Pokemon Legends: Z-A Is Reinventing Pokemon Battles And I Couldn’t Be More Thrilled

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I’ve always enjoyed the turn-based battles in Pokemon games. For almost 30 years, the developers at Game Freak have refined this classic combat system – a bit like rock-paper-scissors – to be incredibly polished. While each new Pokemon generation introduces new features, the core of the battles has always remained turn-based. That’s why the news about Pokemon Legends: Z-A changing things up gave me some concern. However, after playing for over an hour, I think Game Freak has actually succeeded in reinventing Pokemon battles for the better.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A begins with your character’s arrival in Lumiose City via train. This game is set in the present, after the story of Pokemon X and Y – there’s no time travel like in Pokemon Legends: Arceus. Just outside the train station, you’ll meet a trainer named either Taunie or Urbain, who will offer you a starter Pokemon: Chikorita, Totodile, or Tepig. I didn’t even get to choose my favorite, Totodile, before the game sent us into a large, open area called the Wild Zone a few hours in.

Lumiose City has Wild Zones filled with Pokemon you can catch. I explored one that was packed with Houndours and Bunearys. These zones cover a few city blocks, and are noticeably smaller than the areas in Pokemon Legends: Arceus. Even the larger Wild Zones seem quite a bit smaller than the regions in Arceus. However, the designers cleverly used the city’s buildings and narrow streets to make them interesting. I found hidden items and special Pokemon in alleys and on rooftops – including a powerful level 40 Alpha Pikachu that knocked me off a building and nearly wiped out my team! Luckily, there are cafes within the Wild Zones where you can heal your Pokemon for a small price. If your whole team faints, you’ll be sent back to a Pokemon Center outside the zone.

If you enjoyed catching Pokémon in Legends: Arceus, you’ll find the system in Z-A very familiar. The core gameplay remains the same: sneak up on Pokémon, aim, and throw a Poké Ball. If a Pokémon spots you, you can battle with one of your own Pokémon to weaken it before trying to catch it. It feels just as natural as before, though this demo had fewer items available. In Arceus, you could use things like Smoke Bombs, berries, and mud balls to help with catching, but I didn’t have access to those in this preview. It’s not yet clear if those items have been removed from the full game, or if they just weren’t included in this demo.

I also got to try out the character creator in this demo. Similar to Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, you can change your character’s hair and face from the in-game menu at any time. However, Z-A offers a lot more options for customizing your character’s clothes than those games. I didn’t have much time to play around with it, but it looks like there are tons of accessories to choose from and create different outfits.

I spent some time in the Wild Zone and then started competing in Z-A Royale, a city-wide tournament where trainers battle their way up the ranks. Each night, trainers gather around the city, and you need to defeat them to earn a special ticket. Once you’ve earned enough points, you can enter a Promotion Match to climb higher in the rankings.

As a player, I’ve noticed how important positioning is! When my Pokémon attacks, it cleverly moves to get in range, but that also means it’s stuck there for a moment, making it vulnerable to an attack back from the opponent. It’s a cool system, but you really have to think about where you’re leaving your Pokémon after an attack!

During the Z-A Royale event, trainers roam the streets at night with their Pokémon. If you can surprise an opponent, you’ll get a free attack before the battle officially begins. Battles feel faster and more chaotic than usual Pokémon fights. Attacks have cooldowns, and you can use them whenever you want, even while your opponent is attacking. However, you still need to be strategic! Each attack has a speed, affecting how quickly it’s used. Some attacks leave you open for longer, while others are much faster. For example, a quick move like Quick Attack will happen before a slower move like Flame Wheel.

Several other moves have been updated to work with the new battle system. For example, Whirlwind no longer forces a switch, but instead pushes the opponent back. Double Team, similar to Protect, now creates a temporary illusion of invulnerability. Toxic Spikes now lays traps on the battlefield that poison any opposing Pokémon that physically attacks them. I was really impressed with how these moves were reimagined for Z-A, and I’m excited to explore all the creative ways to use Pokémon’s diverse moveset.

While exploring the restricted areas in Z-A Royale, you’ll find Battle Tickets. These give you challenges that reward extra points when you finish them. In my experience, the challenges were things like performing sneak attacks or hitting enemy weak spots. They were generally easy and could usually be completed during a single battle if you planned ahead. However, I hope the challenges become more difficult later on, because they could get repetitive if they stay this simple. Completing these challenges while battling trainers was the fastest way to improve your rank, and after about 15 minutes, I was ready for my Promotion Match.

Promotion Matches are similar to gym battles in Z-A. Instead of battling on the streets like in Lumiose City, these fights happen in a dedicated arena, and you can’t surprise your opponent. I recently battled a trainer who was a cook, and his team consisted of Simisage, Simipour, and Simisear. While I won easily enough, his battling style was noticeably more cautious than trainers I’d faced before. He frequently used Protect to shield his Pokémon from my strong attacks. By the time he sent out his last Pokémon, I had to think carefully before attacking to avoid wasting my moves on a protected turn.

The demonstration concluded with a fast-paced battle against Mega Victreebell, which felt a lot like the fight against Mega Absol in my earlier preview. Mega Victreebell was constantly attacking, and I had to carefully time my moves with Houndoom to deal significant damage. As I attacked, glowing orbs appeared on the battlefield, eventually allowing me to Mega Evolve my own Pokémon. However, Mega Evolved Pokémon don’t stay that way forever – a timer in the corner of the screen shows how long the transformation lasts. Gathering more orbs could extend the Mega Evolution, but only slightly. I had several Pokémon capable of Mega Evolving, but I chose Houndoom because its fire attacks were super effective. Even with this advantage, Mega Victreebell managed to knock out Houndoom, forcing me to switch to another Pokémon while I used items to heal it.

These boss fights feel similar to the chaotic battles against Frenzied Pokemon in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, but with a key difference: you don’t have to calm the boss down with items first. You jump straight into attacking and avoiding obstacles, making the fights feel much more active and demanding. You need to constantly watch your positioning, manage attack timings, and keep an eye on your health. While not overly hard right now, these battles have a good amount of strategy that suggests they could become quite challenging as the game progresses.

During my hands-on demo, Pokémon Legends: Z-A ran perfectly on the new Nintendo Switch 2. While I can’t say for sure what the frame rate was, it appeared to be a smooth 60 frames per second with no slowdown. It’s important to note that the game is also coming to the original Nintendo Switch, and we don’t yet know how it will perform on that system. Hopefully, it runs better than Pokémon Arceus, Scarlet, and Violet.

Even though the game looks great, many questions remain after playing about two hours. I haven’t had a chance to freely explore Lumiose City yet, and I’m curious to see what it offers and how it connects to Pokémon X and Y. Will there be new regional Pokémon forms, like in Arceus? And how will multiplayer work? We’ll find out the answers when Pokémon Legends: Z-A is released on October 16, 2025.

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2025-09-24 16:41