Pokémon Legends: Z-A Won’t Let Players Explore All of Kalos

Pokémon Legends: Z-A may return players to the Kalos region for the first time since 2013’s Pokémon X and Y but it won’t let fans explore the entire region.

Nintendo revealed Pokémon Legends: Z-A is only set in Lumiose City, the headlining location of Pokémon X and Y based on the real world Paris. “Watch to see the reveal trailer for Pokémon Legends: Z-A, a new adventure set entirely within Lumiose City, coming to Nintendo Switch in 2025,” a post on X/Twitter said.

This comes despite Pokémon Legends: Arceus, the first in the spin-off series, letting players explore the entirety of a Sinnoh region of the distant past originally from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl.

Pokémon Legends Z-A Trailer Screens – Pokémon Presents

Pokémon Legends: Z-A will presumably expand upon the Lumious City featured in the original games, of course, which was very small given the hardware limitations of the Nintendo 3DS. The trailer spoke of an “urban redevelopment plan”, suggesting it may be set during the creation of the city and therefore offer more of the natural landscapes featured in Pokémon Legends: Arceus.

“I love the idea of having a single city only since it’s so unique for Pokémon and Grand Theft Auto-like but I’m concerned at the same time,” said Horiph on Reddit. “Since it is a Legends game, the tower area will act as our hub. Rest of the districts will act as other areas we will unlock as story progresses, just like Pokémon Legends: Arceus. The map will definitely be very huge.

“What I am worried about is the variety. We’re used to seeing different biomes each game and now we’re going to be in a single city. A new area is still a new area but I’m worried that that back to back metropolis areas might take away from my experience.”

“I believe they are redeveloping Lumiose City from what it is today into something where Pokémon can live inside of it,” added sdrey. “That would explain why it’s set entirely in Lumiose city as there will be areas where wild Pokémon are roaming inside the city. If we think about Zygarde, it connects to the concept of ecosystem through life and death. So it would make sense thematically to establish an ecosystem inside the city.”

Zygarde is a legendary Pokémon introduced in Pokémon X and Y and long expected to be the title Pokémon of its own entry. This will seemingly finally be the case upon Pokémon Legends: Z-A’s launch, though details are still slim given it was only announced during the February 2024 Pokémon Presents yesterday.

Fans are excited for the return of Mega Evolutions though, and are otherwise convinced Pokémon Legends: Z-A is a Nintendo Switch 2 title.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.