Pokemon Legends Z-A Is Almost Here, & It Is OK To Be Excited

Summary

Pokemon Legends: Z-A is shaping up to be one of the best titles in the franchise, and fans should be excited about it.
The return of Mega Evolution after seven years is a significant highlight in this upcoming game.
The new real-time combat system and the return to the Kalos region add fresh and exciting elements to this title.

The Pokemon franchise has been facing heavy (and well-deserved) criticism from the gaming community over the last few years, mainly because of the rushed development of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet and the questionable state those games were originally released in.

Because of this controversy, some fans now have their reservations about Pokemon Legends: Z-A, the next mainline entry in the series that’s set to come out on October 16, 2025. However, Pokemon fans should not be worried about this upcoming game, because Legends: Z-A is shaping up to be one of the absolute best titles in the entire franchise, and here are a few solid reasons why it is 100% okay to be excited about it.

It’s Still Pokemon

It’s Okay To Still Enjoy One Of The Most Beloved Game Franchises Of All Time

Even today, almost thirty years since the birth of this franchise, the core gameplay of the Pokemon games is one of the most distinctive and accessible ones in the entire turn-based RPG genre. Catching, training, and taking care of the series’ signature fantastical critters is incredibly engaging, and no modern entry in the series has managed to mess that up.

Of course, some of them – like Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Evee or Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl – were a tad disappointing in a few areas, but they still are very solid video games that anyone can enjoy. This all means that Pokemon Legends: Z-A will undoubtedly be a fun experience, regardless of whether people’s worries end up becoming true. After all, this is one of the most iconic and revolutionary video game franchises out there, and it is still okay to enjoy it.

Pokemon Legends: Arceus Was An Excellent Game

Its Fresh Gameplay Formula Is One Of The Best Things To Happen To These Games

Akari facing off against a wild Electivire - Pokemon Legends: Arceus

It’s very important to point out that Pokemon Legends: Z-A is not just any mainline Pokemon game, but it’s part of the Legends sub-series, which originated with the release of Pokemon Legends: Arceus back in January 2022. This game is still widely celebrated as one of the best entries in the series because of the refreshing changes it brought to the classic Pokemon formula.

Legends: Arceus was the first semi-open-world Pokemon game, as it gave players a lot of open-ended freedom to explore huge areas, find and catch Pokemon, and collect items to their heart’s content, not to mention that it also has a bigger focus on the single-player experience and features exciting one-to-one encounters against Noble Pokemon. Fans have been asking for a second Legends game since 2022, and since it seems like Legends: Z-A will bring back this gameplay formula and even expand on it, they certainly won’t be disappointed.

Mega Evolution Is Back!

The Long-Awaited Return Of One Of The Series’ Most Popular Mechanics

Official screenshot of Mega Dragonite in-game - Pokemon Legends Z-A

A huge chunk of the marketing material for Pokemon Legends: Z-A has been focusing on Mega Evolution, and that’s a brilliant idea, seeing as fans have been waiting for this battle mechanic to return for over seven years. Originally introduced in Pokemon X and Y, Mega Evolution allows trainers to temporarily evolve their Pokemon into brand-new, even more powerful forms with astounding new designs.

However, Game Freak eventually removed this mechanic in the Eighth Generation, so it wouldn’t overlap with other similar gimmicks, like Gigantamax or Terastallization. Nevertheless, Mega Evolution is finally making its long-awaited comeback in Legends: Z-A, in which players will return to the Kalos region. And the best part? This upcoming game will introduce even more Mega Evolutions for beloved Pokemon that fans have been asking for years, with the recently-revealed Mega Dragonite being the most notorious example.

The New Real-Time Combat System

Turn-Based Battles Are More Exciting And More Involved

A Pokemon battle between Totodile and Tepig - Pokemon Legends Z-A

Another way in which Pokemon Legends: Z-A is switching up the Legends formula is with its brand-new active, real-time combat system. Some fans may not be aware of these gameplay changes, but they have been repeatedly detailed in the games’ marketing material, and they look extremely promising and fascinating.

Similarly to Legends: Arceus, Legends: Z-A will allow players to move around the battlefield while their Pokemon are fighting, but this time around, they can also switch out their party members or even order them to dodge an attack in real-time, similarly to how battles work in the Pokemon anime. This small but significant change will add a new layer of depth to the combat, and it’s something that fans have been asking for decades.

