For my money, the most exciting thing about DLC for Pokémon games is seeing what Pokémon they introduce, whether new or returning. I also like being able to roam a new area and see how creative Game Freak can be with the world and its characters. What drives me insane about Mega Dimensions is how it rolls out these Pokémon and how little it actually brings to the table. The DLC takes place in Lumiose City, where the base game is set. The “new sections” are the same streets repeated in some space-like alternate dimension. It feels like Game Freak intended this to be post-game content, but for some reason, they released it as DLC.
While I never really cared for the story in this series, I’ve always found the character designs to be interesting and lovable. While the Pokémon are definitely the stars of the show, the human characters are often just as interesting. Pokémon: Legends Z-A introduced Lida and Naveen, two of the best written and most likable Pokémon side characters as far as I’m concerned. The Pokémon: Legends Z-A Mega Dimensions DLC is essentially just more adventures with them, as well as a couple of new characters who don’t feel as fleshed out.
You are introduced to Ansha, a young girl obsessed with making donuts. She hangs out with the mythical Pokémon Hoopa. She and Hoopa can access Hyperspace Lumiose (that’s what they call the dimension) through her donut-baking (I’m serious). You also have Korrina, who was actually a gym leader back in X&Y. It’s pretty cool that she’s back, and she is a successor in a line of Mega Evolution gurus across Lumiose. She teaches you about the new Mega Evolutions featured in the DLC. While the characters have unique designs and upbeat personalities, they don’t feel quite at home with the rest of the cast. Lida, Naveen, and Taunie make up Team MZ, and their chemistry almost feels like something out of the Pokémon anime. I just spent 50 hours getting to know these guy,s and I feel happy whenever they’re on the screen. Ansha and Korrina just kinda feel like outsiders, and I feel like they are shoehorned into the story rather than naturally integrated.
Pokémon: Legends Z-A Mega Dimensions DLC brings with it a chunky amount of returning Pokémon – 137 to be exact. There are also 22 brand new Mega Evolutions that give some pretty uninteresting Pokémon a fighting chance for the first time, and some Mega Evolutions that make broken Pokémon even more ungodly. The new Mega designs are pretty awesome – for the most part. The biggest winners for me are Golisopod and Crabominable. Not only do they both look really cool, but they were previously terrible with a capital T. Their Megas have now made them absolute powerhouses, and I can’t wait to see how they play in actual competitive turn-based Pokémon. In an unprecedented first for the series, you can now have Pokémon higher than level 100. In order to fight and use Pokémon with levels in the 100s, you must enter Hyperspace Lumiose. They go back to their regular level once you’re back in the real world. This is the biggest swing that DLC takes – without a doubt. I just wish it had committed to it instead of limiting it to a specific area of the game.
What is disheartening is that for the first time in any game in this franchise, I have completed the Pokédex. That would typically be awesome because you get the Shiny Charm, and it significantly makes the hunt for shinies more efficient. In Pokémon: Legends Z-A Mega Dimensions DLC, you don’t get any actual reward for the Pokédex completion. So I was highly annoyed about that, especially after all the grinding I had to do to make that happen. Now they’ve added a bunch of new Pokémon and introduced way more RNG than what was in the base game. You have to jump through some serious hoops in order to catch the guy you might be looking for.
In order to enter Hyperspace Lumiose, the place where all these DLC Pokémon reside, you must make some donuts with Ansha. If you provide her butter and some berries, she’ll make donuts that you can feed to Hoopa. When Hoopa eats them, you get the ability to enter the alternate dimension. You get a timer based on the amount of calories the donut has. The higher the calories, the longer you’ll get to stay in Hyperspace. While it’s a cute idea on paper, it’s actually extremely annoying to do in practice. You have to constantly go back to the Team MZ headquarters to bake donuts. You also have to pray that the Pokémon you’re searching for actually spawns in one of the many dimensional portals that appear on the map. There’s only a handful of species in each portal, so it can take a while to find the exact one you’re hunting for. Mega Dimensions took an already borderline snoozefest of a grind from the base game and turned grinding into an even more tedious experience. While adding extra layers does shake up the gameplay formula, it feels more intrusive than innovative.
What frustrates me more than anything is that we are still completely stuck in Lumiose City. I’m of the mindset that Lumiose is actually an interesting and fun map to spend time in. I had no problem with the entirety of the base game taking place in Lumiose because I always found that there were new areas opening up and changing as the story progressed. Exploring the city often lead to cool spawns and interesting secrets – I found it rewarding. The issue is that every other Pokémon DLC brought us to new, exciting places that elevated the original experience. Getting to access Lumiose City in an alternate dimension isn’t anywhere near as interesting as it sounds.
Mega Dimensions is a DLC that doesn’t feel like a DLC. While it’s charming and sweet, much like the base game, it doesn’t do enough to elevate Legends Z-A, and often feels like a majorly extended side mission as part of the post-game. The timing of this DLC release also didn’t give Pokémon: Legends Z-A much time to breathe and exist as its own game. Had there been a few more months between, so I had more time to get excited about new content, then this might be a different story. As it stands, Mega Dimensions adds more of the same with a few new added layers of tedium. I can only recommend this if you’re into a painstakingly long grind. If you’re not, then I think you could skip this.
