Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Reinventing Lumiose with heart, history, and bold new ideas.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus changed what a Pokémon game could be when it came out in 2022. It removed the series’ linear paths and introduced open travel, making players feel like they were discovering things for the first time, just as they did when they were first becoming a Trainer.
Now, Pokémon Legends: Z-A builds on that and takes a big step forward. Instead of focusing on the wild regions of the past, it looks to the busy city life of Lumiose City, which was the main location of Pokémon X and Y.
As a follow-up, Pokémon Legends: Z-A was developed by Game Freak and aims to make the world feel smaller while also making it feel deeper. The whole story takes place in a huge, live city—a risky choice that could have gone badly. But Lumiose’s new take on things is nothing short of fascinating. The city seems alive, full of different layers and stories. The smaller scope lets Game Freak focus on depth instead of size.
For the first time, Pokémon feels like anime brought to life—without sacrificing interactivity or charm.
There are people and Pokémon living together in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, and the world feels real, busy, and dramatic. It’s not just a big step forward in terms of technology; it’s also a spiritual replacement that changes what it means to live in the world of Pokémon.
At the heart of Pokémon Legends: Z-A is a story that is both well-known and pleasantly real. As a newcomer to Lumiose City during a time of urban rebirth, you play the game. This theme cleverly mirrors Game Freak’s own efforts to rebuild and reimagine the series. Your adventure is part of the city’s social life, so you’re not looking for gym badges or rival teams from other countries.
The first stop on your trip is the central plaza, where ongoing renovations have created tensions between progress, tradition, and the environment. The story is about people moving to new towns and how Pokémon respond to those changes. Different people in the city have different ideas about how to modernize it, and strange “Z-Energy” events begin to transform the city in unexpected ways.
The “slice of life” tone stands out the most. The tasks feel very much like they are part of Lumiose’s culture, from helping café owners train their Smeargle to helping scientists study Zygarde’s mysterious power. The main story builds to a big problem affecting the whole city, but the smaller, personal stories —like how neighbors grow close to their Pokémon and kids learn to train them —are just as emotionally powerful.
The story’s pace strikes a balance between big issues and real people, making Lumiose feel less like a backdrop and more like a living thing. “Legends” was an idea Game Freak took and improved. In Arceus, you visited huge wildernesses. In Pokémon Legends: Z-A, you can experience an urban ecosystem that is all connected. There are different parts of the city to explore, from the busy Prism Tower zone to the quiet backstreets of Vernal Avenue. Each has its own feel, NPC habits, and secrets to be found.
Lumiose City isn’t just a setting—it’s a character, constantly changing as you do.
It’s easy to explore. You can freely move between areas of Lumiose without having to wait for loading screens. You’ll find Pokémon habitats that are seamlessly blended into city life. At night, Pidgeys sit on streetlights, Espurrs sneak between alleys, and Luxrays look over roofs. The weather, time, and number of Pokémon in a city all affect how Pokémon act, making the city itself a live Pokédex.
Your Pokémon buddy system comes back from Arceus, but it feels closer to you. The way people react to you changes depending on which Pokémon you bond with. If you bring a Chansey into a hospital zone, it might start a new conversation or a mini-event. On the other hand, an Electric-type Pokémon can help you power up devices or fix circuits. Small things like this are what hold Pokémon Legends: Z-A together.
A lot more attention is also paid to the community and personalization. As a side task, you can decorate apartments, run small shops, and even affect how the area grows. No matter how simple the goal, it changes Lumiose, and that sense of cause and effect is a beautiful part of the experience.
It seems like Pokémon Legends: Z-A‘s battle system has changed the most since Legends: Arceus. The turn-based system now combines real-time placement with tactical timing, creating a hybrid style of play that feels natural without sacrificing strategy.
Battles take place in open areas where you, as the Trainer, can move around easily and give orders in real time. Pokémon attacks have clear ranges and cooldowns, so where they land and the terrain they’re on count. For example, hiding behind something can lower the damage from area strikes, and some Pokémon can benefit from their surroundings. For example, Grass-type Pokémon get stronger when they’re near plants, and Water-type Pokémon fight better when they’re near fountains.
The Agile and Strong styles from Arceus have been replaced by the “Momentum” method. It awards dodging and chaining combos well. If you dodge an attack at the right time, your next order gets a temporary boost that makes exchanges more interesting.
Still, the new method isn’t perfect. The mix of action and strategy feels exciting, but camera issues and input lag can make close fights annoying, especially when there are many opponents or large Pokémon. At first, the level of difficulty might be too much for new players to handle, but success leads to a lot of tactical depth.
Z-A redefines what it means to live in the Pokémon world—less about catching them all, and more about belonging among them.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A adds a more natural “Bond Level” method for XP and leveling up. You don’t have to fight to earn XP. You can also connect with Pokémon by feeding them, training them, or just spending time with them. This means that every part of daily life helps move things forward. Every meeting, whether it’s a fight or not, helps you grow, so grinding never gets boring.
One of the best things about Pokémon Legends: Z-A is how good it looks. This is especially true on the Nintendo Switch 2, where better speed and resolution make Lumiose stand out. Even on the original Switch, the optimization is good, and there are only small drops in performance in crowded places.
The style is hand-painted and anime-inspired, and it looks warm and complements the rest of the design. Neon signs reflect off puddles, shadows change realistically as days and nights pass, and the city’s design is a mix of classic French style and futuristic touches.
The character models are expressive, the Pokémon animations are smooth, and the general polish is a huge step up from Scarlet & Violet’s rough start. There are some texture pop-ins and lighting issues, but overall, the presentation finally lives up to the “Pokémon world come alive” promise that fans have been waiting for so long.
One of Pokémon’s best qualities has always been its music, and Pokémon Legends: Z-A makes it even better. The music is amazing. It was made by both series veterans and newcomers to the project. In Lumiose, each area has its own musical style. Along Vernal Avenue, you can hear jazzy café tunes, while near the industrial zones, you can hear beats with synthesizers and haunting orchestral songs.
The music design is a very important part of immersion. People talking in the city, subway messages that echo, and the rustling of Pokémon wings can all be heard above. Not even Pokémon’s cries have been changed much to fit their surroundings.
The little voice acting used makes dramatic scenes better without being overdone. Short speech clips of characters like Professor Sycamore’s replacement or the local inventors give the story personality and warmth.
When you hold the Lumiose in your hand, the spatial sound mixing really shines, making it feel alive even with headphones.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A is more than just a follow-up; it makes a point. It shows that Pokémon can change their original style without losing their soul. Game Freak took a risk by limiting players to just one city, but that narrow focus brought out something truly special: depth, cohesion, and closeness.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A is one of the most engaging Pokémon experiences to date, thanks to its real-time battles, slice-of-life worldbuilding, and quests that are all connected. There are still some technical issues and pacing slowdowns, but it’s clear the creators have learned from their mistakes.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A captures the dream that the series was always based on: not just catching creatures, but living with them. You can do this by exploring rooftops at sunset, finding secret species in back alleys, or just sitting at a café with your favorite Pokémon.
