We aren’t getting to leave Lumiose City with the Pokemon Legends: Z-A Mega Dimension DLC, but the add-on is giving us a new way to look at it. The $29.99 paid addition is primarily focused on sending us into Hyperspace Lumiose via Hoopa-created portals so we can face new Pokemon (who are wildly strong) and face new Mega Evolved Pokemon (who are incredibly intimidating) alongside some new smaller quests in the city proper. While it is a good way to get some new characters for our parties and the new Mega Evolutions are interesting, it also feels designed to offer a greater endgame challenge for individuals.
There are honestly a few different parts to the Pokemon Legends: Z-A Mega Dimension DLC that all tie together, and these consist of an extra campaign, the Hyperspace Lumiose pocket “dungeons,” and an array of additional side quests that involve new fights, new Pokemon, more items, and even cosmetics based on some of the major characters we encountered in the original story. It’s really substantial and designed to incentivize returning after saving the city and appreciating what it’s like when it is (relatively) peaceful.
In the case of the campaign, that is the primary source of additional endgame challenges in the Pokemon Legends: Z-A Mega Dimension DLC and involves the greatest difficulty spikes. Things begin with a young girl named Ansha and her Hoopa approaching team MZ. She wants to find a certain legendary Pokemon for her mom that she encountered in a Hyperspace pocket dimension. However, the only way she can keep searching is by creating donuts to give Hoopa the energy to create these portals. This is a benefit to us as well, as these Hyperspace Lumiose spaces sometimes contain Rogue Mega Evolved Pokemon and Ansha and Hoopa’s arrival was accompanied by a portal over the top of where the city’s tower once stood. With the help of Corbeau and Vinnie, we take part in the investigation of the portals, aid more Mega Evolved Pokemon, and make the donuts.
The donuts are the main mechanic for entering these portals, and the berries and quality of them affect the types of perks (like increased shiny or alpha appearance odds), the level boost for our own Pokemon, and the amount of time we can send in the dimension before being kicked out. As we go through the original campaign for the add-on, we’ll get better quality butter for Ansha and find higher quality Hyper berries. This allows us to use more berries in recipes, get greater level boosts, and more additional perks. So everything is constantly feeding into each other and scaling to increase our odds of success. Fighting and catching Rogue Mega Evolved Pokemon give us the new Mega Stones and a character that can use them. As a QOL feature, we can see right away how long we can stay in (the calories), and the portal will show icons or silhouettes for the three types of Pokemon inside when it doesn’t involve the rogue “boss” fight.
Now, it’s that part of things that prove potentially exhilarating. As we go through this Mega Dimension DLC campaign, there can be 2v2 battles pitting our character and an ally against two other notable ones from the original Pokemon Legends: Z-A adventure. Those are fantastic and lead to some fun interactions between folks who normally didn’t work together or associate with one another. Matches against Pokemon in the dimensions can be fun due to the diversity and number attacking us at once. When you have a horde of at least three coming at you, you need to change tactics! The Rogue Mega Evolved fights are also interesting, but I honestly hated the stress of them this time around. In addition to protecting our avatar, staying safe, and ensuring we had the proper Pokemon prepared to fight, there’s that time limit before Hoopa’s portal closes to consider. It can be a lot, and I found my level 70-ish Pokemon from the campaign were getting to 80 and higher without much trouble.
While that is good for folks who crave that difficulty, it isn’t the only thing going on here. As I mentioned before, there are a lot of new missions in Lumiose City proper because of this. Gimmighoul and 413 of its coins are given to us as part of one, and we get the other coins by finding sparkling items on the ground in Hyperspace Lumiose sometimes. By taking part in one fight, I got a Jacinthe’s Dress replica and a ton of money. I kept an eye on a Mime Jr. There are more TMs to get. Some of these are just fun activities, while others are some interesting fights that can test our skills a bit.
The Pokemon Legends: Z-A Mega Dimension DLC feels designed to give people an array of reasons to test themselves and keep coming back to the game once they beat it. More Pokemon? Yup. Stronger Rogue Mega Evolved Pokemon fights and trainer battles against returning characters? That’s there. Opportunities to explore the city and enjoy fun interactions. Yeah. More trainer customization? Sure, if you earn it. There’s a lot to it, if someone is willing to put in the time to build characters up and make better donuts.
Pokemon Legends: Z-A and its Mega Dimension DLC are available for the Switch and Switch 2.