Pokémon Legends Z-A: Mega Dimension DLC Review

Pokémon Legends Z-A: Mega Dimension DLC expands Lumiose with tougher battles, rogue-like twists, and ambitious ideas, my full review.

When I completed up my original Pokémon Legends: Z-A review on Nintendo Switch 2, I called it the boldest Pokémon game to date, and I meant it. Its real-time combat, reimagining of Lumiose City, and gameplay shake-ups felt like Game Freak finally stepping into the future. So diving back in with Pokémon Legends Z-A: Mega Dimension DLC, I was excited to see what would come next, especially with an expanded Pokédex. I am happy to share that this isn’t a small add-on; it’s a large, premium expansion that offers more story, tougher challenges, and some experimental systems layered on top of an already ambitious base game. The result? A DLC that absolutely has its moments, but also exposes a few cracks in Z-A’s otherwise polished foundation. Let’s dive into my full review and find out if it’s worth diving into another Mega Dimension.

Pokémon Legends Z-A: Mega Dimension DLC Details

Platform(s): Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2

Reviewed on: Nintendo Switch 2

Developer: Game Freak

Publisher: Nintendo / The Pokémon Company

Genre: Action RPG

Available game modes: Single-player

ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10+)

Pokémon Legends Z-A: Mega Dimension DLC Story: When Mega Evolution Breaks Reality

Mega Dimension picks up after the main campaign, pushing Lumiose City into stranger, more unstable territory. Mega Evolutions are no longer just powerful transformations; they’re tearing open rifts into a distorted hyperspace known as the Mega Dimension. These anomalies pull Pokémon into warped arenas, remix familiar spaces, and escalate the already fragile balance between humans and Pokémon.

A Hefty Helping of New Story Content

Narratively, this DLC adds roughly six to eight hours of story content, and I appreciated how it builds on Z-A’s central themes. There are new characters, new Legendary-adjacent mysteries, and a stronger emphasis on the consequences of pushing Mega Evolution too far. It’s not revolutionary storytelling, but it’s engaging enough to justify the price of entry and kept me wanting to play for more reasons than just expanding my Pokédex.

That said, the structure feels familiar. New Pokémon, Sonic-style time-based missions, and post-story challenges all slot neatly into the same gameplay loop as the base game. It does get very repetitive with Z-A’s core loop and doesn’t introduce any radically new storytelling beats may find it a bit safe.

Pokémon Legends Z-A: Mega Dimension DLC Gameplay: Rogue Ideas, Familiar Friction

At its core, Mega Dimension plays just like Z-A, and that’s both its strength and its weakness. The biggest addition is a rogue-like system of randomized Pokémon encounters within hyperspace zones. Each run feels slightly different, with shifting enemy types, environmental modifiers, and escalating difficulty.

Unbalanced Pokémon Battles

Difficulty spikes sharply, pushing Pokémon levels all the way to 100, which sounds thrilling until the grind sets in. Progressing the story often requires repetitive tasks to earn research points, and I found myself spending more time checking boxes than actually enjoying the chaos of hyperspace which was a drawback.

Layers of Lumiose City

Lumiose City’s layered design also returns as a mixed blessing. I loved it in theory during the base game, but here, repeatedly navigating vertical pathways, locked routes, and hidden access points became frustrating. Breaking down barriers and finding the “correct” way forward sometimes felt like busywork rather than meaningful exploration. Thankfully, the combat remains a highlight and kept me coming back for more.

Pokémon Legends Z-A: Mega Dimension DLC – Pokémon Combat Better Than Ever

Thankfully, my favourite part of Z-A is even stronger here. The real-time combat remains the star of the show. Mega Evolution battles are faster, less predictable, and more aggressive, with enemy Pokémon actively repositioning and pressuring you in ways that genuinely kept me on my toes.

Dodging, timing Mega activations, and managing cooldowns feels fantastic, especially during boss encounters deep in the Mega Dimension. These fights are chaotic, cinematic, and easily the highlight of the DLC.

A Level Balancing Act

What puzzled me, though, was the level balancing. Despite requiring level 100 Pokémon, the game often pairs you with significantly lower-level opponents. It breaks immersion and undercuts the sense of danger the DLC is clearly trying to build. When the systems align, combat sings, but when they don’t, you feel overmatched against all too familiar opponents.

Pokémon Legends Z-A: Mega Dimension DLC : Go Nuts for Doughnuts

Yes, doughnuts. One of the DLC’s strangest additions is a doughnut-making mechanic that boosts Pokémon levels and extends the amount of time you can survive in hyperspace. Conceptually, it’s quirky and very Pokémon. In reality, after creating a few of your very own baker’s dozens, it becomes quite grindy.

Packing Patience and Resources

You need dozens upon dozens of these items, and crafting them requires time, resources, and patience. I appreciated the idea of preparation before diving into dangerous zones, but I constantly wished this system were far more streamlined. Too often, I felt pulled away from the action just as things were getting exciting. I was hoping for less kneading and more battling, toward the end of my time with Mega Dimension.

Final Thoughts on Pokémon Legends Z-A: Mega Dimension DLC

Mega Dimension DLC is a confident, content-rich expansion that sometimes trips over its own ambition. When it works, especially in combat, it’s absolutely thrilling, doubling down on what I loved about the base game experience. When it doesn’t, the grind and structural frustrations are hard to ignore. I enjoyed my time with it, but I also felt its rough edges more sharply than I did in the base game.

If you loved Pokémon Legends: Z-A and want more of that world, this DLC delivers exactly that, for better and worse. It doesn’t reinvent the formula, but it meaningfully extends it. For me, Mega Dimension feels like a bold experiment that needed just a bit more refinement to truly shine.

Pokémon Legends Z-A: Mega Dimension DLC PROS

+Real-time combat is even more dynamic and challenging +Substantial story expansion with meaningful lore additions +Rogue-like encounters add replayability

Pokémon Legends Z-A: Mega Dimension DLC CONS

-Excessive grinding slows narrative momentum

-Confusing level scaling undermines difficulty

-Doughnut system feels unnecessarily time-consuming

Overall Assessment of Pokémon Legends Z-A: Mega Dimension DLC

Gameplay: 7/10

Graphics: 8/10

Sound: 8/10

Lasting Appeal / Replayability: 5/10

Overall Rating of Pokémon Legends Z-A: Mega Dimension DLC: 28/40 (70%)

The developer provided a copy of the game to conduct this review.

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About the Author - Matthew "Dapper Tux" Rondina

Matthew has been involved in all things gaming since the 8-bit era. He is a video game and tech industry veteran who has been passionate about technology and gaming for over 20 years. In addition to being the Managing Editor of dappertux.com, he has bylines with Best Buy, Cineplex Entertainment, Mobile Syrup and Walmart. Follow Matthew’s gaming + tech adventures on multiple social platforms with the handle @dapper_tux via X, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, and join in on the fun!

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