ZA players are still missing out on popular Arceus items

Pokemon Legends: ZA Fans are dissatisfied with popularity Pokemon Legends: Arceus You are excluded from the game. With such success Pokemon Legends: Arceus I enjoyed it after it came out, but it wasn't possible. Pokemon Legends: ZA To avoid comparison altogether. Pokemon Legends: ZA It came out 3 months ago today. Despite facing backlash for its decisions to cut abilities and completely change the gameplay loop and combat style, it's still definitely a good entry in the series that does a lot of things right.

yet, Pokemon Legends: ZAThe ranking of exclusive Mega Stones has sparked a massive discussion about the series' reliance on Nintendo Switch Online subscriptions for additional content. Z.A. itself. By comparison, Pokemon Legends: Arceus It was designed as a single-player game that could be completed entirely on your own, including completing the Pokedex and catching Arceus, so no extra steps were required, such as the fact that you didn't need an NSO to accomplish it. Things are a lot different now. Z.A. It proved that some decisions needed to be reconsidered before launch. pokemon wind and waves.

pokemon legend za impressions

I just started playing Pokemon Legends: ZA and I'm already disappointed.

My Pokemon Legends: ZA adventure has only just begun, but I'm already feeling underwhelmed by certain aspects of the game.

Pokemon Legends: ZA picks the best items from Pokemon Legends: Arceus

Reddit user AdventurousForm6406 wrote a post about how it changed the game. Pokemon Legends: Arceus'A connection code is available. This isn't the first post about this issue, and the fact that the game has received over 3,600 upvotes in less than 24 hours just three months after its release sends a clear message.

Pokemon Legends: ZA's trade-only evolution is a very strange choice. Because it makes perfect sense to include them in a full-fledged new generation, along with version-exclusive animals and even new trade-exclusive Pokemon. Z.A. Other than Mega Evolutions, no new species or forms are included. So you won't be able to get the following Pokemon in the base game without trading:

  • Slowking (requires King's Rock and Slowpoke trades)

  • Scizor (requires trading Scyther for Metal Coat)

  • Aromatis (must trade Spritzee and Sachet)

  • Slurpuff (must trade Swirlix for whipped cream)

Steelix isn't available in the base game of Pokemon Legends: ZA until you start someone who gives it a post-game mission, but you can only catch one Alpha Steelix as a fixed encounter, and there's no way to get it outside of this mission or trade. Except for these five, all other trade-exclusive Pokémon can be found in the wild.

Pokemon Legends: ZA DLC Doesn't Atone for Trade Exclusivity Sins

Pokemon Legends: ZAThe DLC partially fixes this issue. That's because every Pokémon in the game can be found in Hyperspace Wild Zones, including DLC-exclusive animals. This applies to all Pokémon except one Pokémon: Milotic. For whatever reason, Milotic still requires online trading, making it impossible to complete the DLC Pokedex alone. This will require you to reuse the linking code in future games, especially if you return a Pokémon that cannot be found in the wild.

Cynthia's Milotic from the Pokémon animation.

One might argue that the evolution of trade exclusion is as follows. pokemon That's always been the case, and that would be right. Pokemon Legends: Arceus. if Pokemon Legends: Arceus A link code allows exclusive use of trade-only animals, and all future games have or may have this option as well. For Pokemon Legends: ZAIt was a deliberate choice to give meaning to the transaction. However, considering that Nintendo Switch Online subscription is not free, a counter-argument arises that a game priced as a triple-A title should be able to be completed by fans without DLC and at no additional cost.

Not only that Pokemon Legends: ZA's Mega Sceptile is an exclusive reward for ranked battles, so you won't be able to get it in Season 5 unless you subscribe to Nintendo Switch Online. It's not the only Pokémon to receive this treatment.

  • PLZA Season 1 featured the exclusive Mega Greninja.

  • PLZA Season 2 includes the exclusive Mega Delphox (and Greninja if you didn't get it).

  • PLZA Season 3 included the exclusive Mega Chesnaught (and Greninja and Delphox if you didn't get them).

  • PLZA Season 4 included the exclusive Mega Baxcalibur (and Greninja, Delphox, and Chesnaught if you didn't get it).

  • PLZA Season 5 includes exclusive Mega Sceptiles (also Greninja, Delphox, Chesnaught, and Baxcalibur if you didn't get them).

  • Season 6 brings you the Mega Swampert that you can't get anywhere else.

  • Season 7 brings you the Mega Blaziken, which you can't get anywhere else.

Although this is a Mega Evolution, there are at least seven Pokémon that you can't get with a Nintendo Switch Online subscription. Given that there is no linking code, this number will be at least 8, including Milotic, and could even be 9 if the unreleased Mega Garchomp Z is also a ranked reward.


pokemon-character-cover-art-1

system

Super grayscale 8-bit logo


released

October 16, 2025

ESRB

Anyone over 10 years old / fantasy violence, in-game purchases


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