Pokemon Legends: Z-A First Trailer Reveals Rooftop Running Gameplay and Late 2025 Release Window

We’ve finally gotten a good, long (ish) look at Pokemon Legends: Z-A, the second entry in the Pokemon Legends series and Game Freak’s major Pokemon release for the year (after surprisingly skipping 2024). In a brand new trailer, we got a first look at what it will be like to freely run along the rooftops of Lumiose City, which Pokemon will join us when we do it, and some of the changes to Mega Evolutions and battle mechanics.

This time around, players can choose between Todadile, Tepig, and Chikorita to be their starter monster as they explore Lumiose City with upgraded visuals and a few major gameplay tweaks. Specifically, new mechanics will allow players to hop to the city’s rooftops and see life in the Pokemon world from a new perspective. Gameplay for the Latest Legends title also reveals that we’ll be going back to the more traditional visual style the series has established over the last few years, too.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A was first announced at last year’s Pokemon Presents, and it’s been quiet on the news front ever since. At the time, all we saw was a cinematic trailer revealing it would be set entirely in Lumiose City from Pokemon X and Y, and that it would be coming to Nintendo Switch in 2025. We also saw a tease of a few Pokemon, a futuristic setting, and the Mega Evolution symbol.

Other than that, for the last year, fans have been piecing together guesses on what the game might entail based on that trailer and Pokemon Legends: Arceus, which introduced new Pokemon capturing mechanics to the franchise and an open zone format that resonated well with players, even if certain elements of the game felt drab and incomplete, especially in the back half. With no Pokemon game released last year, it seems like Game Freak may have gotten an extra year to really give Legends Z-A the polish that Arceus and Pokemon Scarlet and Violet simply didn’t receive. Let’s hope it pays off.

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Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).