Pokémon Legends: Z-A: Do I Need To Play Legends: Arceus First?

Pokémon Legends: Z-A is the second Pokémon game with the Legends moniker, becoming a series of mainline games that take a different approach to the core Pokémon gameplay.

Of course, that means there's one before it — Legends: Arceus, a Switch 1 exclusive that's very much its own beast. Is it related to Z-A in any way? Do you need to play it first? We'll be answering those questions here.

Do I need to play Pokémon Legends: Arceus before Z-A?

Basically, no, you don't need to play Legends: Arceus before Legends: Z-A. Despite sharing the same name, they're actually pretty different games.

It's the same in terms of story, too: Z-A doesn't have any real direct ties to Arceus in any way, besides both being Pokémon games and all mainline Pokémon games being set in the same timeline.

However, there actually a neat little Arceus reference inside the city's museum — we won't pop any pictures here, so go and check it out!

Is Arceus worth playing, though? Absolutely. It's a fantastic game in its own right.

How about Pokémon X & Y?

Okay, since we mentioned story here, we should probably bring up the elephant in the room — Pokémon Legends: Z-A is set in the same place as Pokémon X & Y, which was released on the 3DS in 2013. Does that make X & Y required reading?

Nope: though it does help you understand a few things happening in the plot. Z-A does make a few references to events that took place in X & Y, but they're not essential to understanding the plot.

What are the differences between Arceus and Z-A?

Despite both being Legends games, Arceus and Z-A are fundamentally fairly different. They both share the same Pokémon catching method, and they both have big open spaces to explore, but that's where things start to taper off.

Arceus is very much focused on the Pokémon catching aspect of the franchise. Research Tasks are crucial to plot progression; it's set in the distant past and features primitive Poké Balls and crafting. It's a very different game, even from Z-A. There are also five huge open-field regions that you can freely explore, with Pokémon that can be used for traversal such as flying, digging, and even surfing.

Z-A, however, may have one big open city to explore, but the catching is less important: here, it's all about Pokémon Battles. Combat is no longer turn-based, instead switching things up to real-time action with attacks on cooldowns and full freedom of movement in any battle arena. It takes cues from Arceus in its Rogue Mega Evolution battles and Alpha Pokémon, but otherwise, it diverges in a few places.

Whether you want to go past or present, you'll have a fantastic time! If you're sticking to the streets, however, then have a look at our full Pokémon Legends: Z-A Walkthrough hub for more guides to Lumiose City.