Nintendo has shared the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) rating that was given to Pokemon Legends Z-A.

As seen on the game’s official US store page, the game has been given a rating of E10+ for “Fantasy Violence”. Notably, this is the first time a mainline Pokemon game has been given an E10+ rating, with the previous entries receiving E ratings for “Mild Fantasy Violence”. The only other Pokemon games to have received an E10+ rating are the Pokemon Rumble games.

It is believed that the higher rating has something to do with Z-A‘s new real-time battle system, which allows players to command Pokemon in real time to attack the opposing Pokemon. Pokemon Rumble also features real-time combat albeit with Pokemon toys instead of real Pokemon, supporting this theory.

That said, other fans speculate that the higher rating could be due to Pokemon Legends Z-A potentially having a darker storyline compared to past entries in the series. Pokemon X And Y, the previous games set in the Kalos region, featured some darker underlying themes that fans hope might be further explored in the follow-up. However, this theory seems somewhat less likely, as again, mainline Pokemon games have never gone past an E10 rating before, despite many modern Pokemon games containing similar darker story beats.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.