Pokemon Legends: Z-A Preview – Another Reason to Get a Switch 2

I remember being fairly interested in what Game Freak was doing with its first stab at Pokemon Legends: Arceus. It was a whole new way to play with Pocket Monsters, but dodgy frame rates and a repetitive rhythm lulled me away from really enjoying it.

Nonetheless, it had a certain quality that a lot of first tries have in this industry: it fell a little flat for me, but there was lots of potential for a sequel to really knock it out of the park. So I knew I had to try Pokemon Legends: Z-A while at PAX West.

The show floor demo was played on a Nintendo Switch 2, and it showcased two parts of the game: Battle Zones and a story encounter against a Mega Absol. After about 20 minutes with the game, I walked away from that demo excited for Pokemon like I was a kid waiting for Pokemon Diamond and Pearl again.

Battle Zones Put the Focus on Trainers

The first 10 minutes in the Battle Zone reminded me of a huge factor that I felt was missing from Arceus: trainer battles. Most of my memories with Arceus were roaming around wide open spaces, throwing balls at wild Pokemon with the occasional battle punctuated throughout.

In a Battle Zone, it's all about fighting opposing trainers. You can sneak up on their Pokemon by sending yours out from behind, giving you an advantage in the ensuing fight.

This time around, too, the old-school turn-based battles are no more. Everything is in real time now. You aim at an enemy while holding down a shoulder button, and all the face buttons are mapped to your Pokemon's abilities.

There were no agile or strong mode inputs from what I could see. Instead, each individual ability was on a cooldown, and as you'd expect, weaker attacks tend to cool down faster than others. I found myself settling into a rhythm of which attacks to rotate through, trying to minimize downtime as much as possible.

If you're in a poor matchup, you can quickly swap to another Pokemon by using the D-pad. It all felt seamless thanks to not having to pause the game, and the real-time menuing felt snappy and convenient.

Living It Up in Lumiose City

Pokemon Legends: Z-A is set entirely in Lumiose City, the large city from Pokemon X and Y. When I first learned that, my immediate worry was performance. The Switch, as amazing as that system is, was starting to feel its age in recent years.

Luckily, the demos for Pokemon Legends: Z-A ran on the Switch 2, and all my fears disappeared. Running around the Battle Zone was smooth as butter, and it looked pretty good to boot.

As a city boy, I always love when a game brings an entire urban landscape to life, like the Spider-Man games. So I'm excited to see Pokemon's take on it, especially with the power of the Switch 2.

The final leg of the demo involved a boss fight with a rogue Mega Absol, which was provided a bit of story context. It seems there's some mysterious reason these random Mega Evolutions are happening, and in true Pokemon fashion, you're randomly roped into stopping them.

In the demo I played, the protagonist didn't have a Mega Ring at first, so this Mega Absol could be one of the early ones we'll run into in the full game.

The fight itself felt a bit like the bosses in Arceus, where the trainer themself has to dodge a bunch of attacks. However, this time around, instead of throwing weird items at them, you're ordering your Pokemon to do attacks.

An extra layer of strategy I enjoyed is that my Lucario had Protect mapped as one of its abilities. Using it at just the right time so it didn't take damage from a large area-of-effect attack felt so satisfying, in a way I wouldn't expect from a Pokemon game.

Overall, the boss fight wasn't difficult, but there were just enough plates spinning that it remained engaging throughout, which is more than I can say for my experience with some games in the franchise's past. Hopefully that momentum remains in the full release.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A Preview – Final Thoughts

Pokemon is a franchise I've learned to temper my expectations with. The level of fun I had with it as a kid probably won't match whatever I'm looking for as an adult. However, Pokemon Legends: Z-A could be the game that makes me second guess that lesson.

I had so much fun with the little time I spent with it, and it instantly became something I'm looking forward to playing on my Switch 2. I hope the story remains interesting the long-term, but even if not, roaming around Lumiose City holds a lot of promise for me.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A was previewed on a Nintendo Switch 2 at PAX West.