Game Information
Game Title: Pokemon Legends: Z-A
Platforms:
- Nintendo Switch (Oct 16, 2025)
- Nintendo Switch 2 (Oct 16, 2025)
Trailers:
Publisher: Nintendo
Review Aggregator:
OpenCritic - 81 average - 77% recommended - 26 reviews
Critic Reviews
Areajugones - Ramón Baylos - Spanish - 9.2 / 10
I’m sure of it: beyond its imperfections and the unfinished business Game Freak has yet to resolve, Pokémon Legends: Z-A marks the first step in a smart direction—one that aligns with what many fans have been asking for over the years and shows particular respect for the legacy it inherits from the most successful franchise in history. I’m convinced we’re looking at one of those special games, one of those one-in-a-million experiments that end up working out. This time, Game Freak, you have my full attention.
CGMagazine - Zubi Khan - 8 / 10
Pokémon Legends: Z-A is here, bringing with it the second exciting entry into the Legends spinoff series of games
COGconnected - Oliver Ferguson - 78 / 100
It’s also worth noting that players can enjoy online link play over the internet as well as with nearby local consoles. Private matches can be created with friends. With all the gameplay changes it does feel like a substantially new Pokémon experience, but one that is being held back by a repetitive story with too little open world exploration.
Dexerto - Zackerie Fairfax - 3 / 5
Pokemon Legends Z-A delivers fast, polished battles in Lumiose City, but limited exploration and shallow side content hold it back from being truly great.
Eurogamer - Chris Tapsell - 3 / 5
Lumiose City could do with work, but Pokémon Legends: Z-A is a much more tightly focused - and delightfully goofy - return to better form. At least by modern Pokémon's standards.
Eurogamer.pt - Bruno Galvão - Portuguese - 4 / 5
Pokémon Legends: Z-A wins you over with its simple yet mystery-filled narrative, open-world design, and easy Pokémon management, but it's the dynamism of the new real-time combat that kept me playing long after the credits rolled. It's a very fun and easy-to-play game, which suffers from poor graphics quality.
Everyeye.it - Gabriele Laurino - Italian - 7.5 / 10
Despite its flaws, it brings a breath of fresh air and stands as an interesting evolution of Arceus. After years of stagnation, despite some timid steps forward on the gameplay front, we can say that Pokémon Legends confirms its position as the series' most interesting approach, at least in the Switch era.
GAMES.CH - Benjamin Braun - German - 85%
Aside from the weak environmental graphics, the setting is also impressive. It's been a long time since we've felt so much desire to simply explore the world in a "Pokémon" game, inspecting every alley and every rooftop. The developers' courage to try something new has certainly paid off. As long as real-time battles aren't a no-go per se, Pokémon fans can buy it with a clear conscience.
GamerFocus - Francisco Rosado - Spanish - 8.8 / 10
It's not the perfect Pokémon, but it is one of the bravest and most consistent in the evolution that the Legends series is beginning to consolidate, with the added benefit of a successful localization for Latin America.
GamesRadar+ - Catherine Lewis - 4 / 5
That dream sold to us by the Pokemon anime? It's right here, clearer than it ever has been.
Gfinity - Alister Kennedy - 7 / 10
A decent enough game that fails to innovate in the same way Legends Arceus did, Pokemon Legends Z-A feels like a wasted opportunity that may only be worth it for die-hard fans.
Glitched Africa - Marco Cocomello - 9 / 10
Pokemon Legends: Z-A changes the pace with an exhilarating new combat system and exciting new Mega Evolutions to discover, all centred around a familiar yet oddly different setting that pays tribute to one of Game Freak’s most underrated regions.
Hobby Consolas - Álvaro Alonso - Spanish - 85 / 100
Pokémon Legends: ZA is the next step in the series' mega-evolution, a title with fresh ideas, a spirit of renewal, and a desire to do things right. While there's still work to be done, this is the path future Pokémon games should follow.
