Pokemon Legends: Z-A Mega Dimension Review

by

I’m excited to have a reason to revisit Lumiose City and play Pokemon Legends: Z-A again, but I’m also feeling conflicted about the new Mega Dimension DLC. I really appreciated how carefully the developers approached the original game, and I’m not sure this DLC captures that same feeling – though I might be judging too soon.

I wrote about Pokémon Legends: Z-A a little over two months ago, and I was really impressed. I especially liked how it took risks with the traditional Pokémon gameplay and fulfilled some of the promise I saw in Pokémon Generation VI – similar to what Pokémon Legends: Arceus attempted, though the two games are quite different. What sets Z-A apart is that the game isn’t finished at launch; the developers announced plans to add content through downloadable expansions. This will include new Mega Evolutions, fresh gameplay mechanics, and a whole new endgame experience.

I recently covered Pokémon Legends: Z-A, so I won’t rehash the core game or how it plays – you can find my original review linked above. If you’re looking into this DLC, you likely already know the basics. So, let’s focus on what the ‘Mega Dimension’ expansion adds: what’s coming back, and what’s completely new?

Mega Dimension centers around Ansha, a young friend of Hoopa, who uses donuts to help it access a strange, alternate version of Lumiose City called “Hyperspace.” This Hyperspace is filled with rare and powerful Pokémon that suddenly appear. However, this new dimension soon becomes a problem for the original Lumiose City, which is still recovering from past events. It’s up to you, Team MZ, and your allies to investigate these strange happenings and prevent a crisis.

The expansion’s story is well-done, and it’s great that it continues directly from where the main game left off. Seeing beloved characters like Corbeau return and have the opportunity to consider the consequences of the original game’s ending is particularly satisfying, though the impact is slightly diminished because I recently finished the first game.

In Hyperspace Lumiose, the main gameplay involves discovering portals throughout the city that lead to unique, randomly-generated areas. These ‘pocket dimensions’ offer a variety of content, such as Pokémon not normally found in Lumiose, challenging battles against special ‘Hyperspace’ trainers, and unique sidequests that continue stories from the original game or introduce new Mega Evolution Pokémon.

Players need Hoopa’s help – and special donuts – to open these portals. The donuts are made with berries, and the berries you use affect how long you can explore Hyperspace. Hyperspace boosts your Pokemon’s power and can also change how often Shiny Pokemon appear and how easy they are to catch.

The recipe sounds great, but it relies on “Hyperspace” berries found inside challenging areas called anomalies. The stronger the donut you want to make, the tougher the anomaly you need to explore – and you’ll need stronger donuts to help your Pokémon survive those explorations. It’s not a big problem at first, but as you advance, you’ll need more and more berries for better donuts. To add to the difficulty, you can only make one donut at a time, and you have to return to Hotel Z to do it.

Okay, so the new content is fun, but there’s this one thing that’s a little frustrating. In the original game, leveling up was tied to your rank in Z-A Royale, and you’d get challenges in Battle Zones. You could work on a few at a time, and honestly, there wasn’t a limit to how many you could finish each day. But now, in Mega Dimension, you need research points to unlock the really cool Rogue Mega Evolution fights. The problem is, each anomaly only gives you three challenges at a time, which is less than before. And the worst part? You have to spend a donut to even see what those challenges are before you accept them! It feels a bit risky, honestly.

While the core gameplay isn’t drastically different from the main game, I was already starting to find the repetitive cycle a bit draining, and this expansion makes it even more noticeable. It feels tiring constantly running back and forth to the Hotel Z just to make donuts one by one, especially when each new rift only yields one or two new Pokemon – all just to move the story forward. Unfortunately, things don’t improve after the story ends; the already tedious gameplay becomes even more of a grind.

Mega Dimension offers a lot of enjoyable content, with interesting sidequests and fun new Mega Evolutions. While I didn’t connect with the story as strongly as the main game, I still had a good experience. However, if you were already tired of the game after finishing the original story, or aren’t sure you want more of the same gameplay, it’s hard to say if this DLC is worth buying.

 

6

Versions tested: Nintendo Switch 2. Pokemon Legends: Z-A is also available for Nintendo Switch.

Read More

2025-12-20 05:56