Pokémon Legends: Z-A has finally come to New Zealand – for once Kiwi players didn’t need to rely on workarounds or tricks to become the first in the world to try out a new release. Thanks to time zones and a bit of prep, Lumiose City’s new open-world playground was ours to explore ahead of other countries.
But how did the launch actually go for New Zealand gamers — and what can we learn from this huge gaming release?
Kalos comes alive
The first few minutes of Z-A are stunning. Remember when Lumiose City was just a static location in previous games? Well, it’s now a living metropolis. You can see neon lights shining in puddles, gogoats walking down the side streets, and cafés full of chatting people.
It’s also a more vertical world than any other Pokémon game and you can even climb onto a roof to spot your next catch. The art direction deserves real credit. The team clearly hasn’t tried to make it look hyper-realistic. Instead, its painted textures and soft lighting make it look like a game, rather than real life. Performance is smooth on Switch 2. You rarely see frame drops, and load times are short – you also don’t need to brace yourself before entering a new area.
Even on the original Switch, the game runs well enough. The engine looks like it’s learned a few tricks since Arceus. It’s not perfect (shadows sometimes flicker and NPCs still walk like they’re late to a mime convention) but it feels stable, which is more than we could say two years ago!
Open-minded gameplay in an open world
Z-A builds on the open-world formula that Arceus started but adds a few more layers of polish. You can explore more freely and come across wild encounters more naturally. Pokémon now react differently: Pidgeotto will run away if you rush in, for example, while Gengar might stalk you down an alley.
The team has built missions between story arcs and spontaneous discovery, too. You might be solving the mystery of Mega Evolution’s return one minute, then chasing shiny rumors across the rooftops the next. There’s a rhythm to the pacing that keeps you wandering “just one more block.”
Combat is also excellent. The style borrows the agile and strong style mechanics from Arceus, but adds to them with faster animations and better camera angles. Mega Evolutions make a return and look more cinematic and strategic. This is a welcome change from the predicable battles of previous games. In short, the changes are fun and fluid enough without tipping the game on its head.
A familiar story
If you saw the trailer, then the story is more mature than it suggests. The plot is based on the rebuilding of Lumiose City, with humans and Pokémon learning to coexist again. The writing is sharper than usual but is still corny in that trademark Pokémon way – its warmth, however, lets it get away with it.
Look out, too, for the supporting characters like Professor Sycamore’s apprentice and the engineer leading the Mega Energy project. These add real personality to the story. The villain arc is also original and avoids those typical things you see in cartoons, like an evil genius with a crazy laugh. It’s not perfect, but it’s the closest to it that the series has ever been.
Performance and polish
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the whole game is that it just works well. Pokémon Legends: Z-A might be the first major Game Freak release in years that didn’t look in dire need of a patch. There are no game-breaking bugs, and no Pokémon half-buried in cliffs – just steady frame rates and a world that feels alive.
That said, texture pop-ins do appear, especially during rainy weather, and handheld mode still has a noticeable softening effect. Yet these are small complaints in an otherwise polished package.
No early access, but NZ didn’t need it!
Before release, some international sites spoke about possible “early access” editions or pre-launch bonuses, the kind of perks you might find in online casinos in New Zealand. Yet none of that happened. Nintendo stuck to its usual approach and announced one global release time, with no pay-to-play-early model.
This worked in New Zealand’s favour. We got first place by default as our players got early access “naturally” without changing regional settings or using multiple accounts. Players abroad even joked about “moving to Auckland” to play earlier, which made our small market status appear bigger than normal.
As always, New Zealand’s gaming community showed up. Local Facebook groups and Discord servers were full of trading posts and late-night screenshots. A few Auckland streamers went live at midnight, becoming the world’s first live reviewers.
That sense of being first, but also part of something bigger, makes launches like this special here. We might not get Collector’s Editions or Nintendo pop-ups in every mall, but we do get a front-row seat at the global premiere.
Verdict: 8.5 / 10
Pokémon Legends: Z-A isn’t perfect, but it’s easily the most confident Pokémon game in a decade. It gets the balance between nostalgia and novelty just right – and we get access to a new world of Pokémon delights.
Beautiful, stable, and heartfelt. This game may not be revolutionary, but we finally get a Pokémon adventure that feels complete.
