Pokemon legend ZA review : What do people think about the game ?

By: DESCHAMPS Alexandre

Location: Paris, France

Pokemon Legends ZA official logo

[Source 2: Pokemon Legends ZA™ official logo]

The latest game from Game Freak studio, Pokemon Legends ZA™, was released on October 16th, 2025. This game has been long-awaited by fans, and critical opinions are divided. Let's analyze the main feelings of the players.

Context and Story

Pokemon Legends ZA™ was announced on February 27th, 2024, in a trailer during a Pokemon Presents event.

The story takes place five years after the events of Pokemon X and Y. It begins when the protagonist arrives in Luminose City and joins the MZ team to win the ZA tournament, a battle event organized by Quasartico Inc., an urban development organization.

Luminose city

[Source 10: Luminose city official artwork for Pokemon Legend ZA™]

We will not go further into the main story to avoid any spoilers.

Gameplay Mechanics and Innovations

The game caused immediate reactions, particularly with the return of Mega Evolutions, a phenomenon that makes Pokemon stronger for a limited time and hasn't been seen since Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon 8 years ago.

Furthermore, the battle mechanics have been completely overhauled, moving from turn-by-turn combat to a real-time battle system, representing a major turning point for strategy and competition.

Points of Contention: Starters and Graphics

However, many were disappointed by Game Freak's choice of starters. While fans expected Pokemon representing French culture (like Snivy, Oshawott, or Torchic), the chosen ones were Chikorita, Totodile, and Tepig, a choice the community did not understand.

Chikorita Totodile Tepig

[Source 15: Chikorita, Totodile and Tepig, Pokemon Legends ZA ™ starters]

Fans' anger increased during the gameplay release due to technical design choices. Critics pointed out poor graphic optimization, specifically a single file for the entire city that was too heavy and consumed most resources, while details like wall and window textures were neglected.

Reception and Performance

On the other hand, some fans praised the improvements in level design, with various accessible zones, total open-world freedom, and exploration mechanics for catching wild Pokemon. It is noted that bugs and degraded graphics mainly affected the Switch 1 version, as the game is optimized for Switch 2.

Scores reflect this division:

4/10 by James Stephanie Sterling (British freelance journalist).
5/5 by Video Games Chronicle.
The general score is usually between 8/10 and 9/10.

Regarding sales, the game was a success with 5.8 million copies sold during the first week, including 1.48 million in Japan on the first day.

Conclusion

According to R. Lecocq, a long-time player, even if Pokemon Legends ZA™ presents many flaws like bad graphics and optimization, the game represents a complete overhaul of the original formula and a test for future generations.

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