Usually, when a new Pokemon title comes out, it's time to celebrate. After all, few franchises evoke childhood wonder and joy like Pokémon does all these years later. Except that wasn't the case with Pokemon Legends: ZA, as the game currently maintains an almost unfathomable 4.3 Metacritic user score, and it might not even last.
Whether it's lackluster visuals or a map that's seemingly smaller than a bag of potato chips, things haven't been pretty in the Pokemon world. Things have gotten so bad that some rock fans are warning others to just accept that this current post-Legends: ZA reality is probably the norm moving forward.
After Legends: ZA, Pokemon fans are in for the worst timeline
On Reddit, the r/Pokémon sub charts are currently dominated by a thread titled “This is modern Pokemon, and there's no reason to expect it to get any better.”
The thread is exactly what you'd imagine it to be, die-hard fans in disbelief that things have sunk so far.
“You don't have to like it. You don't have to hate it. It's okay to feel strongly one way or another,” one fan responded. “But you have to accept that seriously expecting anything else at this point is just breaking your own heart. However you feel about things right now, that's how you feel about Pokemon because this is it.”
Another user shared that Pokemon isn't the only childhood franchise they had to give up on.
“It's sad though. I grew up with Pokemon and finally, after 30 years, starting to lose interest in them because of how it's changed is just disturbing,” they wrote. “Unfortunately, most things from my childhood seem to have done that. Yu-Gi-Oh, Magic the Gathering, Call of Duty. Just, IDK. I'm just not into it anymore. Maybe I'll just read more books.”
“Truth hurts but it's true guys,” wrote one user. “Until it gets transferred to studios that want to really put effort into it, that's what they've been buying.”
The rest of the thread is full of similar sentiments, as well as ideas for ways to enjoy Pokémon that don't involve games, like joining TCGs or playing fan mods. Whether that's enough to keep them engaged and happy is ultimately up to the individual. Either way, things in the Pokémon community are seemingly at an all-time low with no signs of recovery.
- Released
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2025
- ESRB
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E
- Engine
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Proprietary engine
