Pokémon Legends: Z-A
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Prepare for an all-new Pokémon adventure! Pokémon Legends: Z-A, an action role-playing game from Game Freak and published by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company, is set to redefine your Pokémon experience in 2025. This is the second installment in the acclaimed Pokémon Legends series, following the success of Pokémon Legends: Arceus, and it's a direct sequel to the beloved Pokémon X and Y. Step back into the vibrant Kalos region, but this time, the entire journey unfolds within the iconic Lumiose City.
Initially announced as a Nintendo Switch exclusive, Pokémon Legends: Z-A will also grace the enhanced Nintendo Switch 2 with an upgraded port. This ambitious title launches on October 16, 2025, and early reactions are overwhelmingly positive, with critics praising its innovative battle system while noting the unique challenges of its city-centric setting. And for those craving even more, a DLC campaign, Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Mega Dimension, has already been announced!
Get ready to experience Pokémon battles like never before! Your journey begins with a choice of three starter Pokémon: Chikorita and Totodile from the Johto region, and Tepig from Unova. Forget turn-based combat; Legends: Z-A plunges you into a dynamic, real-time battle system. Positioning, timing, and skillful dodging are paramount as your Pokémon move and evade attacks. Fuel your Pokémon’s power by collecting Mega Energy during battles, allowing them to temporarily Mega Evolve and unleash devastating attacks. The longer you fight, the longer your Pokémon can remain in their enhanced form!
Nighttime in Lumiose City brings a thrilling new challenge: the Z-A Royale. You can launch pre-emptive strikes on unsuspecting trainers wandering through designated Battle Zones, but be warned – they can do the same to you, stunning your Pokémon for precious seconds. Enhance your journey with bonus cards offering side quests, rewarding you with points to climb the ranks and face tougher opponents.
And for the ultimate test of skill? Dive into the Battle Club, a multiplayer mode where up to four players can engage in Link Battles to catch the most Pokémon or climb the leaderboards in Ranked Battles. Plus, character customization returns with even more impressive options to make your trainer truly unique.
The game is set in the breathtaking Kalos region, reimagined for an ambitious urban redevelopment project in Lumiose City, a stunning metropolis inspired by Paris. This time, the entire narrative unfolds within the city limits, where Pokémon and humans live side-by-side in designated Wild Zones. As night falls, Battle Zones come alive for the Z-A Royale, a nightly competition where trainers can challenge each other to exhilarating Pokémon battles. Your ultimate goal? Ascend from Rank Z to Rank A through a series of challenging promotion battles, all to have a wish granted. Along the way, the legendary Pokémon Zygarde takes a keen interest in your progress. Prepare for a mysterious phenomenon gripping Lumiose City: wild Pokémon are spontaneously Mega Evolving and becoming uncontrollable. You'll need to subdue these rampaging Mega Evolved Pokémon in epic real-time boss battles, reminiscent of the intense Noble Pokémon encounters from Pokémon Legends: Arceus.
The development of Pokémon Legends: Z-A began with its announcement on February 27, 2024, during a special Pokémon Presents, with a release window set for 2025. The iconic Mega Evolution mechanic, first introduced in Pokémon X and Y, was confirmed to make a triumphant return. Game Freak is at the helm of this ambitious project. A subsequent Pokémon Presents on February 27, 2025, unveiled more details about the captivating plot and engaging gameplay, along with an updated release window of late 2025. In a significant announcement during the Nintendo Direct on April 2, 2025, it was confirmed that Pokémon Legends: Z-A would receive an enhanced version for the Nintendo Switch 2, joining a host of other Nintendo Switch titles. The game officially launched on October 16, 2025, for both the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2. Further excitement was generated during a September 2025 Nintendo Direct, where Mega Evolved forms for the X and Y starters were revealed. These powerful forms will be unlocked through the game's online ranked battles, with their Mega Stones distributed across three seasonal events. Alongside the base game, a paid DLC, Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Mega Dimension, was also announced, focusing on the Mythical Pokémon Hoopa and introducing two new Mega forms for Raichu. A special demo of the game was available for attendees of the 2025 Pokémon World Championships.
