and different due to its focus on living alongside Pokemon in a modern city.
