The first previews for Pokémon Legends: Z-A praise the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 game

While Pokémon Legends: Z-A is still two months away from release, the first hands-on previews for the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 game dropped today. Press generally enjoyed what they played, finding that the real-time combat added an interesting dynamic to the long-running series’ gameplay.

These hands-on previews arrive ahead of a demo for Pokémon Legends: Z-A appearing at the Pokémon World Championships this weekend and Gamescom next week. If you’re attending either event, you can go and see if you agree with the members of the press who got to play the game.

What do people think of Pokémon Legends: Z-A?

Real-time battles and Rogue Mega Pokémon steal the spotlight

As one of the highest-profile games coming to Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 this fall, the pressure was high for this first set of Pokémon Legends: Z-A previews. Outlets like Polygon and Screen Rant did enjoy their time with the game, though.

Polygon’s preview describes a real-time battle system where moves are on cooldowns and the placement of your Pokémon on the battlefield is directly related to success. “The combat felt fresh, and I was only able to see the beginning of it. I wanted to get right back into another epic battle. I wanted more,” Johnny Yu wrote.

Meanwhile, Screen Rant was particularly infatuated with the battles against Rouge Mega Pokémon. These battles also take place in real-time, although they don’t function like standard battles. Instead, players have to pick up orbs of “Mega Power” that spill out of the rogue Pokémon when it takes damage.

Doing so builds up the power of the player’s Mega Ring and allows the player to Mega Evolve their own Pokémon. Ultimately, Screen Rant’s Deven McClure came away believing that “battles feel significantly more intense and engaging, which in turn makes them more immersive,” saying that they were “completely enraptured” by the fight against a Rogue Mega Absol.

As for potential downsides, Polygon was pretty disappointed that enemy Pokémon attacks don’t damage the player. The demos were also brief and battle-focused, so we still don’t know quite what to expect from Pokémon Legends: Z-A’s narrative and open-world Lumiose City.

The demos were also on Nintendo Switch 2, so we don’t know how well the game will function on original Nintendo Switch hardware. Still, it’s a good sign that this first set of previews for Pokémon Legends: Z-A is generally positive.

The Pokémon series is so long-running and formulaic that it needed some major shakeups. The open world of Scarlet and Violet and the different structure of Pokémon Legends: Arceus helped with that, but they were pushing Nintendo Switch to its limits. Hopefully, the Switch 2 era is a lot kinder to the Pokémon franchise and allows it to grow in exciting new directions.