Leaked gameplay footage from the upcoming Pokemon Winds and Waves has sparked a heated debate among fans over whether Game Freak has finally made meaningful improvements to its character animation, or whether the changes are simply too little, too late.
According to Screen Rant, the early footage shows character movement that fans quickly compared to animations in Pokemon Legends: Z-A. The account CentroLeaks on X posted a side-by-side comparison of the leaked footage and Legends: Z-A gameplay. The footage also appears to show a Poke Ball being thrown without a menu, similar to how that mechanic worked in Legends: Z-A.
The original CentroLeaks post read: "Looks like Game Freak is taking character animations seriously for Pokémon Winds and Waves (finally!)"
Reactions split quickly. Fans who were encouraged by what they saw left comments like "Hallelujah! Please let this be the turning point Pokémon games need," and "It's a small detail, but it makes a huge difference. The movement looks much more natural, and it's nice to see Game Freak finally polishing the little animations that make the world feel more alive."
Critics were less generous. "There is no excuse for hardware limitations when you can see what Zelda does, for example," one user wrote. Another posted: "IS THIS SOME KIND OF JOKE???? Unity and Unreal have had this kind of feature for probably a decade by now." A third commenter offered a blunter take: "The bar is so low that we actually have to praise this."
The footage is acknowledged to be early and shows mostly a generic character model, so final graphical quality cannot be fully assessed from it. Game Freak and Nintendo have not commented on the leak.
Pokemon Winds and Waves is a Gen 10 title developed by Game Freak and published by The Pokemon Company and Nintendo. It follows Pokemon Scarlet and Violet and supports single-player as well as online co-op and multiplayer. Additional news on the game is expected in early 2027, with the title currently set for a 2027 release.
