Pokemon Legends: Z-A is set to break years of tradition when it launches this year, as it's currently listed as the only main game in the entire 29-year-old series to have an ESRB rating of 10+.
Look, it might not be a shocking M rating, but it's still an unprecedented deal within the Pokemon series. Looking through all of the series' ESRB ratings, every single main game has been given an E for everyone – the only exceptions at all are the Pokemon Rumble spin-offs (apart from Pokemon Rumble U, for some reason).
Legends: Z-A's rating isn't actually on the ESRB website yet – it's currently viewable on the official Nintendo site. As such, we don't have a full explanation as to why this one is higher than usual, but we know it'll include "fantasy violence," which is a step up from the "mild fantasy violence" included in the likes of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, as well as Legends: Arceus.
We'll just have to stay tuned to see why this is the case, but I think it's worth keeping in mind the ratings of those aforementioned Pokemon Rumble games. The spin-offs feature real-time combat, allowing you to run around as toy Pokemon, firing attacks and charging into hordes of other toy Pokemon – the rating descriptions mention the "melee-style fighting that includes punching, kicking, slashing, biting, and scratching." In a very basic form, it's comparable to Pokemon Legends: Z-A's real-time battles in the way that Pokemon run around sending out attacks. Could this perhaps be a contributing factor to the upcoming RPG's higher rating?
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