The development of Legends: Z-A was not without its challenges, as the game was unfortunately subject to several leaks prior to its official release. These leaks provided early glimpses of Mega Pokémon, returning Pokémon, and even full game ROMs that were datamined for extensive information, including new Mega Pokémon designs and complete Pokédex and item lists. In a major incident in August 2024, a significant data breach occurred at Game Freak's servers, resulting in the theft of a vast amount of information, including source code for Legends: Z-A and future titles. This information, dubbed the Teraleak, was widely disseminated across social media. Nintendo took action, filing a subpoena against Discord to identify the alleged leaker. In the week leading up to the game's release, a continuation of the leak, known as the Freakleak, surfaced, revealing even more details about the game's development, including scrapped mechanics like Pokémon riding and parkour abilities, as well as early designs for Lumiose City and the game's budget. Astonishingly, early development concepts indicated that Legends 2 was initially planned to be set in the Johto region, exploring the origins of Pokémon trainers with a time-traveling protagonist and planned releases as Pokémon Legends: Ho-Oh and Pokémon Legends: Lugia. These ambitious ideas were ultimately scrapped in favor of the modern Kalos setting. The Freakleak also hinted at the Mega Dimension DLC featuring 16 Pokémon receiving Mega forms and provided insights into unannounced future titles, including mainline installments for the tenth generation and a third Legends game.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A has been met with critical acclaim, earning "generally favorable" reviews according to Metacritic and a "Strong" approval rating on OpenCritic. Critics like Alana Hagues of Nintendo Life have lauded the game's performance on the Nintendo Switch 2 and the captivating battle system, while acknowledging that the visuals could be more vibrant and the city setting, while detailed, can feel somewhat restrictive.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A () is a 2025 action role-playing game developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2. Part of the ninth generation of Pokémon video games, it is a sequel to the sixth-generation titles Pokémon X and Y (2013) and the second entry in the Pokémon Legends sub-series, following Pokémon Legends: Arceus (2022). It takes place entirely in the Kalos region's Lumiose City.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A was announced in February 2024 as an exclusive to the original Switch console, before it was later announced that it would also receive an enhanced port for the Switch 2. It was released on 16 October 2025, to generally positive reviews. Critics praised the battle system, but found the city setting to be visually restricting. A DLC campaign, Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Mega Dimension, has also been announced.
== Gameplay ==
At the start of the game, three starter Pokémon are available: Chikorita and Totodile (from Gold and Silver), and Tepig (from Black and White). As opposed to previous Pokémon games which featured turn-based combat, Legends: Z-A uses a real-time combat system that takes into account the positioning of the player character, their Pokémon, and the timing of used moves, and allows Pokémon to move around and dodge attacks while in a battle. During Pokémon Battles, the player can fill a gauge by collecting Mega Energy (obtained via dealing damage to opposing Pokémon) in order to temporarily Mega Evolve their current Pokémon, although the length of time their Pokémon remains Mega Evolved can also be increased by continuing to damage the opponent or opponents. New to the title is the ability to launch pre-emptive strikes on opposing trainers that wander a specific place in Lumiose City called a Battle Zone during nighttime hours, in a nightly competition called the Z-A Royale, while opposing trainers are capable of the same technique and can stun your Pokémon for a few seconds. There are also side quests in the form of bonus cards that the player can find and fulfill the objectives of to achieve points for accessing rank promotion battles (which are also rewarded when beating enemy trainers).
The game also has a multiplayer mode called the Battle Club, where up to 4 players can participate in Link Battles to defeat the most Pokémon in a given time period, or Ranked Battles, where players battle each other directly for rank points. Character customization also returns with improved options.
== Setting ==
The game takes place in the Kalos region, which was first introduced in the 2013 video games Pokémon X and Y. The plot takes place during an urban redevelopment project in Lumiose City, which is based on Paris, being undertaken by a company called Quasartico, Inc. Nintendo of America has stated that the game takes place entirely within Lumiose City, where Pokémon coexist with humans in locations known as Wild Zones. During nighttime hours, Battle Zones appear for the Z-A Royale, where trainers wander and can challenge and be challenged by the player to Pokémon battles. The player character's goal is to advance from Rank Z to Rank A via promotion battles with certain trainers to have a wish granted. During the course of the story, the Legendary Pokémon Zygarde takes an interest in the player character. There is also a new, mysterious phenomenon within Lumiose City where wild Pokémon spontaneously Mega Evolve and go berserk. One of the player character's goals is to subdue these Mega Evolved Pokémon in the form of real-time boss battles similar to the Noble Pokémon battles within the prior title, Pokémon Legends: Arceus.
