If I was a developer on Pokemon: Legends ZA, I would be embarrassed. And no, not just because of the backlash that the game has received online.
I would be embarrassed because it is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
There are fan-made Pokémon games that are better than Legends: ZA. More care and effort has been put into them, despite the fact that they haven’t got huge development teams or budgets.
The argument that has been thrown around a lot is “But who really plays Pokémon for the graphics?” And, to be fair, it’s a very valid point – because nobody does. Pokémon has never been, and was never supposed to be, a graphically beautiful game. Still, though, there are Pokémon games on the DS that are better looking.
Others have said “But the game is still fun, so who cares?” I care. Millions of people care. You should care.
It’s not about how fun the game is or how good it looks. The point is that Nintendo are a huge company, with huge prestige. With a huge, dedicated, loving fanbase. With huge teams of people, and huge budgets.
None of that is reflected in Legends: ZA – because what we’ve been given is a lazily put together husk of a game, made up of PNGs and recycled assets. The issue was never really about how the game looks. It’s that we, the Pokémon fans, deserve better.
You get the impression that they didn’t even care what the finished product turned out like. They chucked it together and said “Oh well, they will buy it anyway.” And of course, that’s exactly what has happened. Millions of people pre-ordered the game, and millions have wasted their money on it even after seeing what a shambles the final product is.
There is absolutely no chance – and I say this with confidence – that the developers of the game are actually proud of what they’ve created and released. There is no chance that they can look at gameplay and go “Yeah, we’ve nailed it here. This is our best work yet.”
Nintendo can do better. They have done better in the past. In fact, they’ve done better with many, many titles.
A good thing to keep in mind as well is that the game is set in Lumiose City. Lumiose City is the capital city of the Kalos region, in which the Pokémon X/Y game is set. In the game, you can explore a huge map – spanning the entirety of the Kalos region, INCLUDING Lumiose city. The worst part? The city is more detailed in X/Y than it is in Legends: ZA. Pokémon X/Y was released in 2013 on the Nintendo 3DS.
So, a game specifically about the city has less detail than a game that included the city as one of many points of interest. Not to mention, the game specifically about the city was released 12 years after the initial game – a 12 year period in which technology and game design has progressed immensely.
How people can excuse Nintendo for releasing a game in this sort of state is beyond me. The game is lifeless and flat. The city is boring and repetitive to traverse.
To put it bluntly: the game is an embarrassment to Pokemon. The game was initially announced in February 2024, around a year and a half before its release. With that in mind, it’s safe to assume that at least 3 years was put into developing this game.
For this to be what they come up with after that long is seriously shocking. And I know I’m repeating myself a lot here, but that’s largely because I’m so passionate about this. This is a franchise that I absolutely adore, and it’s sad to see things go this way.
My final verdict? Pokémon: Legends ZA is a lifeless husk of a Pokémon game. It’s an embarrassing attempt at what can only really be described as a cash grab by Nintendo. It can’t really be considered anything else, as the game is so lazily put together.
It pains me that Nintendo have gotten away with it – and that largely, the game can still be considered a success. Buying this game feels like an IQ check – an insult to the consumer’s intelligence. Sadly, a lot of people failed that check.
Leave a Reply