The next Pokémon mainline game, Generation 10, is not out yet. It hasn’t been announced. In the meantime, players can enjoy another spin-off, Pokémon Legends: Z-A. But if you were expecting a game similar to Legends: Arceus, which remains to this day a brilliant entry to the series, then you’re going to be surprised. In fact, based on the trailers we’ve gotten and the in-depth looks at some of the gameplay, you might be surprised if you’re expecting something like what The Pokémon Company has been doing. For the first time in a while, a new Pokémon title feels like it’s going to try changing things up.
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Gameplay Wrinkles Promise to Change Pokémon’s Formula

The chief complaint about Pokémon games these days is that they’re generally too safe. This is a big reason players loved Palworld, the “Pokémon with guns” game that took off and got Nintendo to even enter litigation. It did things differently, providing a unique gameplay and a different formula to the same catch-battle-train-evolve-repeat cycle that Pokémon has abused for decades.
The most recent Pokémon games, Scarlet and Violet and Legends: Arceus, have done a pretty good job of adding something different. Legends: Arceus added new catch mechanics and Alphas. Scarlet and Violet introduced the true open world, but they both remained pretty true to that formula. You still caught Pokémon, trained them, evolved them, and battled with them. That’s been the main story of every game, but that might finally be changing with Pokémon Legends: Z-A.
Trainers and Pokémon seem to be both involved in battles, instead of players serving as commanders. Timing is crucial as well, meaning that players have to adapt and adopt strategies instead of just making use of their Pokémon’s well-designed moveset. No more spamming Explosion or Hyper Beam. Now, you have to think about it. You also have the chance to actually dodge attacks, meaning that your underpowered or type-disadvantaged Kirlia can actually survive and make an impact.

It’s also not safe to wander around at night, which is a unique twist. At night, the battle royale ranking is taking place, so you have to be on guard. Similarly, you can take advantage and sneak attack other trainers to grow your rank. It’s a really clever twist on the battle system that honestly got old a while ago. Ranking up also seems tied to what you do in general, not just the few gym battles you usually have in a Pokémon game.
It’s not a surprise that the developers haven’t changed the system much over the years. It’s a tried and true formula, and as plain and vanilla as it has become, it works. There’s something fun about catching Pokémon and using them to battle others, even if we’ve done that for decades. Still, the general consensus was beginning to shift, and they’ve smartly begun to explore alternatives for the future.
It Sounds Like GameFreak is Finally Listening

Maybe it took a Pokémon “ripoff,” which is a totally reductive and unfair descriptor of Palworld, blowing up to get GameFreak and The Pokémon Company to lock in, but it certainly seems like they have. A new monster collector on the scene, and the fan approval finally broke through the veil and convinced the team to do something different. This isn’t a major break from the formula, but it looks ahead of release like it’s a step in the right direction.
Ultimately, this game is going to be about catching Pokémon that you can train, evolve, and fight with. That much is not going to change, and that’s probably not ever going to change in any mainline Pokémon games. That’s why Pokémon UNITE and others exist. But within that structure, Legends: Z-A seems to be toying with some really fresh additions.
We won’t know whether or not they’ve really changed much or how those changes work until the game is out in October. It could be a total bust that only masquerades as something unique but remains tedious and familiar like all the rest of the games in this longstanding series. Players will have to determine that when the time comes, but for now, excitement should be growing for what at least looks like something new.
Pokemon Legends: Z-A will release on October 16th for Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2.