Pokémon Legends Z-A: Why the Reviews Don't Tell the Whole Story

The latest Pokémon video game produced by Game Freak themselves has finally released: Pokémon Legends: Z-A launched on October 16th, 2025 and has received solid reviews, averaging 79/100 on Metacritic.

This is solidly above the low-70’s scores achieved for Scarlet & Violet, and near the 83 earned by Legends: Arceus.

But, despite the positive reaction from critics, the user reviews paint another story: 4.6/10.

So… is this latest release good or bad for Pokémon collectors?

Like it or not, Game Freak Pokémon game releases are the most important piece of the franchise’s media empire. As the top-selling RPG franchise in history, nothing reaches more Pokémon fans than a great Pokémon video game release.

Just imagine: the impact of a Zelda Breath of the Wild level video game breakthrough for Pokémon…

Unfortunately, that 4.6 user score makes it clear that Pokémon Legends Z-A ain’t it.

But, from the perspective of a Pokémon card collector, I think there’s a lot to like about this release.

Beyond the introduction of new Pokémon, a new Pokémon video game gives us new forms of Pokémon to inspire the TCG. While Terastal Pokémon from Scarlet & Violet were terrible, the Dynamax and Gigantimax Pokémon from Sword & Shield created incredible alternate art Pokémon cards that are coveted more and more with time.

And, Legends: Z-A has brought back the popular Mega Evolution mechanic and inspired an entirely new Pokémon TCG block starting with the recently released Mega Evolutions set. The return of Mega Evolution Pokémon has helped make this latest set one of the best base set releases of all time.

This is great news for Pokémon collectors.

But, in the end, the true make-or-break moment will be the release of the Gen 10 Pokémon game, expected at the end of 2026. Serving as the capstone to Pokémon’s 30th anniversary year, expectations are high for this upcoming release… and, again, there’s hope following the Legends: Z-A release.

For example, although Pokémon Legends: Z-A is not a graphical stunner, it runs well on the Switch 2 hardware with stable framerates and graphics that many gamers feel are… fine. Compare this to the absolute graphical failure of Scarlet & Violet: a big step forward has been made.

Suddenly: I have hope for the future.

The return of Mega Evolution Pokémon is great news for the next year of Pokémon TCG releases. The improvement in the graphics and performance of Pokémon Legends: Z-A means we may finally see a bigger step forward in the upcoming Gen 10 release.

And a truly great mainline Pokémon game would be a dream come true for all Pokémon fans, and the best possible outcome for Pokémon card collectors.

As usual,

Thanks so much for reading the TCG Buyers Club newsletter. My name’s Grey, I buy cardboard, and I’m on a mission to make collecting and investing in Pokémon simple.

Cheers 🍻

P.S. I suppose I should admit: I haven’t actually played Pokémon Legends: Z-A 😅 Although I’ve been watching footage and reactions to the game, I’m not sure it’s a title I’ll be buying myself. What do you think? Feel free to reply and let me know!