This viral Pokemon Cutscene is why Legends: ZA is already controversial

Even if Pokemon Legends: ZA has barely been out for a day in some regions and just hours in the rest of the world, it's already a big controversy. Pokémon games are often controversial among fans due to the addition of some problematic features or the lack of long-requested ones, such as performance issues of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet or Dexit off Pokemon Sword and Shield. In the case of Pokemon Legends: ZAalthough it was not expected to have this feature, the consensus is that this should be the last Pokémon game without voice acting.

According to some fans, Pokemon Sword and Shield took the series back a few years. While the Dexit issue remains awkward and sad to this day, as fans would very much like to have all existing Pokémon in any game, another pain point was revealed when players encountered one of the most important Gen 8 Gym Leaders: Piers. This character was known for his singing skills, but his Gym Leader sequence has him on stage without music or voice acting. The movie scene has gone viral before Pokemon Legends: ZAs launch, and since the new game also features some wacky cutscenes without voice acting, players are starting to get tired.

Pokemon Legends: ZA's Voice Acting Controversy Explained

There are many reasons why voice acting is included Pokémon gambling has always been a recurring problem. These are:

Fans are criticizing Game Freak and The Pokemon Company for not doing any voice acting Pokémon game despite being one of the biggest franchises in the world.
Gen 5 games had instances of voice acting, especially one with Roxie singing on stage – something Pokemon Sword and Shield's Piers must never do.
Considering that the Pokémon anime has voice acting for the games' NPCs, many fans want them to be added to the games as well.
Then Pokémon games are usually played by children as well, it would be beneficial for them to hear the words they are reading spoken by a human.
The games usually have a musical score and melodies attached to them, but not actual songs. But Ed Sheeran's song in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet set a new precedent that Legends: ZA ignores.
Pokémon game turns 30 next year and voice acting has been in demand for years.
Pokémon Gen 10's leaked procedural generation may take away the hand-crafted aspect of the show's world, so adding voice acting could help.

Pokemon Legends: ZAs new Mega Evolutions are often unlocked after fighting Rogue Megas in Lumiose City alongside key characters, such as Lida or Taunie/Urbain, but they never talk. Also while exploring, sometimes players will get small windows of text from NPCs warning them about something, but no voice acting is involved.

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One of the least appreciated parts of the game so far is a cutscene where Zygarde suddenly takes players up onto a rooftop to fight a Rogue Mega Evolution in Pokemon Legends: ZAbut characters like Emma and A-Z only have lines of text, which makes the experience intimidating at best. Likewise, one of the opening cutscenes of Eternal Flower has Floette using Light of Ruin to scare away some trainers standing at the gate of the battle zone, but Taunie/Urbain's voice is not there, and even Floette's attack has no sound.

Why Pokemon Gen 10 must be the end of an era

Considering how long players have wanted voice acting in the series, it would only make sense to finally grant this wish in Gen 10. With Pokémon Gen 10 will be released in 2026, four years after Scarlet and Violetthe backlash of not having any voice acting in the game could be even bigger than that surrounding the Piers scene in Gen 8. Fans will have to wait and see, but The Pokemon Company and Game Freak may eventually have to back down.