The first reviews for Pokémon Legends: Z-A are here and it seems like a mostly positive, but mixed, initial reaction to the game. We’ve rounded up many of them below for easy access, check ’em out!
Review highlights
Here is my non-ai list of things that stuck out from reviews about Legends: Z-A:
- The setting of Lumiose City works both for and against the game — it can feel too constrained but also allowed for Game Freak to narrow their scope and put a lot of love into the city and its inhabitants
- Impressions about the real-time combat seemed mostly positive, although reviewers noted that the system could benefit from further refinement
- Performance and visuals looked good on the Switch 2 but locations often seemed very similar in Lumiose
- Switch 1 copies were not provided and performance and visuals have not been able to be judged
Review roundup
“Overall, the dynamism of both Z-A’s battles and its world makes for a Pokémon adventure that feels significantly more immersive and vibrant than what’s come before.” VGC, 5/5 – Read the review
“Pokemon is at its best when Gamefreak is allowed to experiment with what a Pokemon game can actually be, and Pokemon Legends: Z-A is an affirmation that the series isn’t done evolving, much like the Pokemon themselves.” RPG Site, 9/10 – Read the review
“The Legends series appears to be turning into Game Freak’s way of experimenting with the Pokémon franchise. In this way Z-A is mostly a success in how it brings Mega Evolution to the forefront again, returns longtime players to an old region and almost achieves its goal of changing up the battle mechanics.” VG247, 4/5 – Read the review
“Pokémon Legends: Z-A should be celebrated for its fabulous real-time combat and its largely smooth jump to the Switch 2, but in condensing things down to one single location, it loses part of the Pokémon magic that Arceus and many other entries managed to amplify.” Nintendo Life, 7/10 – Read the review
“Like the last three main series games before it then, Pokémon Legends: Z-A comes with hefty caveats. It gets repetitive after a while. It’s still visually limited, despite the huge improvements on the last pair. It’s still missing dungeons, deep mysteries, a sense of big challenge to build up to, prepare for and overcome. But then it has charm in spades, from that humour right through to its soundtrack (a smooth, jazzy, wistful, accordion-based treat).” Eurogamer, 3/5 – Read the review
“With Z-A, Pokémon has gone full action game. Not a turn-based battle in sight. While I don’t think I want Pokémon to fully depart from doing turn-based combat forever, this works pretty well as a detour. Game Freak did an admirable job translating its traditional battle system into one that works in an active-time environment, especially with moves seemingly so specific to the turn-based format.” IGN, review in progress – Read the review
“Evolution is incremental and Legends: Z-A is as significant as those increments can be within the confines of Game Freak’s condensed release schedule. It builds an exciting new battle system, maintains a dynamic gameplay loop and expands the lore around a beloved part of the universe.” Rolling Stone, no numerical score – Read the review
“After seeing the credits roll, I can say, hands-down, that Pokémon Legends: Z-A is one of the franchise’s best games. Not content to simply trot out new and returning Mega Evolutions, it takes some real risks.” NPR, no numerical score – Read the review
Certainly a lot to read through ahead of the game’s launch! Let us know in the comments if anything here has impacted your feelings about the title. Don’t forget to join our forums and Discord server!
