Earlier this year, when Nintendo announced new information about Pokemon Legends: Z-A, the Pokémon community eagerly awaited the release of the upcoming game. As the release of the game got closer, fans started to have mixed feelings about the game. Between the Palword controversy, Mega Evolutions locked behind a paywall, and questionable design choices, the gaming community was left divided. In 2022, we gave Pokémon Legends: Arceus an 8/10. So, how will Pokémon Legends: Z-A hold up compared to other Pokémon games? Find out in our Pokémon Legends: Z-A review!
Pokémon Legends: Z-A
Developer: Game Freak
Publisher: Nintendo, The Pokémon Company
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2 (reviewed)
Release Date: October 16th, 2025
Players 1 to 4
Price: $59.99 NS/ $69.99 NS2
After previewing the game at PAX West, we were excited to see what changes Nintendo and Game Freak had in store for the Pokémon franchise. At the start of the game, players are able to customize their character, choosing from eight base models and modifying their character.
Once character creation is done, the player is then introduced to the base narrative of Pokémon Legends: Z-A. This opening sequence is one of the longest for a Pokémon game, racking in at over an hour once the base tutorial is complete and you can move around freely.
The characters introduced at the beginning of the game play a prominent role in the story, both as part of the friend group and also as part of the Rouge Mega Evolution Battles. Pokémon Legends: Z-A follows a repeating formula. First, players discover that Wild Zone become available.
Then, you earn enough points in Z-A Battle Royale to get a Promotional Challenger’s Ticket. After that you participate in a Promotional Match where you have a Strategy Meeting and help save a rogue Mega Evolving Pokémon. Once this is all said and done, you’ll repeat this numerous times.
Now, repetitive gameplay cycles in Pokémon are not anything new. In previous games, trainers would go from one town to battle the gym’s trainers and leader, then travel towards the next town, battling trainers, catching and leveling Pokémon along the way.
In Pokémon Legends: Z-A, a majority of the battles take place at night during the Z-A Royale; some promotional matches can take place during the day. Most Pokémon can only be caught in the Wild Zone, and spawns change depending on the time of day; some Pokémon can be caught out and about, but it is fairly rare.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A features a new combat system that is closer to modern RPG free-flow combat. Instead of using PP for moves, attacks now have a cooldown timer. Depending on the type of move, the active Pokémon will reposition before casting its attack.
This system can be rather inconvenient and makes you decide if you want to use an ability. In Pokémon Legends: Z-A, trainers can change their Pokémon’s moves freely, the system now shows Pokémon’s available moves & TM moves.
Despite Pokémon Legends: Z-A taking place in only one of the Pokémon X & Y cities, the game itself feels rather empty. In Pokémon Legends: Arceus, the world felt like it had a ton of depth with very different environments.
Meanwhile, Pokémon Legends: Z-A feels like the developers are trying to create multiple levels with very few things for the player to explore. Most of the platforming mechanics are fairly standard and take time to unlock, which can be a bit of a headache when trying to get to different areas.
Outside of the game’s main story cycle, the game does feature a ton of side quests. At any point, you can participate in ranked and private battles online. Ranked battles do have a seasonal cycle, so they can be unavailable once the season is complete.
As trainers complete Mable’s research, they unlock new TMs, candies, Bottle Caps, a Master Ball, and a Shiny Charm. The Shiny charm makes it easier to find and catch shiny Pokémon.
While the Pokémon Legends: Z-A gameplay loop was tolerable overall, it felt like it was inflated to get players to play longer, versus an enjoyable narrative experience.
In addition to the main loop being a bit tedious, the choices the game gives you when responding to other characters feel meaningless on multiple occasions.
Even in the final wish-granting sequence, the game will provide you with three options; two out of the three options will result in your party members giving you a response, and then cycling back to the three choices.
Outside of the dialog choice options being an issue, the game does feature multiple additional issues. There is no easy way to skip the dialog, and you cannot skip scenes. If you have any kind of Joy-Con drift, platforming on the different scaffolding and buildings can be a bit challenging.
The transition between the night and day cycle can interrupt or bug out other gameplay mechanics; during our playthrough, there were multiple times that we were either in an Alpha battle or a trainer battle in the ZA Battle Royale, and the shift would cancel the battle or reset the Alpha battle.
Our fourth and final complaint involves the Sneak Attack mechanic. If the enemy Pokémon is surrounded by other Pokémon or Mega Crystals, selecting your target can be a bit challenging.
While the story cycle may be a bit tedious and there may be a few gameplay issues, the game does introduce some new mechanics that will make trainers’ lives easier.
If you battle a wild Pokémon and defeat it, you will have a chance to catch it afterwards. If you accidentally throw a Poké Ball or you miss your target, there is a man who will retrieve your balls for you and give them back.
Trainers can speed up time by sitting on Benches; this can be used to help with the ZA Royale or for hunting shinies. Pokémon do not evolve automatically, and you must select to evolve them.
At the end of the day, Pokémon Legends: Z-A is a slightly different style of Pokémon game with a lot of similar mechanics. While the game does feel like Game Freak is trying something new, it does feel like it missed the mark quite a bit.
The gameplay loop gets stale quickly, and even with interesting characters, it makes you just want to smash through until you get to the end in order to be able to unlock everything.
The addition of a Ball retrieval guy, RPG free fight mechanics, and catch after defeat are nice additions, but being able to throw only one Poke Ball after defeat feels like it is missing the mark slightly.
The free fight mechanics are nice when you are facing only one Pokémon, but when fighting multiple at once, it feels a bit tedious. Additionally, half of the new Mega Evolutions feel uninspired or bland overall.
The gameplay issues that we experienced throughout our playthrough can easily push trainers away. This might make them miss the game offering side quests to the trainer to grant them free starters/legendaries from different generations.
Going in, I wanted to like Pokemon Legends: Z-A. I have been a fan of the franchise since its conception, but playing through Pokémon Legends: Z-A felt more like a chore rather than going on a new adventure.
Despite there being a variety of side quests to complete, by the time you unlock most of these quests, you will be burnt out. Even getting the main legendary in the game feels like a chore after jumping through multiple hurdles rather than feeling an epic moment.
If you are a die-hard fan of the Pokemon franchise, then you can enjoy playing through Pokemon Legends: Z-A. If you’re looking for a excellent RPG to play, then you’d be better off looking at earlier 2025 hits like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 or Kingdom Come Deliverance 2.
I really wanted to like Pokemon Legends: Z-A, and at PAX, I thought it had a lot of promise, but after playing it, all I’ve felt is disappointed and wish that I had my time back, maybe to replay Arceus or an older game in the franchise.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A was reviewed on the Nintendo Switch 2 using a code provided by Nintendo. Additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy is here. Pokémon Legends: Z-A is now available for the Nintendo Switch & Nintendo Switch 2.
