So, what did other outlets have to say about the demo? Here’s what’s been said so far:
“The demo, which I played ahead of the 2025 Pokémon World Championships in Anaheim, California, was split into two parts lasting around 10 minutes each, both seemingly early in the game and heavily focused on the new battle system… It’s a big departure from nearly 30 years of Pokémon games. I’m used to thinking about Pokémon like a chess match, slowly and several steps ahead; in Z-A, I had to think about the same type matchups and stats and everything else, but quickly and on my feet. It took me some time to adjust.”
“I can see the potential, but with just twenty minutes of experiencing the early game, it’s much too soon to tell if this real-time battle system will scratch the strategy-itch Pokémon games usually do for me.”
“The combat felt fresh, and I was only able to see the beginning of it. I wanted to get right back into another epic battle. I wanted more. And this is all based on a relatively small representation of early-game hours. I can only imagine how much more engaging the combat will feel with a full party of Pokémon, all rocking fleshed-out movesets, as you go up against a formidable foe.”
” Arceus was a game that brought back so many fans, specifically because it departed from the main series formula, and Z-A is an even bigger departure. It will take much more time with the new battle system to get to grips with the new way of taking down Trainers, but we’re thoroughly sold on Rogue Mega Pokémon battles already.”
And to round things off, here’s what Serebii.net webmaster Joe Merrick had to say about this demo (via Serebii on YouTube):
“It’s still early, and it’s hard to say how well the new systems will work in an overall game, but from what I played here, it seems like it’s a cool evolution of the Pokémon Legends formula and it has me wanting to go back and play more, which is a good sign in my view.”
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This demo is available to the general public at the World Championships this weekend, but you’ll need to have registered your interest on Nintendo’s website with a Nintendo Account, and it’s “first come, first served”. You can find out more in our post about this demo:
We’ll have more to share about this demo and upcoming Switch and Switch 2 release soon. Are you looking forward to this next entry in the Pokémon series? Let us know in the comments.
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Liam is a news writer and reviewer across Hookshot Media. He’s been writing about games for more than 15 years and is a lifelong fan of many iconic video game characters.