Pokemon Legends: Z-A Reviews
Yes, in terms of graphics it still didn’t quite deliver what people were hoping for, but Pokémon Legends: Z-A fulfills many of the dreams that anyone who watched or played Pokémon as a kid once had. And for the things it doesn’t yet achieve, it plants the seeds. While it offers a different experience for those who prefer the classic turn-based Pokémon games, at its core, it’s undoubtedly a delightful experience for anyone who loves Pokémon.
Review in Turkish | Read full review
Game Freak once again attempts to do something different with a series that's fast approaching its 30th anniversary. Pokémon Legends: Z-A puts a refreshed battle system front and centre, offering faster, real-time combat at its core. The change may not be for everyone; especially long-time fans who remain loyal to the classic turn-based formula. It’s a shame that some aspects, like NPC interactions, haven’t evolved to the same degree and there can be some repetition in traversing the Z-A world. Pokémon Legends: Z-A feels like a well-earned holiday for the series, where there's opportunity to try something new and explore. The adorable critters truly do thrive in Lumiose City and that's ultimately the heart of what drives a Pokémon adventure.
Quote not yet available.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Pokémon Legends: Z-A is exactly what this series needed – a fresh idea, technical refinement, and new energy. The developers finally dared to combine experimentation with classic elements, creating an adventure that is engaging, looks great, and proves that the world of Pokémon can evolve without losing its identity. It's not perfect – the pace is uneven and the difficulty level is too conservative – but it's still one of the most satisfying installments in the series in years.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Pokémon Legends: ZA is fun and exciting with its Mega Evolutions and new battle system, but its shortcomings keep it from truly excelling.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Pokémon Legends: Z-A is a release heavily focused on battles. While its story and graphics don't particularly stand out, the addictive gameplay, dynamic combat, and fun online mode make it a must-play title for both veteran fans and newcomers.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Pokémon Legends: Z-A is an ambitious game packed with new ideas—and that’s exactly what makes it so exciting. It breaks with old conventions, ventures into real-time battles, incorporates stealth mechanics, and takes the gameplay to a level of detail never seen before. But this departure comes at a cost. Technical flaws, a somewhat limited setting, and occasional design complications raise questions of balance. However, if you can overlook these weaknesses—and embrace the new gameplay format—Pokémon Legends: Z-A offers a fresh, rewarding experience that can captivate Pokémon fans in new ways. It’s not a perfect game, but it’s an important one: a sign that Game Freak is willing to experiment. And even if the path remains rocky, it’s heading in the right direction.
Review in German | Read full review
Pokémon Legends: Z-A does very little to appeal to anyone outside of existing fans. The story is sluggish and confusing because it constantly references back into Pokémon history. It introduces many characters that those of us who know the universe will squeal with delight over, but that everyone else will simply shrug at — and it's padded with a lot of unnecessary filler in the form of repetitive battles you can win with one eye closed and one hand on the controller. If you have never played a Pokémon game before, Legends: Z-A is probably almost unplayable. For me, already a fan of the Pokémon universe and its games, it lands at slightly above average. That conclusion is an unsettling one for the future of the Pokémon franchise.
Review in Unknown | Read full review
I have to admit that I never thought I’d spend more than 25 hours on a Pokémon game at the age of 43, but I’ve had a blast. As a player returning after 11 years, Pokémon Legends: Z-A feels refreshing and fun. The real-time combat—the biggest change in years—feels great. Lumiose City is a fun place to hang out, but there could have been a bit more to it in that regard. There’s plenty to do, without ever getting boring. Graphically, it’s not top-notch, but the game runs incredibly smoothly. The lack of voice-overs is a bit of a letdown. If I’m not mistaken, there are a total of 230 Pokémon to collect, plus 60 Mega Evolutions on top of that, so what are you waiting for? “Gotta catch ’em all.”
Review in Dutch | Read full review
“No one is born a legend.”
Review in Finnish | Read full review
With all that being said, is Pokémon Legends Z-A a good Pokémon game? Personally, I really liked the city layout, the characters, and the battle system. But I did also think that the overall story was weaker than some previous titles and there was a lot more repetition involved.
Pokémon Legends Z-A turned out to be a pleasant romp, a delightful return to a part of the game world I hadn’t seen in over a decade, and the chance to learn many new and interesting words in French.
Exciting and addictive as ever, Legends: Z-A isn't as big and varied as Arceus, but it is still a terrific refinement of the trusted franchise.
In a nutshell, Pokémon Legends: Z-A is mostly as dull as the elementary basics and disappointingly lacking in meaningful content, which results in a largely flat emotional curve, aside from the ending.
Review in Finnish | Read full review
Pokémon Legends: Z-A surprised me with its more active battle system and a story that actually had me interested for once. But most of all, it really nailed the moment-to-moment progress and made the flow of the game as addictive as it is. For a few months, this has been my video game comfort food: a game to relax with and easy to pick up and play if I had a few spare minutes to kill.
Quote not yet available
Review in Italian | Read full review
Ironically, Pokémon Legends: Z-A thrives on dualisms and almost antagonistic contrasts. On the one hand, we have perhaps the most innovative title in the franchise's recent history, with experimentally revamped gameplay that offers exciting new challenges. On the other hand, there is an inherently outdated production, with a technical aspect that is openly disappointing and difficult to justify. We have a fun title capable of entertaining for hours on end, but at the same time a superficial setting that can lead to an understandable perception of repetitiveness. Game Freak's new title thus becomes a borderline project, as enjoyable and even refreshing for the most devoted fans as it is potentially disappointing for those who would like to see something more from The Pokémon Company's gaming universe. A crossroads that we hope will mark a decisive change of pace in the future of the saga.
Review in Italian | Read full review
While I had my expectations in check, given the scope of what Legends ZA would offer, I was ultimately let down in a big way here. The Switch 2 version certainly provides some solid performance with the sharpest visuals the series has seen, but apart from an interesting battle system, everything else ZA tries to do is met with absolute failure. From boring side quests to a narrative loop that lasts far too long, and one of the most underwhelming finales across the franchise, ZA is simply boring and feels like filler until the next main entry.
It feels so empty at times, grinding for wild Pokémon is still a sometimes boring chore, and there are exceedingly long periods of time where you’re just fighting and you don’t really have a choice but to keep going back, night after night, to brawl with strangers. When you limit the game to a single city, you want the whole thing to feel vibrant and charged, like if Blade Runner let you hunt Replicants with an Arcanine. Instead, it’s just another Pokémon game. It moved some things forward in terms of fashion and some animation, but it’s a snail’s pace of progress for one of the wealthiest IPs out there today.
The new Pokémon games unfortunately fail to meet expectations in the end. The first title on Nintendo Switch 2 doesn’t deliver impressive results, although the real-time combat system does deserve praise.
Review in Polish | Read full review