General Information
Release date: October 16, 2025
Supported Platform(s): Nintendo Switch; Nintendo Switch 2
No. of players: Single System (1), Local wireless (2-4), Online (2-4)
Genre: Action, Role playing
Publisher: Nintendo
ESRB rating: Everyone 10+
Supported play modes: TV mode, Tabletop mode, Handheld mode
Game file size: Nintendo Switch: 4.1 GB; Nintendo Switch 2: 7.7 GB
Supported languages: English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Traditional Chinese
Official website: https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/pokemon-legends-z-a-switch
Reviews
Aggregators
- Metacritic – 81
- OpenCritic – 82
Articles
- Areajugones – Spanish – 9.2 / 10
- CGMagazine – 8 / 10
- COGconnected – 78 / 100
- Eurogamer – 3 / 5
- Everyeye.it – Italian – 7.5 / 10
- GAMES.CH – German – 85%
- GamerFocus – Spanish – 8.8 / 10
- GamesRadar+ – 4 / 5
- Gfinity – 7 / 10
- Glitched Africa – 9 / 10
- Hobby Consolas – Spanish – 85 / 100
- IGN Italy – Italian – 7.5 / 10
- IGN Spain – Spanish – 8 / 10
- Le Bêta-Testeur – French – 8.5 / 10
- Nintendo Life – 7 / 10
- PPE.pl – Polish – 9 / 10
- RPG Site – 9 / 10
- Shacknews – 9 / 10
- Spaziogames – Italian – 8.8 / 10
- TheSixthAxis – 10 / 10
- Tom's Guide – 4.5 / 5
- VG247 – 4 / 5
- XGN.nl – Dutch – 7 / 10
More will be edited in as they get added to OpenCritic's database. No further updates are being made at this time. Last update: 10/14 4:03pm ET
Cheers,
The r/NintendoSwitch mod team
by NintendoSwitchMods
31 Comments
Please just bring back the 2D sprites
Is the switch 2 day one patch already available when starting game on switch 2 please ?
I hope a company grows a pair and gives it a score it actually deserves. This thing gets a 7/10 at most.
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I have only played for a bit, but I just cant get over the fact you have to hold L the entire battle in order to trigger commands. Anytime you let go of L, you cant issue an attack. And its in real time so you basically just have to hold it the whole time. Not a huge deal, but on handheld its very annoying
I’ll buy it after I see some actual gameplay and no fluff reviews.
Is there a reason we’re only seeing reviews from small outlets today? I’m used to seeing sites like IGN and Gamespot publish within seconds of a review embargo lifting.
I’m happy to see it getting some decent reviews. It’s always a risk that a game will bomb when a core mechanic is altered.
I don’t understand why some people here seem frustrated and angry the game is reviewing well.
Wondering if I should get this game or arceus with my last eshop voucher 🤔 the reviews actually look better than I expected for ZA.
Legends: Arc is one of my fav pokemon games… so this is good!
Game depth, polish and graphics is not an opinion matter.
About what I expected. People giving it higher than average review scores despite being whatever, solely because it’s Pokemon. Sword and Shield was the same thing, yet that game is terrible. Gonna wait for reviews from people that don’t make their entire personality Pokemon and/or Nintendo before I decide on whether I want to waste time playing through a new Pokemon game.
I won’t be purchasing it, with Metroid Prime 4, Hades 2, Absolum and DQ 1&2 HD I’m stacked for several months
Frankly I know a lot of people will enjoy it but, for me, I still feel like it’s not where the franchise deserves to be with all its success.
Exploration is a core part of Pokemon and a game happening in one city with reviews complaining of a lack of exploration is not for me…but in few months depending on user reviews I may pick it up. Also I’ll see the DLC strategy behind Z-A by then, if they release several DLCs I think it will be a solid no
So it’s a slight improvement over the launch of SV
Ok cool
With the rumored leaks hopefully next year is better
Is there a physical release that includes the DLC? (even if not to download yet, as I don’t believe it has been released)
Any reviews from an OG Switch perspective yet? Performance?
Any reviews from an OG Switch perspective yet? Performance?
So it’s a pretty decent game. Based on the comments here you’d think the average score was a 3/10 lol
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Arceus looked like shit and had no voice over.
Z-A looks like shit and has no voice over.
No money from me
I’m actually surprised. My only reservation was the setting all being in a city. But I guess it works
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I think I’m still going to pass, honestly. Arceus felt so lame and forced, like they were trying literally anything to get the bad press of gen 8 and onward off their backs, and this seems to be more of the same with a different battle mechanic. The megas don’t impress me for the most part, and announcing DLC before the game’s even out just feels so transparently greedy I don’t think I can reward it in good conscience.
I would legit give Game Freak a 8 to 10-year hiatus to make a new pokemon game that looks and plays as smooth as, say, Bananza if they wanted it. Bring out new ‘mons just in the TCG/anime in the meantime if you must and then put them in the new game after the fact. It just feels like we’ve been dancing the same dance for 10 years and nothing’s ever going to change.
Looks disappointing. Arceus is probably a top 3 game on the Switch for me. It just gave such a fresh impulse to a franchise that has not gotten any highlights in years. I would have loved nothing more than this being a return to the top-notch Pokemon games and a true establishment of a new franchise. And while it looks like an OK game, that is a serious downgrade in my eyes. Feels like another Gamefreak half-ass job where the graphics are bad, and they do just enough to be different without stepping out of bounds.
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I don’t know about you, but the bad graphics are enjoyable to me. I like pointing and laughing.
In other words: a typical pokemon game
So, firstly, kinda concerned that there don’t seem to be any reviews for the Switch 1 version(going by MetaCritic, anyway). Secondly, can everyone complaining about the graphics please focus on something more worth the criticism, like the whole DLC announced before release thing? Graphics aren’t the most important thing about the game, and it will NEVER define a game as a whole. How can I say that with such gusto?
Balan Wonderworld is easily one of the prettiest games out there with a very great artstyle.
Y’all know for a fact that’s the only good thing literally anyone can say about it, which, even then, holds about as much weight as a strand of hair.
The Legends series started off so strong with Legends: Arceus. Z-A feels like a significant step backwards.
While I do not know how they could’ve recreated L:A’s environment within an industrialized city, the formula they had (emphasis on catching Pokemon rather than battling) was arguably fantastic. I’m not even sure how I feel about the real-time battle system. I hope they learn lessons from Z-A for the next Legends entry.
I got my copy a day early and I’ve got 8 hours already.
Either all these reviewers are big Pokemon fans or they just don’t want to upset Nintendo. I’ve played so many incredible games this year and this just doesn’t compare to E33, DS2 or even Digimon recently which are all at worst 7/10.
It just feels lazy, soulless. If you get every Pokemon game like me then it’s good enough to play but I think very few of us will love it. If you’re on the fence don’t spend your money on this.
Question for anyone who knows, can I buy the switch 1 version with a voucher, then get the upgrade pack? Is that a loop hole to save 10 bucks?