The Pokemon Company may have given fans a look at one of this year’s major first-party Nintendo Switch 2 games.
During the recent Pokemon Presents event, The Pokemon Company previewed upcoming adventure game Pokemon Legends: Z-A.
The game is scheduled to launch towards the end of 2025, which has led to speculation that it will be a cross-gen release for both the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2.
It’s believed that while most Switch games will be playable on Switch 2 via backwards compatibility, upcoming first-party exclusives will be available separately for both platforms, complete with enhancements on Switch 2.
Pokemon Legends: Z-A and Metroid Prime 4 seem like the most obvious candidates for the cross-gen treatment.
Needless to say, all eyes were on the trailer for Pokemon Legends: Z-A during the recent Pokemon Presents event.
While we can all agree that the environments look better than the original Pokemon Legends, it’s unclear if the footage was captured on Switch 2 or the original Switch.
If the gameplay was captured on the Switch 2, then it’s fair to say that fans are underwhelmed by the lack of significant visual upgrades.
One fan on X writes: “It’s 2025 bro, what is this. This better not be Switch 2 graphics and instead be the regular Switch version.”
However, most fans believe the footage was taken from the original Switch, and are pleased with the improvements to the visuals.
“The Pokemon Presents had its issues, but the main part of the presentation was Pokemon ZA,” reads another tweet. “The game would HIGHLY benefit from a Switch 2 port. Not saying the game looks bad, it actually looks pretty good. What I’m saying is you can tell the game is running on outdated hardware.”
Another writes: “One more thing I noticed about za trailer, graphics still look kinda rough, hoping there’s a switch 2 trailer and it’s a cross gen thing and we see an upgrade there. But I also noticed the actual Pokémon designs are more cartoony and expressive than SV which I really like.”
You can take a look at the Pokemon Legends: Z-A trailer below.