The Pokemon Legends series continues, with a new game revealed at today's Pokemon Presents showcase. Pokemon Legends: Z-A follows on from 2022's Pokemon Legends: Arceus, an open-world game that mixed up the usual Pokemon gameplay loop.
Pokemon Legends: Z-A is set in the Kalos region, which was introduced in Pokemon X & Y. Much like how the first Pokemon Legends game gave us a unique take on the Sinnoh region, we can expect the same here in the opposite direction, as Pokemon Legends: Z-A boasts an incredibly futuristic setting, not just a repeat of what we saw in X & Y.
The reveal trailer doesn't include any gameplay, but it gives us an idea of what kind of vibe the game is going for. Most interestingly, it proves that the Legends series won't focus on taking us back in time, and will take us to the future too. We'll have to see how this affects how we interact with Pokemon this time around, since the low-tech setting of Legends: Arceus meant we were using handmade tools and a handwritten Pokedex.
While there isn't much else to glean from the trailer, one eagle-eyed fan thinks they've already spotted the new name for the Kalos region: Soeyue.
In any case, with its 2025 release date, we can probably expect Legends: Z-A to launch on the next Nintendo console, often referred to as the Switch 2. It was recently reported that the next Switch - which Nintendo is yet to announce - was internally delayed to early 2025, having previously been rumoured to be a 2024 release.
Since Nintendo is announcing Pokemon Legends: Z-A now, it's seemingly confident that the game will run well enough on current generation Switch consoles. This is despite many fans being left disappointed by the performance of both the first Legends game and Scarlet & Violet on Switch.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus launched two years ago. Despite complaints about its graphics and frame rate dips, it was met with positive reviews. It was praised for finally offering open-world gameplay, something that was later adopted for the next mainline entry, Pokemon Scarlet & Violet. Everything from catching Pokemon to filling out the Pokedex was overhauled in Legends: Arceus, so we can expect more of that from the next entry, albeit with a futuristic twist, as opposed to the low-tech mechanics of the first game.
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