“Pokémon Legends ZA” Debut Big in Japan But Fan Backlash Continues!

The first official numbers for the debut of Pokémon Legends ZA (stylized as Legends Z-A) have come out of Japan. And though the latest title in the long-running IP sold approximately 1.48 million physical copies during the launch week, the fan backlash continues to heat up across the globe.

After months of marketing mostly highlighting new Mega Evolutions instead of actual gameplay footage (which I’ll talk more about in a bit), Pokémon Legends ZA hit the market on October 16, 2025. The critics gave it high scores. However, the contrast between the initial critic score and the first wave of poor scores from the general audience couldn’t be ignored. The online Pokémon fandom has numerous written opinion pieces and videos (increasing in number) about how disappointing the latest offering from Game Freak has been.

As someone who has played Pokémon Legends ZA, I can see where the criticism is coming from. In my opinion, the graphics are the biggest culprit. Due to the story specifically taking place in Lumiose City (from 2013’s Pokémon X and Y), the dev team didn’t bother to give any depth to the surroundings. From the balconies to flowerbeds, pillars, and more, everything is just flat, with Game Freak basically pasting images on blocky building models. It’s the type of graphic quality that no fandom should accept from a billion-dollar IP in the year 2025.

Other than that, the gameplay is severely limited to one location. While countless other games out there still allow for hours of exploration even when set in one area, Lumiose City is very different. You can run through the city (which is a circle) in about two minutes, resulting in a severe lack of “world” in an open-world franchise. Also, with most buildings being inaccessible, you are simply running around a maze instead of a fictional city brimming with life. And no, being able to run around on the rooftops of buildings in the same freaking city doesn’t count as a “new” area.

When the marketing campaigns revealed how Lumiose City was going to contain Wild Zones for players to capture wild Pokémon, I was more than ready to give Game Freak some credit. I really thought that the Wild Zones, while appearing inside Lumiose City, would feature some kind of in-game wizardry that would open an expanded area or biome once entered. But nopes, upon playing the actual game, I was disappointed to learn how the Wild Zones were incredibly small, basically resembling your usual city park.

Yes, seeing your Pokémon walking, hopping, flying, or levitating alongside you while you “explore” (and I’m using this term very loosely) Lumiose City does look nice, and the real-time combat has some interesting mechanics to help make the battles resemble the anime, Pokémon Legends ZA suffers from a severe lack of actual content.

And yes, said lack of content and poor graphics don’t justify the hefty $84 CAD price tag. Personally, being a fan of Pokémon and having enjoyed certain aspects of the latest video game, I would have been okay paying around $60 CAD for it. My disappointment is fueled in part due to Game Freak asking for premium pricing for a video game that doesn’t, frankly, deserve it.

Coming to the sales numbers, it’s no surprise that Pokémon Legends ZA debuted big in Japan by selling an estimated 1.48 million physical copies, with around 872,552 units sold on the Nintendo Switch, and an approx. 612,905 copies being bought on the Nintendo Switch 2, as reported by Famitsu (via Game Rant).

However, while it’s a win, there’s more to discuss if you decide to analyze the numbers. Fans of Pokémon Legends ZA are touting the numbers as a huge success, primarily because of the backlash the title’s been receiving. The current numbers clearly state how Pokémon Legends ZA sold more than the predecessor Pokémon Legends Arceus‘ around 1.42 million units during launch week back in 2022.

But then again, the so-called gain in sales is barely anything to write home about. One would assume the Pokémon Company was expecting a much higher debut, as every business wants the sequel to do better, especially with how more and more people are buying the Nintendo Switch 1 and 2, which Pokémon Legends ZA is exclusive to.

Other than that, Legends ZA‘s 1.48 million is about a 40% drop compared to the launch numbers seen by Pokémon Scarlet and Violet back in November of 2022 (which also got a lot of criticism). Again, while I understand that the Pokémon Legends line is a spin-off series and is about taking “risks” in gameplay mechanics compared to the mainline series, considering the ever-growing Pokémon fanbase, one can assume the dev team was expecting a lot higher numbers for the latest major title for the IP.

YouTuber Omniarch TV has a very insightful breakdown of the sales report. I recommend watching his video below.

I basically agree with most everything he mentioned in the video. Like him, I’m frustrated and disappointed with Legends ZA because I’m a Pokémon fan. I want the series to respect me enough as a player to offer me something of quality with a price tag that makes sense.

I’m not saying that I didn’t find Legends ZA to be fun. I enjoyed playing it. However, as someone who covers a bunch of games, even ones from indie studios, I have (and I’m going to say it) enough self-respect to not stay silent with whatever slop the Pokémon Company releases, especially having spent my money on buying said title. As I said, no matter how you want to look at it, Pokémon Legends ZA is not worth the $84 CAD price tag. It’s actually shameful and disappointing that the Pokémon Company felt okay with asking fans to pay that much in the first place.

Coming back to the numbers, Pokémon Legends ZA was always going to do well during launch week. There was never any doubt about it, considering the brand recognition. But with the ever-spreading negative reviews surrounding the title, it will be interesting to see how Legends ZA performs in the following weeks. I wouldn’t be surprised if the dropoff is quite significant.

Did you play Pokémon Legends ZA? What did you think of it?

What are your opinions about certain fans defending such a title by saying it’s “fun” instead of demanding actual 2025-level game quality from a billionaire company?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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