== Development and release ==
On 27 February 2024, Legends Z-A was announced during a Pokémon Presents presentation with a release window of '2025'. At the end of the trailer, the Mega Evolution mechanic, which was first introduced in X and Y, was also confirmed to return. Pokémon Legends: Z-A is being developed by Game Freak. During the next Pokémon Presents, on 27 February 2025, a second video was released, giving more information on the plot and gameplay elements with an updated release window of 'late 2025'. During the Nintendo Direct on 2 April 2025, it was confirmed that Pokémon Legends: Z-A will get an upgraded version on Nintendo Switch 2 alongside many other Nintendo Switch games. The game was released on 16 October 2025 for both Switch and Switch 2. Z-A was showcased again during a September 2025 Nintendo Direct, during which Mega Evolved forms for the X and Y starters were revealed. These forms were stated to be unlocked from the game's online ranked battles, with the Mega Stones for these forms split between three seasons. Alongside the base game reveals, paid DLC was also announced called Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Mega Dimension. The DLC is to be centered around the Mythical Pokémon Hoopa and features the debut of two Mega forms of Raichu.
A demo of the game was made available for attendees of the 2025 Pokémon World Championships at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim.
=== Leaks ===
Legends: Z-A was subjected to a number of leaks related to in-game information prior to its release. A prominent leak related to a list of the game's Mega Pokémon months prior to their official reveals. In early October, certain Pokémon were leaked to be returning in Z-A. A week prior to Z-A's official release, some people were able to obtain early copies of the game. The game's ROM was leaked onto illegal ROM sites, with some players streaming the game on Twitch. These copies would be datamined in order to leak information about the game online ahead of its release; these leaks primarily pertained to showcasing the designs of the new Mega Pokémon, such as Mega Starmie, as well as the game's full Pokedex and item lists.
In August 2024, about 1TB of information was stolen from Game Freak's servers containing older builds of games, concept art and documentation of various games as well as 2,600 pieces of employee data. Among the information obtained from the hack was source code of Legends: Z-A in addition to titles planned to release after. On October 12, 2024, most of the information was posted on a Discord server, which would spread to other social media platforms and forums, with the community dubbing it as the Teraleak. However, the hacker who was behind the leak had held back on releasing information regarding Z-A and future projects in the Pokémon franchise until Z-A was launched. In April 2025, Nintendo filed for a subpoena in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against Discord for personal information regarding the Discord user GameFreakOut, who is claimed to be the leaker. In the week leading up to Legends: Z-A's release, as well as being one year on from the Teraleak, a continuation of the leak occurred in which around 70GB of information regarding the series was released online. The second round of the Teraleak, dubbed the Freakleak by GamesRadar+, contained source code and in-development beta builds of Z-A (2 builds for PC and 3 builds for the Switch), featuring minigames and mechanics that would become scrapped in the final version; early features that were scrapped include the ability to ride Pokémon, third-person shooting mechanics and abilities pertaining to parkour. Other aspects of the beta builds showcased that in-door windows and balconies had more detail due to being modelled, as well as that Kalos is rendered in as one entire 3D model. Around 10GB of the leak pertained to documentation of the game's development, as well as the game's initial budget of around ¥2 billion ($13 million). Sketches from early in-development indicated the game was originally going to be set within the open wilds of Pokémon Gold and Silver's region, Johto, but during a time before Pokémon trainers existed, with the plot said to be about the origin of trainers. The protagonist would be time traveller who would go on to revive three Pokémon. This version of Legends 2 would have released in two versions, referred to as Pokémon Legends: Ho-Oh and Pokémon Legends: Lugia, and was to be released in 2024 as a celebration of the 25th anniversary of Gold and Silver. These ideas were scrapped in favor of a modern Kalos setting. The Freakleak also contained information regarding the Mega Dimension DLC, reporting that 16 Pokémon would receive Mega forms. Other parts of the Freakleak pertained to information about unannounced future titles that plan to release up to 2030, including the mainline installments for the tenth generation and a 3rd Legends game.
== Reception ==
The game received "generally favorable" reviews according to the review aggregator website Metacritic. On OpenCritic, the game received a "Strong" approval rating from critics. Alana Hagues of Nintendo Life liked the battles as well as the game's performance on Nintendo Switch 2, but criticized the visuals for being "lifeless and flat". Hagues also felt that the game's Lumiose City setting was restrictive.
== Notes ==
== References ==
== External links ==
Official website
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