I’m Excited for Pokémon Legends: ZA & You Should Be Too

After decades of Pokémon adventures, it is easy to become unmoveable to updated concepts in the franchise. From new regions to revolutionized mechanics, there is always something shifting, and sometimes it doesn’t tip in the direction of what my own personal ideas deem “correct”. After being deeply disappointed with Scarlet & Violet, I’ve decided to be excited for Legends: ZA, and I think you should be too.

Pokémon Legends: ZA has already made clear that it won’t be a rehash of Arceus. That could be frustrating news for many fans of the Hisui region. However, I don’t think it would be possible to create another Legends game like Arceus without falling into the repeat-a-game trap the franchise seems intent on getting away from.

But why am I excited? Because Kalos was an amazing time in the series. The drop of X & Y saw a return in popularity for Pokémon, and the chance to see what the future could hold for an iconic location like Lumiose is extremely exciting for those who enjoyed their time in the Paris-inspired city the first time around.

Different Isn’t Bad

Discourse surrounding the second Legends: ZA trailer seems to range from lukewarm to poor following the 2025 Pokémon Presents, with players unsatisfied with visuals, the map layout, the plot premise, and even the starter options.

Unfortunately, this harkens back to the “Tree argument” from Sword & Shield, or even the dismay and negativity around the Hisuian Stage 2 evolutions.

What I have seen in recent years is that fans of the franchise are quick to be critics rather than curious. Now, that doesn’t mean we can’t give feedback where it is due. Scarlet & Violet are some of the worst games the franchise has had in years, with an open world devoid of content and an endgame designed solely for streamers to Shiny hunt in.

However, Arceus has developed a dedicated following over the years for its addictive exploration and unique storyline, while Sword & Shield‘s poor tree graphics were forgiven as players fell in love with GMAX mechanics and some of the best characters introduced to the series since Kalos.

I think we, as fans of the series, often judge before we jump in, and then true feedback and conversation about lackluster elements of games are lost under petty pre-release discourse like subpar graphics or the dislike of an untried mechanic.

Yes, I am Excited For Mega Evolution

Pokémon has tried multiple evolution gimmicks across the past several generations, but none has been as successful as Mega Evolution.

With every new game, players have filled the comments, stream chat, and personal blogs with the desire to see Megas make a comeback.

After fading from the modern games following Let’s Go!, sans the debuts in Pokémon GO, many wondered if the mechanic would retire completely, like Pokémon Contests or extended berry farming.

When I saw we were returning to Kalos in the first Legends: ZA trailer, I was beyond thrilled. There was a chance we’d either see the origins of Mega Evolution or we’d see some new variation of it. I can’t even begin to express my excitement when watching the second trailer confirmed the return of my all-time favorite battle addition.

Mega Evolution is fun. It’s powerful. It comes with many different options for battle strategy. There is even the possibility that other Pokémon will gain the ability – like the staters, for example.

While Megas did prove to be problematic in competitive matches, from a pure casual gameplay perspective, they were just cool. I still play through X & Y to this day just to find the Mega Stones and take my extra powerful team to the top each playthrough.

Aren’t You Curious About the “Z” in “X & Y”?

After X & Y were released, rumor spread rapidly that like all the iterations before it, the generation would receive a third “super” installment titled “Z”. Even the anime labeled the gen “XYZ”, implying there was more to come for the Kalos region.

However, as months turned to years and Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire took the stage with their powerful reimaging of the Hoenn region, it seemed less and less likely that Zygarde and its extended story would be released. It was tough times for the Pokémon franchise, with the world still recuperating from the 2008-09 recession.

Many fans who had grown up with the series were in college or just entering a workforce with limited income. While Kalos was extremely popular, it struggled to prove its popularity at the sales counter. The games still sold over 16 million copies, but the TCG and general lifestyle sales weren’t anywhere on the level we see today.

Because of this, there are huge chunks of Kalos’ lore that remain unexplained. This includes Zygarde’s purpose, the effects of Lysandre’s choices on the world, and how Xerneas and Yveltal could impact the region’s future.

I am extremely excited Legends: ZA seems to be a play on what could have originally been the third leg of the gen’s story. I want to know more about the region, what happened after the major story events, and what the future could look like for those who were impacted by the choices made by Team Flare.

Overall, I think Pokémon: Legends ZA is going to be fun. I don’t need it to be perfect. I don’t need it to have Final Fantasy levels of graphics. I want to keep an open mind to what the game might try to do and appreciate that up front. I didn’t give Arceus a fair shake when it came out, and three years later, I can gladly admit what a good game it is. I wish I had gone into looking for the good, instead of searching out what I could pick at.

I am excited for Pokémon: Legends ZA, and I hope you will be too!

About the Author

Laura Gray

Administrator

Laura Gray, known as Ezra when not putting pen to paper, is a D&D enthusiast with a love of all things written. They are a collector of fantasy and sci-fi novels, a lover of cooking weird food, and a player of farming sims and Pokémon games. When not engrossed in a re-read of Anne McCaffrey or a deep dive into the Adventure Zone: Balance, they can be found sniffing the cats and napping in half-finished crochet projects.

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