It’s The Long-Awaited Return To Kalos

The Sixth Generation Never Got A Second Chance To Shine

The player's character sets foot in Lumiose City - Pokemon Legends Z-A

Almost everybody is familiar with the concept of “third version games” that the Pokemon series is infamous for. Most generations kick off with the dual release of two new games (i.e., Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire) and, a few years later, Game Freak releases a third game that adds some much-needed fixes and improvements (i.e., Pokemon Emerald). Needless to say, the massive popularity of many generations and regions can be almost entirely attributed to these third version games.

Unfortunately, Pokemon X and Y are the only games in the series that take place in the Kalos region, and fans were never able to go back to this fascinating region in a third title that would have fixed their many issues and added some much-needed new content. Pokemon Legends: Z-A will finally rectify that mistake by allowing longtime fans to return to a brand-new version of Kalos, complete with multiple locations to explore and many characters to meet, both old and new.

Interesting New Characters And Story

One Of The Few Things That The Pokemon Franchise Never Does Wrong

Corbeau and his Arbok - Pokemon Legends Z-A

While most people focus more on the Pokemon themselves or the exciting turn-based battles they partake in, the human characters are one of the best and most underappreciated aspects of the mainline Pokemon games, and it seems like Legends: Z-A won’t disappoint in that regard. This upcoming adventure will let players meet and befriend many interesting characters, and they all have incredible and unique designs, like Urbain/Taunie, Jett, Vinnie, Corbeau, AZ, and Emma, with the last two returning from Pokemon X and Y.

Even though Game Freak and Nintendo haven’t disclosed many details about the main plot of Pokemon Legends: Z-A, it seems intriguing so far, with a huge part of it revolving around Lumiose City’s new urban redevelopment plan and the Rogue Mega-Evolved Pokemon that are terrorizing it. Furthermore, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are controversial games for many reasons, and yet, they tell one of the most memorable, engaging, and emotional stories in the series, which proves that, in this franchise, the quality of the narrative doesn’t have to be connected to the quality of the gameplay.

It’s The First Pokemon Game On The Nintendo Switch 2

The Series Is Making The Jump To Nintendo’s Next-Generation Console

The player finds some Bug Type Pokemon on the street - Pokemon Legends Z-A

Many fans are justifiably worried that Pokemon Legends: Z-A will have all the same technical issues that plagued Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. However, while these problems were most likely caused by the now-infamous rushed development of those games, it could also be explained by the fact that they were released on the original Nintendo Switch hardware. Fortunately, Scarlet and Violet recently received a Nintendo Switch 2 upgrade, and these games now look and run better than ever on Nintendo’s newest console.

Legends: Z-A was originally announced as a Switch 1 game, but it has been confirmed that it will also be available as a Switch 2 game from release, meaning that users of that system will be able to experience the best-looking and best-running version of the game. This also means that the next mainline games in the series (maybe the debut of Generation Ten?) will most likely be developed for the Switch 2 from the ground up, which sounds very promising and exciting.

Game Freak Has Taken Its Time

It Won’t Repeat The Mistake Of Releasing Two Games So Close To Each Other

The game's official cover art, showcasing multiple characters, Pokemon and Mega Evolutions - Pokemon Legends: Z-A

There are many reasons why the Pokemon franchise has been surrounded by controversy lately, but the most prominent one is the yearly releases that force developers to rush the development process to meet deadlines on time. For example, releasing Pokemon Scarlet and Violet just ten months after Legends: Arceus was a terrible decision that killed all the positive feedback the franchise was enjoying at the beginning of 2022.

Fortunately, The Pokemon Company has already admitted that it has learned its lesson and, back in 2023, it confirmed that it was considering slowing down its releases in order to ensure their quality. The company has kept this promise because Pokemon Legends: Z-A is the first new game in the series to be released in three years, since the launch of Scarlet and Violet in 2022 (with the only exception being their two DLC packs in 2023). This was a much more conventional development schedule that has most likely allowed Game Freak to polish Legends: Z-A as much as possible before its upcoming October 2025 release.