Game Freak Must Do Better in 2025 With Legends Z-A
It’s no secret The Pokémon Company and Game Freak largely ignored 2024. If it weren’t for Pokemon TCG Pocket, 2024 would’ve likely gone down as possibly the worst year in the history of the franchise. And this is even if the infamous leaks never happened. Thankfully, Pokemon has the chance to make 2025 a major comeback year with releases like Pokemon Legends Z-A and much more.
Take a look back at 2024 and there isn’t much to talk about. The Horizons anime did its thing alongside updates for the typical free-to-play titles. Of course, there was the monumental release of Pokemon TCG Pocket, which saved the year for the company. But no major DLC for Scarlet & Violet, remasters, remakes, other spin-offs, and so on.
The lack of releases in general wouldn’t be so bad on its own. After all, this has happened before in years like 2005 and 2015. That said, it has been almost 10 years of something new for players to enjoy outside of mobile titles every single year. But the worst part of it all has been the general radio silence from the company.
Sure, the leaks do play some role in this. However, TPC and Game Freak can’t put all of the blame on those leaks. After all, they happened in October 2024. That doesn’t even account for the lack of new info on games like Pokemon Legends Z-A from its initial reveal in late February 2024 to October 2024. That is about eight months TPC could’ve given the fan base something.
As such, we're going into 2025 when this game is supposed to release without almost any information about it. Nothing official about the starters, time period, characters, new Mega Evolutions, and so on. As such, 2024 will likely go down as one of the most disappointing years for Pokemon in the franchise’s history, if not the clear cut winner.
That is why it is so imperative 2025 goes all out to turn this around. Sure, it is not quite the 30th anniversary of the series — that’s next year in 2026 — but there is still so much that can happen. The obvious part is Legends Z-A needs to be one of the best games in the series. It needs to take the open-world collectathon vibes of Legends Arceus and amp it up a notch. Make battles more prominent, have a great story, and generally feel like the second chance Generation VI desperately needs.
But it shouldn't stop there. We are long past due for some older titles to come to Switch. Whether on the Switch 2 or on the original Switch, we need to see Generations I-III come to the Nintendo Switch Online service. This should’ve happened in 2024 to avoid such a long drought, but better late than never regardless. I could even see these NSO releases be an exclusive for Switch 2 only, which would be a shame, but I’ll take what I can get.
Of course, the juggernaut that is Pokemon TCG Pocket shouldn't stop, either. New sets, events, and cards are inevitable. The main new feature I’d like to see beyond trading is a release on Switch and Switch 2. Sure, the game is designed to be played in portrait, but some adjusting can be done with the background to make it work in a landscape viewpoint on Switch. If anything, this could explain its release long after the mobile version.
Finally, I’d like to see some sort of surprise from the company in 2025. This could be in the form of an early Generation 10 announcement ahead of 2026 or a new spin-off game. My personal wish would be for a new Mystery Dungeon or a remaster of Pokemon Colosseum or XD: Gale of Darkness. That said, I’d even settle for a Pokken Tournament 2, which would be a great Switch 2 launch title to mirror what happened in 2017 with the original Switch.
Regardless, 2025 is The Pokémon Company’s chance to redeem an almost historically abysmal 2024. Pokemon Legends Z-A should absolutely be the headliner for the year, but far from the only showstopper. Other releases and announcements like older games, spin-off titles, and impressive updates for TCG Pocket are equally a must.
Pokemon Legends Z-A will release sometime in 2025 for Nintendo Switch.
The post Game Freak Must Do Better in 2025 With Legends Z-A appeared first on Siliconera.
