The February 2024 Pokemon Presents shocked fans when Pokemon Legends Z-A was announced, but an even more shocking revelation was made when Nintendo America revealed the game would take place entirely in Lumiose City, the epicenter of the Kalos region.
Players Divided By Pokemon Legends Z-A Setting
Nintendo of America reposted the reveal trailer with the caption, “#PokemonLegendsZA, a new adventure set entirely within Lumiose City, coming to #NintendoSwitch in 2025.” What stuck out to fans was the word “entirely,” which led them to believe the game won’t feature open sections of the wilderness like the regions in Pokemon Legends Arceus.
This elicited a mix of responses from trainers on X and Reddit, with the size of Lumiose City being the focal point of the conversation. Users expressed their reservations – and even disappointment – that Pokemon Legends Z-A will be confined to a city. Some players went as far as to call Nintendo’s wording a “red flag.”
A few players expressed their discontent with the exclusion of the Kalos map beyond the city’s walls. “Kalos has some of the best routes in the game series, and some of the towns like Laverre are top tier,” Reddit user PKtrader999 stated. esar24 agreed, writing, “Old time Laverre probably a majestic, magical forest, would be a shame if we couldn’t visit that in this game.”
That said, several trainers are excited about the prospect of exploring a massive version of LumioseCity. “Entirely!? I’m. Here. For. It. That city was huge, and I got so lost when I played X/Y, so I can’t begin to imagine what an experience this is going to be,” X user MishGov wrote.
There were also numerous players comparing Pokemon Legends Z-A to Grand Theft Auto. Robert Bowlin commented, “That sounds like disappointing news at first, but tbh, having an entire Pokémon Legends game take place in a dense city does actually sound kind of cool. This could basically be GTA with Pokémon.”
While the reveal trailer didn’t show any gameplay, it did feature various maps of Lumiose City. It’s split into five sections surrounding Prism Tower, with each section having a massive landmark with a road leading directly to the city center. Whether or not fans are satisfied with Pokemon Legends Z-A will boil down to how large the city is, as its existence in Pokemon X & Y leaves much to be desired.
