Pokémon Legends: Z-A

Though I am a strong proponent that Pokémon Scarlet & Violet deserve a broad reevaluation now that they run well on Nintendo Switch 2, it's safe to say that my favorite Pokémon game of 2022 was Pokémon Legends: Arceus. That game, which told of the distant-past version of Gen IV's Sinnoh region, delivered Pokémon in a new wrapper; rather than embarking on a quest to pursue battling glory and catch as many Pokémon as possible, you were tasked with calming Frenzied Noble Pokémon and completing research to help build the region's first Pokédex. It was a refreshing spin on the tried-and-true Pokémon formula, which is why when I heard that the Legends follow-up was taking us to modern day and confining us to a city, I approached Pokémon Legends: Z-A with apprehension. Thankfully, after taking part in a guided tour of the various gameplay loops in Lumiose City itself – Paris, France – Pokémon Legends: Z-A has skyrocketed to become one of my most anticipated games of the remainder of 2025.

Rather than exploring an uncharted Hisui Region as you did in Legends: Arceus, Pokémon Legends: Z-A puts you in the shoes of a new arrival to Lumiose City within the Kalos Region trainers explored in Pokémon X & Y. Set after the events of Pokémon X & Y, Legends: Z-A depicts a Lumiose City undergoing an urban redevelopment project led by a corporation called Quasartico Inc to create a city environment where both people and Pokémon can cohabitate. To accomplish this, Pokémon have special areas in Lumiose called Wild Zones. It's precisely in one of these that my Pokémon Legends: Z-A gameplay session begins.

Before jumping in, an early cutscene plays, with the player character exiting a train into Lumiose. After being spotted on the streets by someone filming content about Lumiose tourism, the line of questioning is interrupted by a video ad from the Quasartico CEO, Jett. In the video, she lays out the corporation's plans for Lumiose, setting the stage for the adventure to come. 

Before I enter the Wild Zone that lies before me, I take a moment to customize my character. Using dedicated menus to alter the equipped shirt, pants, hat, glasses, gloves, socks, shoes, satchels, and earrings, I get my character looking just right. There's also a section for "all-in-one" full outfits, but unless I come across something super sleek in my adventure to come, I don't foresee myself using that. Pokémon has continued to improve the customization options at players' disposal, so I'm glad to see them leaning further and further into allowing more player expression.

Catching On

As I enter the Wild Zone, I begin tossing Poké Balls at nearby Buneary. I have a roster of Pokémon in this save file, but for low-level, docile creatures such as them, I can catch them without much hassle. As I turn the corner, however, the Houndour is a bit more rambunctious and requires me to use the new action-oriented battle system to weaken it; with positioning and timing playing essential roles in this system, you must strategically use your Pokémon's four available moves, each of which is mapped to a face button. Once you use the move, whether it hits or not, it goes into a cooldown. And it's not just the Pokémon you need to worry about, as your trainer can also get caught in the line of fire; if you take too much damage, the battle will end, and you'll be rushed to a Pokémon Center. This added another layer of action to my gameplay, as I constantly needed to reposition myself as the attacks blasted my way, and I had to be in a good spot when it finally came time to throw a Poké Ball at the wild creature.

My Chikorita and Flabébé wouldn't stand a chance against the Houndour's fire attacks, so I sent out Gyarados to dampen its temper. After draining its HP with water-type moves from the Water/Flying-type, I toss a Poké Ball his way and add him to my roster. Since I added Buneary to my team at the start, Houndour is automatically sent to my box, which I can access at any point, thankfully. I heal up my team and move on. However, right around the corner is a new challenge: an Alpha Pokémon.

This Alpha Houndoom is about 20 levels higher than the rest of the Pokémon I've encountered to this point, and the battle plays out that way. Even with my super-effective Gyarados, I'm no match for his concentrated fire blasts and devastating dark attacks. After taking out my Gyarados and Watchog, I'm only left with Pokémon weak to Houndoom, so I know my time in the battle is about to come to an end. Thankfully, the save file is well-stocked with healing items, so I revive my Gyarados while I sacrifice my Chikorita to the dark flames of the dog-shaped Pokémon. However, with my Gyarados back up in full force, I'm able to eek out a win and catch the Alpha Pokémon. 

After the intense battle, I decide I need to reconfigure my team. I go into the menu and swap out Vivillon for Houndour and add the Alpha Houndoom to my team. I also notice that my Chikorita can evolve into Bayleef, so I trigger that via the menu. After healing up once more, I find a way onto a nearby roof, where I find my next challenge: an Alpha Pikachu. Using my new Bayleef, the battle is much easier than the Houndoom, and I'm excited to add the powerful Pika to my team. Unfortunately, as I stumble upon the third and final Alpha Pokémon in this Wild Zone – an Alpha Binacle – having the Electric Mouse doesn't seem as beneficial as I once thought. 

Because Pikachu's level was so high, he won't obey me; I don't know if it's because of my trainer ranking in the Z-A Royale (more on that soon), or some other level-based reason, but I quickly recall Pikachu and sic Bayleef on this one as well. With several non-Alpha Binacle in the area, it starts to feel like uproarious water types are ganging up on me. They attack with a persistence not displayed by the other Alphas, and though it gets a bit hairy at times, I can catch the third Alpha Pokémon in this Wild Zone just before I move on from this session.