IGN Italy - Luca Rago - Italian - 7.5 / 10
Pokémon Legends: ZA is fun and exciting with its Mega Evolutions and new battle system, but its shortcomings keep it from truly excelling.
IGN Spain - Mario Sánchez - Spanish - 8 / 10
Pokémon Legends: Z-A is a release heavily focused on battles. While its story and graphics don't particularly stand out, the addictive gameplay, dynamic combat, and fun online mode make it a must-play title for both veteran fans and newcomers.
Le Bêta-Testeur - Patrick Tremblay - French - 8.5 / 10
It's an adventure as strategic as it is spectacular, which finally gives the series back that little bit of magic we thought was lost.
LevelUp - Spanish - 8.5 / 10
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Nintendo Life - Alana Hagues - 7 / 10
Pokémon Legends: Z-A should be celebrated for its fabulous real-time combat and its largely smooth jump to the Switch 2, but in condensing things down to one single location, it loses part of the Pokémon magic that Arceus and many other entries managed to amplify.I'll forever find filling up my Pokédex fun, and for the Switch 2 generation, this is a good starting point for the franchise. But if the Legends series is to continue, it needs to recapture its personality and fuse that real-time system with a bit more freedom.
PPE.pl - Wojciech Gruszczyk - Polish - 9 / 10
Pokémon Legends: Z-A is exactly what this series needed – a fresh idea, technical refinement, and new energy. The developers finally dared to combine experimentation with classic elements, creating an adventure that is engaging, looks great, and proves that the world of Pokémon can evolve without losing its identity. It's not perfect – the pace is uneven and the difficulty level is too conservative – but it's still one of the most satisfying installments in the series in years.
RPG Site - 9 / 10
With its grand return to Kalos, Gamefreak has delivered a Pokemon game like no other.
Shacknews - Donovan Erskine - 9 / 10
The new battle system feels like a watershed moment for the franchise, and I hope we see it again soon. As a fan who always lamented the fact that we never got a “Pokemon Z” after X and Y, this return to Lumiose City is what I’ve been waiting over a decade for.
Spaziogames - Italian - 8.8 / 10
A refines the series' formula with a leaner, more focused, and genuinely fun experience. Despite its dated visuals, Game Freak delivers one of the most enjoyable entries in years a "sequel to a spin-off" that carries the kind of soul we hope to see return in the mainline games.
TheSixthAxis - Nic Bunce - 10 / 10
Unlike the most recent Pokémon Scarlet & Violet, Pokémon Legends: Z-A is a game that really holds your attention. The spiritual successor to Legends Arceus, it's learned from the mistakes of the distant past and beautifully shows what city life is like in the Pokémon universe. I can see myself playing this for another hundred hours as I finish my Pokédex, shiny hunt and generally have a great time. This is easily the best Pokémon game on the market.
Tom's Guide - 4.5 / 5
Pokémon Legends: Z-A flips everything I thought I knew about Pokémon battles on its head, putting a fresh spin on the nearly 30-year-old series. Spicing up its challenging new real-time battle system is the return of fan-favorite mega evolutions, which give every battle a subtle tinge of excitement. However, its stealth mechanics leave a lot to be desired, and the lack of voice acting still makes for rather off-putting story beats and cutscenes.
VG247 - 4 / 5
Hopefully Game Freak will continue using the Legends series as a playground (maybe a return to pixel graphics, just a suggestion), but, for now, Lumiose City has been a treat to revisit.
XGN.nl - Luuc ten Velde - Dutch - 7 / 10
Pokémon Legends: Z-A offers a great, new way of play while offering an expansive city to explore. Though the game isn't pretty in the slightest, it's hard not to enjoy everything this package has to offer.
it was a great vibe! personally i'm all for these inflatable animal costumes, I think they are perfect for this kind of "protest". The whole thing has a playful, celebratory nature that brings in children and elderly folks that would never attend a more focused protest. The smaller protests are just as important, if not more important, but I cannot deny that these huge, infrequent No Kings protests are doing a decent job of inviting more people into the tent, and showing them that they are "antifa" too.