Real-time battles, real good vibes
By Paul Hunter
Pokémon Legends: Z-A follows Pokémon Legends: Arceus, and it pushes the concept forward by flipping the focus to combat. Game Freak plants you in Lumiose City, a dense hub where daytime exploration and Wild Zones set the table for the nightly Z-A Royale. Real-time battles with cooldowns reshape how you plan, while Mega Evolution returns to headline key clashes.
Everything feeds the loop. Streets, alleys, ladders, and rooftops connect into fun routes that reward curiosity. A deeper slate of style options lets you tune your Pokémon Trainer's look, then you’re back out chasing rank before sunrise. The Nintendo Switch 2 version brings smoother frame rates and better image quality so the action stays crisp, and the music across Lumiose delivers hooks you’ll hum between sessions.
It’s a sharper Legends game by design: tighter scale, stronger fights, and a city that keeps serving reasons to battle again. If you’ve been waiting for a Kalos region adventure that puts real-time decision-making and Mega Evolutions back on centre stage, is Pokémon Legends: Z-A the next must-play on your list? Let’s find out!
Team MZ, a crew out to keep Lumiose a peaceful place, lets you join their ranks fast. They pull you into a variety of districts where strange outbursts trace back to Rogue Mega Evolutions. Each investigation nudges you upward through the Z-A Royale’s ranks, turning your nightly promotions into checkpoints that reveal more about what’s stirring beneath the city.
The cityfolks sell the stakes. You hear it in low-key jokes after a tense match and in the way teammates rib each other during planning sessions. There’s a respectful wink to other Kalos stories through a familiar returning face, but the narrative stays focused on Lumiose’s present and how it's evolving.
Small jobs keep the momentum. One afternoon you might be chasing an Alpha Bunnelby around the city, the next you might be looking high and low to locate all five forms of Flabebe. A later task has you following holes across a garden to catch the culprit. Rooftop sprints and scaffold climbs show up as short, punchy set pieces that make sense in a dense city.
It’s purposeful and compact, landing in the 25–30 hour range, and it leaves Lumiose with a clear identity that feels alive with personality.
Protect and hazards work differently in real-time battles. Protect needs timing instead of a menu tap, while spikes can box an opponent or funnel them to where you want. Initially, I was over-valuing long-range moves until a quick foe ran inside my sweet spot and made me miss; after that, I baited them to whiff, and answered with a clean punish. Switching Pokémon returns, but this time it carries cost because seconds pass while you reposition, so panic swaps can snowball.
Night was my favourite part. Throughout the Z-A Royale battle zones you'll find Bonus Cards with a variety of tasks that and sends you through patrol routes for medals and rewards, scaling up based on your rank. My favourite were the sneak up and start battles before opponents spot you, adding a stealth element to encounters. One evening, a card that boosted rewards for freezing opponents pushed me to stack my Pokémon lineup with Ice types to snag the bonus rewards.
Rogue Mega Pokémon encounters are the other pillar, emphasizing pattern reads, not damage races. You watch for telegraphed swings, projectiles, and wide area bursts, roll clear, then take advantage of short attack windows. Using Mega Evolution on your Pokémon helps push through tougher phases. Some fights add hazards or shift layouts mid-battle, so back off, use cover, and re-enter from a safer angle.
Pokémon catching still happens at a brisk pace, though the emphasis is clearly on trainer battles. Arceus-style baits and throwables are gone, but fast throws and quick swaps keep things entertaining. The loop is simple to grasp and hard to put down: plan around cooldowns, win your route, and chase the next promotion before sunrise.
Up close, certain building textures can look a litte flat, and draw distance can pull objects in late. I also ran into occasional pop-in and even a rare despawn when an NPC shifted out of frame.
The good news is the performance stays steady, an okay tradeoff since gameplay is front and centre here. On Nintendo Switch 2 the game runs at a very consistent 60 frames per second with quick load times. I noticed brief dips during heavy late-game effects and when flipping menus fast, but overall it's a great experience.
Audio is a major standout. Lumiose gets a soundtrack that mixes electronic, orchestral, and jazz in a way that matches day or night. Battle themes hit hard, and several tracks kick in for important moments. The music even shifts with your actions. Crouch in tall grass and the score muffles; fight a raging Mega and the track ramps up.
There is still no voice acting, and certain story beats would land harder with voices, especially big story reveals or a sharp joke. Even without voices, the writing is excellent.
Fashion shops help you tune your look, which fits a city that cares about style. Taken together, the presentation looks sharp when it counts, sounds great often, and runs smoothly on Nintendo Switch 2.
Final Score: 9/10 - Amazing
Developer: Game Freak
Publisher: Nintendo, The Pokémon Company
Genre: Action Role-Playing
Modes: Single-player, Multiplayer
A key was provided by the publisher.
By Paul Hunter
Pokémon Legends: Z-A follows Pokémon Legends: Arceus, and it pushes the concept forward by flipping the focus to combat. Game Freak plants you in Lumiose City, a dense hub where daytime exploration and Wild Zones set the table for the nightly Z-A Royale. Real-time battles with cooldowns reshape how you plan, while Mega Evolution returns to headline key clashes.
Everything feeds the loop. Streets, alleys, ladders, and rooftops connect into fun routes that reward curiosity. A deeper slate of style options lets you tune your Pokémon Trainer's look, then you’re back out chasing rank before sunrise. The Nintendo Switch 2 version brings smoother frame rates and better image quality so the action stays crisp, and the music across Lumiose delivers hooks you’ll hum between sessions.