Time to Rank Up

I enjoyed the rush of catching wild Pokémon in rapid succession, but as nightfall begins, so too does my next session. Running around Lumiose and capturing Pokémon is a blast during the day, but the focus shifts to battling when the sun descends beyond the horizon. Entering a Battle Zone, I see that I now have a completely new team of Pokémon in this save file: Totodile, Fletchinder, Pikachu, Sylveon, Honedge, and Roselia. Exploring the Zone, I see trainers with their Pokémon out in the distance. I can explore, gathering items, Mega Shards, and cards that contain side missions, or I can challenge any of the trainers in this area. If you walk into their line of sight, they'll initiate a battle. Otherwise, you can try to sneak up and send your Pokémon to attack to get an early advantage.

En route to my first adversary, I pick up some side missions like sneaking up with a Normal-type attack, knocking out a Pokémon with a Water-type attack, and KOing with a single blow against an unaware Pokémon. The side missions award Prize Medals, which can be exchanged for things like TMs. The real prize is Ticket Points, which grant you access to a Rank-Up Battle. In the Z-A Royale, you start at Rank Z and must ascend the ranks to reach Rank A through a series of battles in the tournament. In this save file, I'm a Rank W trying to reach Rank V, but before I can take on Rintaro to earn that status, I must first accumulate enough points.

The first trainer I face sends out a Chespin, which I easily dispatch using Fletchinder. Then, I send out Honedge to take out her Pikachu and Ralts. The second trainer's Abra and Ralts are no match for my strong Fletchinder, while the final trainer's Beedrill got a crack at my Roselia since I was trying to complete a quest before it, and his subsequent Bellsprout felt the same aerial-fiery wrath of Fletchinder. As the sun comes up, I have enough points for a Rank-Up Battle against Rintaro, so I accept the challenge and take him on at his fancy restaurant. 

This battle takes place in yet another save file, so my starter for this fight is Tepig, and its supporting cast is also different. Rintaro is a pretty straightforward battle, featuring a team of the Elemental Monkeys from Gen V. Thankfully, I also have a stacked group of elemental Pokémon that perfectly counter the monkey Pokémon; Tepig annihilates Simisage, Pikachu and Weepinbell handle Simipour, and Simisear stands no chance against Staryu. For my efforts against the chef, I earn Rank V, and it's time for one final confrontation before I need to relinquish the controller.

A Mega Match-Up

The final segment of my hands-on demo with Pokémon Legends: Z-A takes me to one of the game's boss battles against a Rogue Mega-Evolved Pokémon. These replace the Frenzied Noble Pokémon from Legends: Arceus as the arena-style boss fights, where you need to consider your positioning and place in the battle as you try to quell the rage causing this outburst. However, unlike the bosses in Legends: Arceus, you can take on the Rogue Mega-Evolved Pokémon alongside not only your own Pokémon, but also an NPC teammate. 

This battle occurs between Rogue Mega Victreebel (whose Mega-Evolved form debuts in Legends: Z-A) and the team of my trainer and Naveen, a fellow member of Team MZ. Naveen sends out his Ariados, which does little more than distract the Rogue Mega Victreebel. Anyone who has played a game like Borderlands or Elden Ring knows that any bit of aggro can help during boss battles, but for Rogue Mega Victreebel, it doesn't matter much since a lot of its attacks are area-of-effect, like poisonous puddles or wide-reaching projectiles. Though Naveen's Ariados doesn't do much, my team can make up the difference.

My team of six on this save file consists of Absol, Meowstic, Gardevoir, Diggersby, Dedenne, and Houndoom. Three of them (Absol, Gardevoir, and Houndoom) can Mega Evolve, but first, I must collect orbs that the Rogue Mega Victreebel drops throughout the battle. I dodge its incoming attacks, keeping an eye on the cooldowns of Houndoom's fire attacks, and tick away at Victreebel's formidable health bar. Once I collect enough of these orbs to fill Houndoom's Mega Evolution gauge, I activate its Mega Evolution and really start unleashing damage on the boss. 

Even with those intense flames, it isn't enough, so I have to restart the process of getting my Houndoom back to its Mega-Evolved form. After minutes of chipping away at the Rogue Mega Victreebel, it finally succumbs to the attacks, and it reverts to its normal form. For my efforts, I'm awarded a Victreebel Mega Orb. I don't get to see much more, as my time is up and the demo comes to an end.

My hands-on time with Pokémon Legends: Z-A answered a lot of my questions in the best ways possible, resulting in most of my doubts melting away and the game shooting up near the top of my most anticipated games for the rest of a crowded 2025. However, since the gameplay session (which was mostly smooth) was on a Switch 2, I'm curious how the game will run on Switch 1, as that's not something Pokémon has traditionally done well with. We likely won't have answers to that question until the game launches on October 16. But for now, I'm very much looking forward to revisiting Lumiose City.