Pokémon Legends Z-A surprised me. I had the chance to play a couple of demos of the upcoming game at Gamescom 2025, each showcasing core segments that’ll make up much of its playtime. The first was a preview of the Z-A Royale battle zone, in which you fight a series of trainers in order to rank up. The second, then, was a more climactic battle against a single Mega Evolved Pokémon, which felt pretty much like a boss encounter.
While I wasn’t afforded the chance to explore the setting of Lumiose City proper, I was pleasantly surprised by how well Pokémon Legends Z-A’s new real-time battle system works. In fact, it reminded me a ton of the Active Time Battle (ATB) system from classic Final Fantasy titles. More on that later.