It’s a sharper Legends game by design: tighter scale, stronger fights, and a city that keeps serving reasons to battle again. If you’ve been waiting for a Kalos region adventure that puts real-time decision-making and Mega Evolutions back on centre stage, is Pokémon Legends: Z-A the next must-play on your list? Let’s find out!
Story and Narrative
Pokémon Legends: Z-A centres its narrative on Lumiose City during a push to rebuild the metropolis to make day-to-day life work for people and Pokémon. Instead of chasing badges across an entire region, you’re dealing with neighbourhood issues and late-night battles.Team MZ, a crew out to keep Lumiose a peaceful place, lets you join their ranks fast. They pull you into a variety of districts where strange outbursts trace back to Rogue Mega Evolutions. Each investigation nudges you upward through the Z-A Royale’s ranks, turning your nightly promotions into checkpoints that reveal more about what’s stirring beneath the city.
The cityfolks sell the stakes. You hear it in low-key jokes after a tense match and in the way teammates rib each other during planning sessions. There’s a respectful wink to other Kalos stories through a familiar returning face, but the narrative stays focused on Lumiose’s present and how it's evolving.
Small jobs keep the momentum. One afternoon you might be chasing an Alpha Bunnelby around the city, the next you might be looking high and low to locate all five forms of Flabebe. A later task has you following holes across a garden to catch the culprit. Rooftop sprints and scaffold climbs show up as short, punchy set pieces that make sense in a dense city.
It’s purposeful and compact, landing in the 25–30 hour range, and it leaves Lumiose with a clear identity that feels alive with personality.
Gameplay and Mechanics
Pokémon Legends: Z-A gameplay focuses on real-time combat and it reshapes how you think. Pokémon moves sit on cooldowns instead of using PP, so you plan around timers, spacing, and recovery windows. Speed changes how fast those cooldowns tick back, which quietly shifts team builds. You still care about type matchups, but distance and hitboxes matter as much as types.Protect and hazards work differently in real-time battles. Protect needs timing instead of a menu tap, while spikes can box an opponent or funnel them to where you want. Initially, I was over-valuing long-range moves until a quick foe ran inside my sweet spot and made me miss; after that, I baited them to whiff, and answered with a clean punish. Switching Pokémon returns, but this time it carries cost because seconds pass while you reposition, so panic swaps can snowball.
Night was my favourite part. Throughout the Z-A Royale battle zones you'll find Bonus Cards with a variety of tasks that and sends you through patrol routes for medals and rewards, scaling up based on your rank. My favourite were the sneak up and start battles before opponents spot you, adding a stealth element to encounters. One evening, a card that boosted rewards for freezing opponents pushed me to stack my Pokémon lineup with Ice types to snag the bonus rewards.
Rogue Mega Pokémon encounters are the other pillar, emphasizing pattern reads, not damage races. You watch for telegraphed swings, projectiles, and wide area bursts, roll clear, then take advantage of short attack windows. Using Mega Evolution on your Pokémon helps push through tougher phases. Some fights add hazards or shift layouts mid-battle, so back off, use cover, and re-enter from a safer angle.
Pokémon catching still happens at a brisk pace, though the emphasis is clearly on trainer battles. Arceus-style baits and throwables are gone, but fast throws and quick swaps keep things entertaining. The loop is simple to grasp and hard to put down: plan around cooldowns, win your route, and chase the next promotion before sunrise.
Presentation and Audio
Lumiose looks like a place people and Pokémon actually share. Streets feed into alleys, scaffolding leads to rooftops, and you can spot small details like Pokémon frolicking in the grass or perched above a cafe. By day you see the layout clearly; at night the districts glow and battles give the city a pulse.Up close, certain building textures can look a litte flat, and draw distance can pull objects in late. I also ran into occasional pop-in and even a rare despawn when an NPC shifted out of frame.
The good news is the performance stays steady, an okay tradeoff since gameplay is front and centre here. On Nintendo Switch 2 the game runs at a very consistent 60 frames per second with quick load times. I noticed brief dips during heavy late-game effects and when flipping menus fast, but overall it's a great experience.
Audio is a major standout. Lumiose gets a soundtrack that mixes electronic, orchestral, and jazz in a way that matches day or night. Battle themes hit hard, and several tracks kick in for important moments. The music even shifts with your actions. Crouch in tall grass and the score muffles; fight a raging Mega and the track ramps up.
There is still no voice acting, and certain story beats would land harder with voices, especially big story reveals or a sharp joke. Even without voices, the writing is excellent.
Fashion shops help you tune your look, which fits a city that cares about style. Taken together, the presentation looks sharp when it counts, sounds great often, and runs smoothly on Nintendo Switch 2.
The Verdict
Pokémon Legends: Z-A shows how far the series can go by focusing on one city and letting real-time battles lead the way. The Z-A Royale drives a smart nightly loop, Rogue Mega Pokémon add stiff tests, and Team MZ keeps story beats warm. On Nintendo Switch 2 it runs smoothly, and the soundtrack lifts every scene. Some textures are plain and there’s no voice work, but those limits rarely matter once the rhythm clicks. This is the Legends idea working as intended: tight scope, strong combat, and a city you'll want to visit over and over again.Final Score: 9/10 - Amazing
Pokémon Legends: Z-A details
Platform: Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo SwitchDeveloper: Game Freak
Publisher: Nintendo, The Pokémon Company
Genre: Action Role-Playing
Modes: Single-player, Multiplayer
A key was provided by the publisher.