Latest news with #Legends:Z-A
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Pokemon Legends: Z-A is the first game its lead has directed, and he's focused on making the RPG a "good one" as it reportedly continues through its "final fine-tuning phase"
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Pokemon Legends: Z-A's director has now been revealed, and while he's been involved with the beloved RPG series for over a decade, this will be his first game at the helm. Legends: Z-A's director is Haruka Tochigi, whose first credited role on a Pokemon game was in the 2014 Gen 3 remakes Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, where he was the lead of 3D map graphics. Since then, he has been involved in 3D map graphics for Pokemon Sun and Moon and Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee before becoming the field design and lighting lead for Legends: Arceus, as well as its CG director. Most recently, he was credited as a "section director" of 3D visuals on Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. News of Tochigi's role has surfaced thanks to the 2024 Famitsu Dengeki Game Awards, which took place over the weekend. There, Pokemon Legends: Z-A won the vote for the most anticipated new game of 2025, beating both GTA 6 and Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, and a statement from Tochigi thanking fans for their support was read out. Over on Twitter, @Lewchube has provided a translation for this, revealing that Tochigi also reportedly stated that Legends: Z-A is "in the final fine-tuning phase now." Further responding to the win on Twitter (in a tweet that's been machine-translated), Tochigi reiterates his thanks and says he'll focus on making the upcoming RPG "a good one." We'll just have to wait and see what Tochigi has up his sleeve when the game launches later this year. Employing a newer face certainly isn't a bad thing – Legends: Arceus director Kazumasa Iwao's only experience leading a game prior to the 2022 RPG was in Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, and the open-zone adventure in Hisui was adored by many for being such a unique addition to the series. Legends: Z-A is also shaping up to be very different, with a real-time battle system that looks like it'll make us feel like we're in the Pokemon anime. A single frame in the new Pokemon Legends Z-A trailer gives hardcore shiny hunters and Nuzlocke runners hope for a huge quality-of-life change.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Pokémon Fans Have A Conspiracy Theory That Cyndaquil Isn't In Legends: Z-A Because Of Smutty Folklore
During yesterday's annual Pokémon Day Presents showcase, Game Freak finally unveiled gameplay footage of Pokémon Legends: Z-A, revealing real-time combat, the return of some old friends, and teases about new mysteries in Lumiose City. It also revealed the three starters for the game will be Chikorita, Tepig, and Totodile. At a glance, those picks aren't that odd. Pokémon Legends: Arceus had starters that originated in regions different from the Sinnoh one it was set in. However, given two of them are from Gen II's Johto region, fans are wondering why Cyndaquil, the fire-type porcupine-ish little guy who also debuted in Gold and Silver, wasn't part of the starting roster alongside Chikorita and Totodile. The most plausible reasons for the omission aren't that interesting, but the more outlandish conspiracy theories forming around it are very funny. If you somehow missed it last year, Pokémon developer Game Freak was subject to a massive leak in October. As information trickled out of the company, we learned things about upcoming projects and scrapped Pokémon, and also got a few folklore-style stories about the universe that may or may not be canon. One of these stories focused on a Typhlosion, the final form of Cyndaquil, who transformed into a human and impregnated a woman. The internet had a field day with it and the fire starter's reputation hasn't recovered from the scandal. Now, fans are spinning tales that the reason Cyndaquil isn't joining its Johto starters in Legends: Z-A is that Game Freak may have thought it was too soon to put it back in the spotlight. The more likely explanation is that Cyndaquil was a starter in Legends: Arceus, and Game Freak probably didn't want to double-dip in the same subseries. But nevertheless, fans are running with the theory, and while some think the Typhlosion jokes are dead, I am still laughing. Typhlosion has gotten some recent love, so it's not like Cyndaquil fans are starving. The Pokémon got a brand new Hisuian form in Legends: Arceus that is arguably even cooler than its Johto region variant. But even if he's not a starter this time, hopefully the little guy still shows up in Legends: Z-A as an obtainable Pokémon when the game launches later this the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
11 Details You Might've Missed In The First Pokémon Legends: Z-A Trailers
