Three years since a mainline Pokémon release from Game Freak, “Pokémon Legends: Z-A” finally released on Oct. 16, 2025.

However, the entire game was leaked a few days before its debut.

Some individuals obtained the game early, either through legitimate means or not, and leaked the entire Pokédex and new Mega Evolutions of the game. 

People have mixed feelings about the leak. Some view it as a massive spoiler and may have ruined the game for themselves, while others did their best to avoid it.

“Pokémon Legends: Z-A” takes place in the Kalos region of the Pokémon world, and the story of the game takes place approximately five years after the events of “Pokémon X” and “Pokémon Y.’

The game incorporates a new battle aspect other than turn-based combat. Unlike other Pokémon titles, this game employs real-time action for its combat, which occurs at a significantly faster pace, potentially intimidating players. 

Since there is no turn-based combat, there is a time cooldown for each move instead of move accuracy. 

In addition, like “Pokémon Legends: Arceus,” the Pokémon in “Z-A” have no abilities that hinder the quality of some selected Pokémon and their Mega Evolutions, which is the main mechanic of the game.

Art freshman Lucy Foster has been playing “Pokémon Legends: Z-A” since its release on the Nintendo Switch.

“The gameplay felt nice, and it was really weird not having time to think about what I’ll do next turn because my options were attack or wait,” Foster said.

She also mentioned how the controls were similar to “Pokémon Legends: Arceus” except for throwing Poké Balls and sending out Pokémon, and how there can be multiple Pokémon outside of their Poké Ball at once. It can apparently get confusing when trying to catch a Pokémon and sending out your own Pokémon.

“I accidentally threw pokeballs trying to send out my pokemon too many times, but at least there’s now a guy who’ll pick them up for you and return them,”  Foster added. 

Foster said if this is your first Pokémon game, then you might be able to understand the story, but you will still be able to connect the dots over time.

“The story does connect slightly to previous games, but even if this is your first game, you can still understand what’s going on. The main connection is the events of X and Y and the character AZ, but you can still figure out the specifics over time,” Foster said.

Foster described how the pacing of the game follows a format where it is pretty easy to know what you are getting into. “You can almost guess how many more big fights you have before stuff starts to go wrong for team MZ.”

She rated the game with a 10 out of 10, with the only downside being, “You can’t customize your key stone sadly.”

So overall, it seems like “Pokémon Legends: Z-A” is a great gameplay experience as long as you disregard the leak. 

Hopefully, Game Freak and The Pokémon Company will continue making the Pokémon franchise that everyone can enjoy.