Pokémon Legends: Z-A is coming in “late 2025,” but the Japanese trailer specifically suggests a fall release — and Nintendo already confirmed a simultaneous global launch. Today’s Pokémon Presents gave us another sneak peek at the upcoming game and revealed a lot more details than we previously had, including the new starters, combat style, rivals, and more.
The full game will be set inside Lumiose City, rather than a more open world like the original Pokémon: Legends. The trailers so far suggest a massive space with a lot of room to explore, but it will be interesting to see how the flow of the game adapts to a relatively more limited area.
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Soon after setting foot in Lumiose City, you’ll have your choice of three starters: Tepig, Chikorita, or Totodile. That’s a mix of starters from both Gen 2 and Gen 5, although we can’t help but feel Cyndaquil caught the short end of the stick. The trailer also reveals a wide range of Pokémon from across almost all generations.
Arguably the biggest news is the change to the battle system. Unlike previous games, Legends: Z-A isn’t turn-based. Battles are held in a more real-time format, with the player leading their Pokémon through the arena to dodge attacks. Pokémon still have four moves, but each is mapped to a different face button. Timing and positioning matter and these battles look more engaging for the player.
That said, we don’t relish the thought of being on the receiving end of a poorly-timed Hyperbeam dodge.
We also saw more of a hint to the game’s story. Lumiose City is undergoing an “urban redevelopment plan” to make it livable for both people and Pokémon, with a megacorp called Quasartico Inc. managing the project. No doubt this company will likely serve as the Team Rocket equivalent.
Early trailers suggested the game would come to Nintendo Switch “systems,” but this Present ended with only the standard Switch logo. Considering the existence of the Nintendo Switch 2 is already known — and has a scheduled Direct — it’s curious that Legends: Z-A isn’t explicitly said to come to both. However, Nintendo confirmed backward compatibility for the Switch 2, so this could be a non-issue.
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