Pokémon Legends: Z-A is an excellent game. Its emphasis on battles doesn’t diminish its catching mechanics or bringing back iconic Mega Evolution. However, despite being a fantastic entry in the nearly 30-year Pokémon franchise, Legends: Z-A can’t get over the series’ long-running and biggest flaw.
Despite being an incredibly popular and successful franchise, Pokémon has not been without criticism. The Gen 9 games, Scarlet and Violet, suffered from performance issues, while Sword and Shield were seen as lacking in the graphics department (especially considering it was the series’ first jump to the Nintendo Switch). Pokémon Legends: Z-A runs great on Switch 2, seemingly fixing these problems, but it still isn’t perfect.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A Doesn’t Have Voice Acting
Cutscenes Make It Even More Noticeable
The biggest issue Pokémon Legends: Z-A has is that there is no voice acting. It’s become a more noticeable, and growing, problem for the franchise for a while now. It’s been even more noticeable since the series moved to the Switch, and as cutscenes began to get more elaborate. Now, Legends: Z-A brings this issue to the forefront even more.
In Legends: Z-A, numerous cutscenes play out, fully choreographed with upbeat music and lines of dialogue, but there are zero voices. It lessens the stakes, feels less immersive, and makes the game feel somewhat incomplete. The lack of voice acting was an issue in Sword and Shield, was a bigger problem in Legends: Arceus and Scarlet and Violet, and is an even larger flaw in Legends: Z-A.
Nintendo Has A History Of Avoiding Voice Acting
Could A New Era Of Pokémon Be On The Horizon?
It shouldn’t be all that surprising that Pokémon would be slow to adapt voice acting. Nintendo, as a company, has been mostly avoiding it for some time. Only recently did voice acting appear in The Legend of Zelda series, and it’s still mostly absent from the latest Mario and Donkey Kong games, although both use VA work in some way.
What is surprising is that Pokémon is still avoiding it, especially given how many cutscenes are present in Legends: Z-A. Pokémon makes the logical next step for a Nintendo series to start using voice acting, yet it doesn’t happen. All players have to go on are characters’ faces, punctuation in sentences, and other characters’ reactions. It’s like reading a digital book or comic more than watching an engaging cutscene, and that’s a problem.
In an era when even low-budget indies use voice acting, it’s increasingly strange that Pokémon games don’t. It’s arguably the series’ biggest flaw now, and one that is ever-present in Pokémon Legends: Z-A. Hopefully, it’s rectified when the Gen 10 games are released.
- Released
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October 16, 2025
- ESRB
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Everyone 10+ / Fantasy Violence, In-Game Purchases
- Developer(s)
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Game Freak, Creatures Inc.
- Publisher(s)
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Nintendo, The Pokemon Company
- Engine
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Proprietary