After a year of waiting, we finally got our first look at Pokémon Legends: Z-A during the annual Pokémon Presents showcase. The Switch game seems like a significant departure from the untamed open zones of Pokémon Legends: Arceus, which is exciting because we don't know what to expect. The stream gave us a trailer as well as a general breakdown, and we skimmed through both to see what details we could find. Here's everything we noticed. One of the best innovations Pokémon Legends: Arceus implemented was real-time capture mechanics. This included over-the-shoulder aiming which let you toss a Poké Ball at a wild critter and capture them without entering a battle. Scarlet and Violet didn't quite match this. You could throw a ball at a Pokémon as a way of initiating battles, but you would still have to fight the monster before you could capture them. In Legends: Z-A, it looks kind of like a mix of the two. You can still capture Pokémon without battling them, but it looks like it has a lock-on system similar to that in Scarlet and Violet rather than the option to freehand it. Kind of a bummer, but hopefully it feels better when you're playing it. One of the great challenges of a Pokémon game is trying to capture a new addition without knocking them out. This is why abilities like False Swipe exist, which will leave a Pokémon with 1 HP rather than knocking it out. In the first Legends: Z-A trailer, we see a Flaaffy seemingly beaten in battle, but the player still captures it in a Poké Ball. If this is the case, it takes some of the risk out of battles, but will make it a lot easier to capture a rare Shiny or Legendary Pokémon. Chikorita, Tepig, and Totodile are the starters in Legends: Z-A, which has fans convinced their final forms will each get Mega Evolutions. For Chikorita, its final stage is Meganium, and fans are theorizing its Mega Evolution might be a grass/fairy-type because of one small detail in the trailer. The Chikorita shown fighting the aforementioned Flaaffy knows the attack Disarming Voice, a fairy-type move Chikorita has historically never been able to learn. Could this be a hint that Chikorita's move pool has been tweaked to prepare it for a fairy typing in the late game? Pokémon Legends: Arceus' battles were more cinematic than those in previous games, and part of what added to the chaotic nature of its fights were that you could move your character around as your Pokémon took part in the scrap. In Legends: Z-A, Game Freak is taking this a step further by integrating it into the battle mechanics. Positioning and timing are integrated into combat in ways they weren't before, and as you run around your active Pokémon follows, setting up and avoiding attacks as they play out. So now you don't just run around aimlessly during fights; you're a more active participant in battles. Part of that new active system is that Pokémon attacks seem to have cooldowns. We can see when Chikorita is fighting Flaaffy that its moves have a timer before it can use them again. This makes sense given that timing seems to be a core part of battles this time around. Now you'll have to make sure you're well-positioned and can use the attack you need at the right time. Since Legends: Z-A takes place entirely in one city, it's not too surprising that it's doing away with some of the open-world traversal of Scarlet and Violet and Legends: Arceus. In those games, you would ride on Pokémon to get to high places, glide through the air, or swim across bodies of water. Based on what we can see in Legends: Z-A, the only Pokémon you'll be using to traverse will be your Rotom—which is in your phone—to float between rooftops. That's a little disappointing considering riding the Hisui Pokémon in Legends: Arceus was one of the best parts about it, but it makes sense given the environment you'll be inhabiting in Legends: Z-A. It's become pretty common in Pokémon games to determine members of the supporting cast by which version of the protagonist you pick at the beginning of the game. In Legends: Arceus, if you pick the female character Akari, you'd meet the male protagonist Rei in the main story, and vice versa. In Legends: Z-A, it looks like you'll meet one of two supporting characters called Urbain and Taunie depending on your character's gender. We see what looks like a male protagonist meeting up with Taunie and Urbain chatting with a girl hero. The question is: will both characters essentially be model swaps of the same role, or will they have their own goals and quirks for us to learn? While this isn't a hidden detail, it's crazy to me that we're just gonna gloss over AZ. The ancient giant is running a hotel in Legends: Z-A, but let's not forget that this man is a reformed war criminal who created a weapon of mass destruction in X and Y. He is also an innocent babygirl who loves his Floette. We must protect him in the coming game, trainers. As the name suggests, Zygarde, the dragon/ground-type legendary who never got its own game as was tradition back in the day, will play a major role in Legends: Z-A. We see the Pokémon throughout the trailer in its dog-like form and there's even a shot of one of its Zygarde Cells scooching throughout the city. But we don't know what it's actually doing as Lumiose City undergoes its renovations just yet. Lumiose City is undergoing a major revitalization effort during Legends: Z-A, and it looks like some areas might not be accessible until you reach certain goals in the game. We can see some of the Wild Zones that Pokémon inhabit blocked off by numbered hologram gates. These might just be labels signifying where more powerful monsters roam, or they might require some kind of in-game signifier like a gym badge to let you through. Whatever the case, it looks like it won't be easy to stumble into an area you can't handle. The final scene in the Legends: Z-A trailer shows a first-person view looking at a Rotom phone with a message that reads: 'This is a promotion match announcement.' We only really know that Legends: Z-A will revolve around the Lumiose City renovations, but this implies that some kind of competitive tournament will take place during the course of the game. Legends: Arceus didn't lean into the competitive sport that typically takes place in Pokémon games, but it was a historical game set before much of that was established in the universe. So it's probable there will be more battles this time around, and perhaps a tournament in the midst of Lumiose City's redevelopment. We'll learn all about that and more when Pokémon Legends: Z-A comes to the Switch in late 2025. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Makers Of Pokémon Are About To Break A 15-Year Cycle
