Pokemon Legends Z-A hype derailed as single word leaves players concerned

Pokemon Legends Z-A sees the continuation of the wildly popular Legends spin-offs. Unfortunately, excitement has been somewhat diminished as franchise fans fixate on a single aspect of the reveal.

On the happiest of Pokemon Days, a jam-packed Pokemon Presents gave trainers everywhere something to look forward to. The announcement of Pokemon Legends Z-A revealed that Gamefreak is continuing the incredibly well-received spin-off series.

Not only are we returning to the frankly underutilized Kalos region but we’re also going to see the return of Mega Evolution. Usually, those details alone would be enough to excite any Pokemon fan, but a lingering detail has some of them a little worried.

A post on X from Nintendo of America heralding the game’s arrival includes a single word that has many prospective Pokemon Legends Z-A players perturbed. That word is “entirely”.

Pokemon Legends Z-A set “entirely within Lumiose City”

Nintendo of America describes Pokemon Legends Z-A as “a new adventure set entirely within Lumiose City”. Despite the massive size of the city and its potential to be expanded even further by modern hardware, players are concerned about such a big shake-up to the formula.

Pokemon fans are used to having massive wilderness areas to explore whether that’s the pixelated routes of older titles or the newer open worlds of Pokemon Scarlet & Violet. Players have called the decision to set this new title in a single city its “first red flag”.

“I was hyped at first but not anymore,” one player said regarding the announcement. “It better not be just in the city, how do they expect people to catch Pokemon? Or do literally anything?” another player asked.

Not everyone is dismayed by the thought of Pokemon Legends Z-A localized entirely within Lumiose city though and have taken to calling the game “Pokemon GTA”. “Having an entire Pokemon Legends game take place in a dense city does actually sound kind of cool,” one player said.

Game Freak/The Pokemon Company

This overhead map of Lumiose City in Pokemon Legends Z-A looks pretty big.

It should be noted that Nintendo of America is the only account that has mentioned that the game is set to take place entirely in Lumiose. Some fans have speculated that it could be a mistranslation or miscommunication.

More news is sure to surface surrounding details on Pokemon Legends Z-A before its 2025 launch. We’ll be sure to keep you updated.