As much as I am looking forward to it, I may skipPokémon Legends: Z-Aentirely because of one major problem the game may present once it is released.Legends: Z-Ais the next main core game in the series.The title will be set in a reimagined version of Lumiose City from the Kalos region, first presented in the Generation 5 games,Pokémon X and Y. The game will take on an open-world area approach, much likeLegends: Arceus. This will eliminatetraveling through towns inPokémon Legends: Z-A, like in the original Gen 5 titles.
It’s expected that the game will be innovative in many ways, as a successor toScarlet and Violet’s legacy. The title will also feature a big change to gameplay, as it will take on a more action-based approach.While trainers will still use moves, Pokémon will not be limited to PP and, instead, cooldown times. Furthermore, thebig battle changes inPokémon Legends: Z-Ainclude the ability to control your Pokémon around the arena, effectively allowing you to dodge attacks based on placement rather than the Evasiveness stat.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A Looks Worse On Switch Than Switch 2
The Version For The New Console Enhances Resolutions & Frame Rates
Gameplay for the upcoming title has already been presented in several instances during Nintendo’s promotional period for the game, and as a part of an effort to promote the Nintendo Switch 2, it has been shown howLegends: Z-Alooks on the most recent hybrid console. As has been announced forPokémon Legends: Z-A’s upgraded Nintendo Switch 2 version,the game will feature “enhanced resolutions and frame rates," according to the company. This has already proven to be true thanks to marketing material.
During the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct event earlier this year, gameplay ofLegends: Z-A’s Switch 2 Edition was shown, highlighting how smoothly the game runs on the new console.Compared to the previous gameplay trailers, the game is astonishingly better, with a notably stable performance and much better lighting and graphics than before. This makes sense, given that the console has better hardware to process software, but the dichotomy between both versions of the game has made me cautious about therelease ofPokémon Legends: Z-A.
I Don’t Want Performance Issues After 100s Of Hours In Scarlet & Violet
I Enjoyed S&V, But Won’t Subject Myself To Another Poorly Polished Game
I love the franchise and am very much looking forward to exploring this new interpretation of Kalos, butafter spending over 200 hours inPokémon Scarlet and Violet, almost incessantly accompanied by technical problems, I’m not ready to subject myself to the prospect of long-lasting performance issues once again. The Gen 9 games are extremely fun, and I wouldn’t have spent hundreds of hours with them if I hadn’t had a good time, but it’s impossible to say I didn’t suffer during my playthrough because ofPokémon Scarlet and Violet’s performance issues.
As soon as I booted the game for the first time, I was shocked by how poor its graphics were, especially in comparison toPokémon Legends: Arceus, which was released months earlier. Surely,Scarlet and Violetwere on a much larger scope, butthe overall graphics and rendering problems were significant and took away from the immersion experience I was looking forward to having. Constantly, because of this, I was being reminded that this was a product, and a poorly polished one at that.
Beyond that, the Gen 9 titles also had severe performance issues, many of which remain to this very day, despite some updates trying to fix them. It’s annoyingly common for players to experience FPS rate drops while exploring Paldea. Complete game crashes aren’t too common nowadays, following a series of patches, but the FPS rate drops persist.Casseroya Lake, for example, is notorious for having serious rendering problems that also affect the FPS rates, something that has only been truly fixed with thePokémon Scarlet and Violetupdate for Switch 2.
Sadly, I Might Skip Pokémon Legends: Z-A Until I Get A Switch 2
These Pokémon Games Shouldn’t Be Released Until They’re Fully Optimized
My big concern is that, on the regular Nintendo Switch,Legends: Z-Awill be plagued by the same issues that affectedScarlet and Violet. As I’ve mentioned, I had a great time playing the Gen 9 titles, but I was negatively affected by their poor performance issues. I want to experience the renewed version ofKalos inPokémon Legends: Z-A, butI’m not comfortable subjecting myself to hundreds of extra hours of technical issues that shouldn’t be a problem to begin with. These are AAA games that should be fully optimized for the console they are being released on.
As such, I don’t see myself paying full price on a potentially poorly optimized title. I do intend to purchase a Nintendo Switch 2 at some point, and only then will I consider actually playing the upcoming title, with the guarantee that it will run smoothly. That could, however, take a few months, which is a pity for an avidPokémonfan. Nevertheless, Nintendo really has to improve the quality of the games in the franchise, and unlessPokémon Legends: Z-Aproves to be fully optimized for the original Nintendo Switch, I’m not playing it anytime soon.
