There’s a new Pokémon game coming out this week, planned for release on two major consoles. As of this writing, prospective buyers only know how it plays on one of them.
Reviews for Pokémon Legends: Z-A went live the morning of Oct. 14, and they’re decent. The creature-collection action RPG, set to launch for Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 on Oct. 16, is currently sitting at an 81 on Metacritic. All of those reviews, however, appear written based on the Switch 2 version of the game. In fact, despite a monthslong marketing cycle, we still have no clue what Pokémon Legends: Z-A looks like on the original Switch.
There’s a level of obvious justification here. The Switch 2 is a significant technical step-up over its predecessor, mechanically powerful enough even to run ports of visually demanding AAA games like Star Wars Outlaws with minimal compromises. Meanwhile, Pokémon games on Switch — including 2019’s Sword and Shield and 2022’s Scarlet and Violet — have historically been pilloried by fans and experts alike for graphics they deemed as subpar. The previous entry in the Legends subseries, Legends: Arceus, set off weeks of debate among Pokémon fans following its early 2022 release. If there’s a superior version of Legends: Z-A, it’s almost certainly the Switch 2 version. If there’s an inferior version, it’s almost certainly the game optimized for Switch. It makes sense that The Pokémon Company would only want anyone playing the game ahead of its release to play the better-performing version.
Polygon did not receive access to Pokémon Legends: Z-A ahead of release, so we can’t speak one way or the other about how the game plays on either console. Representatives for The Pokémon Company did not respond to questions in time for publication about which versions of the game have been playable before release, but a scan of reviews this morning indicates only the Switch 2 version of Legends: Z-A has been.
Eurogamer’s Chris Tapsell noted in a three-star review that the visuals on Switch 2 seem significantly improved over Legends: Arceus’, but added “it seems nobody’s had access to [the Switch 1] version before launch.” In a four-star review at GameRadar, reviewer Catherine Lewis described the game as “Butterfree smooth” with no frame rate issues across 34 hours of play, but clarified, “I can’t speak for its performance on the OG Switch.” VGC’s five-star review, from Jordan Middler, was conducted on Switch 2 and includes one notable detraction: “It’s obvious where the Switch 1 has held the Switch 2 version back.” IGN’s Rebekah Valentine, meanwhile, published a review-in-progress rather than a scored review, in part because the Switch 1 version of the game wasn’t playable prior to release.
Nintendo’s previews of Pokémon Legends: Z-A have largely avoided showing how the game looks on Switch 1. A March Nintendo Direct briefly showed footage of Legends: Z-A running on the original Switch (a week before it revealed the Switch 2 price and release date) and a handful of Switch screenshots have been made available (see above), but hands-on preview events of the game in August and September were both conducted on Switch 2. And now, it seems, reviewers only accessed the game on the newer console as well.
There is almost no force in nature that can stop the Pokémon sales train, chugging along as it does with the power of being one of the biggest entertainment franchises on the planet. Within its first year alone, Pokémon Legends: Arceus sold nearly 15 million copies — despite all the discussion online around its visual fidelity. According to sales figures published in August, Nintendo has sold about 6 million Switch 2 consoles globally since its June release. The original Switch is currently at around 150 million. No matter how you do the math here, you can expect a whole lot of people to buy this game on Switch come Oct. 16, even though its performance on that console hasn’t been made clear yet.
The lack of transparency over performance raises obvious concerns. As of this writing, early adopters of Pokémon Legends: Z-A are split into two groups: Prospective players with access to a Switch 2 (and willingness to pick up the $70 version of the game over the $60 version) will get a game that reviewers describe as compelling, that poses an inventive take on Pokémon combat; the other group is going in somewhat in the dark.
How does Pokémon Legends: Z-A play on Switch 1? Who knows! Could be totally fine. Could be the next Cyberpunk. In the worst case scenario, players have one path of recourse, though it requires securing Nintendo’s newer console. An upgrade pack for the Switch 2 version of Pokémon Legends: Z-A is available via the eShop for $10.
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