Pokemon Legends: ZA First Trailer reveals rooftop playback gameplay and late 2025 release window

We finally have a good look at Pokemon Legends: ZA, the second work of Pokemon Legends and Game Freak’s major Pokemon release this year (surprisingly skipped after 2024). In the brand new trailer, we first learn about the feeling of running freely along the roof of Lumiose City, Pokemon joins us in doing so, as well as some changes in the mechanics of the big evolution and combat.

This time, players can choose between Todadile, Tepig, and Chikorita to be their starting monster as they explore Lumiose City with upgraded visuals and perform some important gameplay. Specifically, the new mechanic will allow players to jump to the rooftops of the city from a new perspective and see life in the Pokemon world. The gameplay of the latest legendary titles also shows that we will return to the more traditional visual style the series has built over the past few years.

Pokemon Legends: ZA is in Last year's Pokemon GiftThe news front has been quiet since then. At the time, all we saw was a movie trailer that revealed that this would be Completely located in Lumiose City From Pokemon X and Y, it will be coming to the Nintendo Switch in 2025. We also saw some Pokemon, futuristic environments and Mega Evolution symbols.

Apart from that, fans have been patching together speculations about what the game might need based on the trailer and Pokemon Legend: ArceusThis introduces the new Pokemon Capture mechanic to the franchise and open area format, even if some elements of the game feel monotonous and incomplete, especially in the latter half. There was no Pokemon game release last year, and it seems that the game freak may have been added for a year before it really won the legendary Za and Arceus and Pokemon Scarlet and Violet were not received at all. Hope it pays off.

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Michael Cripe is a freelancer at IGN. He is known for his work on sites like courts, escape divisions and the only SPS. Be sure to follow him on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@mikecripe).