Is Pokémon Legends Z-A the best Pokémon game we’ve seen in ages?

Domagoj Belancic

24.9.2025

Translation: Katherine Martin

I played Pokémon Legends: Z-A at a crazy preview event in the Eiffel Tower. As well as the event’s extraordinary location, I loved the game’s new combat system. The graphics, however, were a bit of a buzzkill.

I love travelling to preview events to try out new games. Sometimes, I really do wind up in cool places. However, nothing’s likely to top the venue of the Pokémon Legends: Z-A preview event any time soon. Yep, Nintendo invited me to the Eiffel Tower in Paris to test the new Pokémon spin-off.

Now, you’re probably thinking, «Huh? Wait a minute. Why Paris? And why the Eiffel Tower?»

Well, Pokémon Legends: Z-A is set in Paris-inspired Lumiose City, as fans of the 3DS games Pokémon X and Pokémon Y will remember. In the centre of this fictional metropolis, there’s the Prism Tower, modelled on the Eiffel Tower.

After my gaming session in the Eiffel Tower, I’m left feeling optimistic. Pokémon Legends: Z-A could be one of the best Pokémon games we’ve seen in a long time. In other words, it’s not just okay or acceptable – it’s darn good. That being said, the game isn’t perfect.

The graphics still look sad

Let’s start with the bad news. Pokémon Legends: Z-A doesn’t look good. In fact, it doesn’t look good at all. Which is a shame, seeing as the foundations of a decent game really are there.

The entire game takes place within the boundaries of Lumiose City. There are no vast natural areas. As far as I can tell from a quick glance at the in-game map, the city itself doesn’t seem too big either. However, despite the compact open world, many of the game’s assets have a sad look to them. The graphics are also disappointing when the camera pans out, featuring obvious pop-in effects and NPCs moving jerkily in the distance.

Thanks to the imposing architecture and successful soundtrack, exploring the streets certainly gives you a Parisian vibe. But goodness me, couldn’t they at least have modelled the balconies on the buildings instead of using simple 2D textures? It all looks lovelessly slapped together.

On the bright side, the game runs at a consistent 60 fps, with a crisp resolution on the Switch 2. I can’t say what the performance on the Switch 1 is like. In light of the most recent technical disaster – otherwise known as Pokémon Scarlet and Violet – I won’t get my hopes up.

Alright, that’s enough negativity for now. Time to move on to the really strong aspects of the demo.

Wild zones and brutally strong Pokémon

The first area I’m unleashed into during the Paris demo is one of Lumiose City’s wild zones. Wild Pokémon roam freely around these areas, which are essentially mini safari zones in the middle of the city. It’s a cool idea.

The game mechanics are reminiscent of predecessor Pokémon Legends: Arceus. You sneak up on wild Pokémon, throwing Pokéballs to catch them. Your chances increase if you weaken them in battle beforehand.

The combat system feels refreshingly different. Instead of turn-based battles, the new Legends features real-time battles that force you to react quickly. It reminds me a little of the Xenoblade Chronicles games and MMO mechanics. Your monsters’ attacks need a certain amount of time to cool down after use, so mindlessly spamming isn’t an option.

Since wild Pokémon attack you as well as your monsters, you’re always having to think about your position on the battlefield. You need to dodge again and again to avoid being hit by dangerous attacks. Your Pokémon follows you when you move, allowing you to position it to your advantage. With a bit of luck, you’ll even be able to protect it from enemy attacks.

I really like the fact that the demo’s enemies are pretty challenging. In the middle of the wild zone, there’s a huge Houndoom waiting to attack me with devastating fire attacks – paying no mind to losses – alongside its army of Houndour. Even after three attempts, I don’t manage to vanquish this powerful enemy. Not even with a giant water Pokémon like Gyarados on my team.

I hope the finished game will have just as many tough nuts to crack.

The brilliance of the combat system shines through in trainer battles

I get to see the full potential of the new combat system in the second part of the demo by entering the Z-A Royale. This is a tournament taking place at night on the streets of Lumiose City. Your goal is to collect a certain number of points by sunrise in order to move up a rank. In the finished game, you start at rank Z and work your way up to rank A, hence the name of the tournament.

Battle-hungry trainers lurk in the dark alleys of the city, waiting to compete with you. In contrast to Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, trainers attack as soon as they see you (almost like in the good old days of Pokémon).

However, you can also hide from your enemies or even sneak up behind them and take them by surprise. How yobbish – and fun – is that? And you know what’s even more fun? The fact that as you’re exploring dark alleyways, you find mini missions encouraging you to sneakily attack enemy trainers. As a reward for doing so, you get extra points. I love it.

Trainer battles are more intense than duels against individual wild Pokémon. When an enemy switches to a new Pokémon from their team, you don’t have much time to ponder how to react.

Should you swap in a new Pokémon to give yourself a type advantage? Or should you stick with your current monster, which, although it has a type weakness, could bring about some nasty status changes? Pokémon has never stressed me out this much.

In any case, it’s worth brushing up on the rock-paper-scissors principle of Pokémon types to maximise the efficiency of your countermoves. I love the new system and can’t wait to experiment with it even more.

Mega Evolution

Another exciting new feature of Pokémon Legends: Z-A is Mega Evolution. Alright, «new» is a bit of an exaggeration. The feature was actually first introduced in Pokémon X & Y.

During a Pokémon battle, you can transform selected monsters from your team into even bigger monsters with stronger attacks at the touch of a button. In the demo, I come to blows with an absurdly large Mega Victreebel that’s mega-evolved in the middle of the city, without a trainer. Unprecedented scenes. It’s my job to tame the monster and shrink it back to its regular size.

Since Mega Pokémon are even more aggressive than typical wild Pokémon, you have to keep your human character moving and dodge faster. Any time you attack the giant Pokémon, it loses Mega energy. If you collect enough of this energy, you can mega-evolve a Pokémon from your own team.

The battle’s fast-paced, exhausting and long. And since I get too greedy and take too many risks when gathering energy, I fail. My character faints.

Still, it’s nice that a Pokémon game has given me such a run for my money.

Photos and videos from the event

Overall, I’m really happy with what I saw of the game. And I’m not just saying that because I played it at the Eiffel Tower (though I still can’t believe it). The real-time combat system is fun, the «catch ’em all» formula still works and the Z-A tournament spurs you on to become «the very best». The only thing still knocking the wind out of my sails is the graphics.

To finish off, here are some more photos from the event:

Pokémon Legends: Z-A will be released on 16 October for Switch and Switch 2. Nintendo invited me to its preview event in Paris and covered my travel expenses. My colleague and Pokémon expert Cassie will be writing a detailed review of the game.

Domagoj Belancic

Senior Editor

Domagoj.Belancic@digitecgalaxus.ch

My love of video games was unleashed at the tender age of five by the original Gameboy. Over the years, it's grown in leaps and bounds.

Follow

---

Gaming

Follow topics and stay updated on your areas of interest

Follow topic

---

Background information

Interesting facts about products, behind-the-scenes looks at manufacturers and deep-dives on interesting people.

Show all

These articles might also interest you