Pokemon Legends: Z-A Brings Back Major Feature Not Seen Since Emerald

Pokemon Legends: Z-A is set to release sometime “late 2025” via the Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo Switch 2. And when it releases, it will be with a feature Pokemon fans have not seen since Pokemon Emerald. In other words, a feature Pokemon fans have not seen since the Game Boy Advance and since 2004. This means, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, Pokemon Sword and Shield, and many are other Pokemon games over the years have been missing this feature. Whether Pokemon Legends: Z-A is a marker of a new standard going forward remains to be seen, but it’s a positive change for Pokemon fans.

The feature is 60 FPS. No mainline Pokemon games since Pokemon Emerald have been entirely 60 FPS since Pokemon Emerald. In Generation 5 — across Pokemon Black and White and Pokemon Black and White 2 — the battle sequences were notably 60 FPS, but that was the extent of it. With Pokemon Legends: Z-A, it is being advertised that the whole game is 60 FPS.

Now, how consistent this 60 FPS will be, we don’t know. Of course, if there are a ton of frame drops and performance dips as a consequence, then this upgrade won’t be worth it. After all, a locked 30 FPS often feels better than a game with a frame rate all over the place, punctuated by constant dropped frames. To this end, Game Freak and Nintendo have not confirmed the 60 FPS is locked or not. It probably isn’t.

It is also unclear if this is going to be the new standard going forward. Pokemon Legends: Z-A is probably representative of the ambition we are going to see out of Pokemon games during the Nintendo Switch 2 generation, so there is no reason to not expect this to be the new standard, but Game Freak and Nintendo have not made this commitment.

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H/T, Centro Leaks.