Today's Pokémon Presents was more notable for what it didn't include than for what it did. While news of Legends: Z-A was very welcome, what was not mentioned—nor ever rumored to be mentioned—was Pokémon's next mainline entry. And yet, based on the pattern of the last decade-and-a-half, this should have been the day we learned of a new core title in the world's most popular franchise, and got our first few hints about a whole new generation of pocket monsters. On February 27, 2022, the Pokémon Day special video surprised audiences with the reveal of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, and the introduction of the three starter Pokémon who would be appearing in the game. It was the start of nine months of nonstop reveals of the 120 new creatures being added to the Pokédex, alongside excitement about the Nintendo Switch's second mainline entry, following 2019's Sword and Shield. And while it was a surprise announcement in the sense that Nintendo had kept it under wraps until that point, it was also expected that a new game would be announced, because there's a new game every three years, right? That's actually only been true since 2010, following the launch of Black and White. By 2013 we had X and Y (as well as the bonus of the first and only sequels, Black 2 and White 2 in 2012). Then, like clockwork, 2016 gave us Sun and Moon, before 2019's Sword and Shield, and 2022's S&V. That's five mainline entries in a row, each three years apart, rather giving the impression that this was to be the norm. And it almost is; aside from 2006's Diamond and Pearl and 2010's Black and White, each coming out four years after the previous, it's always been three years. Seemingly, 2025 is to be another of those exceptions. What's so odd is the complete quiet about it all. No one seems to have noticed? As an observer, it really rather looked like Game Freak had little choice but to get a mainline game out every third year—to the point where the clearly unpolished Scarlet and Violet would surely have been given more time under any other circumstances. But there's a vast industry built around those games, and missing its release date would have knocked over a row of dominos that could have cost Nintendo, Game Freak, Creatures and The Pokémon Company (a confusing collection of companies who all overlap in the middle) billions. Think about the Pokémon TCG. Every three years for the last 15, a new era of cards is launched, themed around the name and region of the most recent game, and highlighting the Pokémon introduced in the new generation. Those cards have to be in production long before the game's even released, given—for instance—Japan's first set of Scarlet & Violet era TCG cards were released in January 2023, just two months after the game came out. The artwork alone would have been commissioned months ahead, and the intricacies of the game design based on all the new monsters worked out well in advance, too. If the game slipped, the cards would either have to be enormously expensively delayed, or come out ahead of the game and ruin twists and surprises, and in turn knock down the next domino: merchandise. So to shift to a four-year development cycle (and let's be clear, they absolutely should, or even a longer one, because Game Freak employees deserve the time and space to avoid crunch and make the best game possible) has enormous implications. Ones that must be planned for, presumably years in advance. Nintendo, Game Freak, et al, are all so notoriously tight-lipped about everything, and it's wildly unlikely they'd ever tell anyone such intentions, so we're left to just guess. And my guess would be that the reaction to Scarlet and Violet's dubious (and ongoing) technical state caused decisions to be made within to do two different things: 1) Take longer to make an open-world game that isn't cracking at the seams 2) Make it for the Switch 2 only That latter one would have been very difficult to get away with in 2025. Sure, it'd have been an amazing way to sell Switch 2s over the 2025 holiday season, but the console would still be six months old at most, and most people would expect a game announced today to work on the console they own today. But next year? It's an easier sell. In fact, it's pretty much bog-standard for a new Pokémon game to release a year or two after the latest Nintendo hardware. The implications are still interesting, however. The PTCG is going to need to run SV for an extra year, and it's already looking a bit worn out. The ex era is being revamped later this year with the addition of mega evolution cards, but while that'll change up the meta a bit and obviously give them a chance to take advantage of the current ludicrous boom in sales to sell a gazillion Mega Charizard-themed boxes, it still leaves 2026 and the first half of 2027 to fill with Generation IX. That explains 2025's year-long release of Prismatic Evolution special sets, a year earlier than you'd have expected given how the Sword & Shield era ended with a full year of Crown Zenith sets—it's clearly a mid-point thing, rather than an ending. We can expect some sort of ex-celebrating bonanza next year, maybe? Anyway, there you go. Just in case you too were thinking how weird it is that no one's talking about this. Unless of course they go and surprise-announce it in the April Nintendo Direct, and make me look like a complete fool. . For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
