Pokemon Legends: Z-A & Mega Dimension DLC Snapshot Review

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Fast Facts

The Return to Kalos (Spoiler Free)

For a loooooong time, people have wanted to go back to the Kalos region – the place where Mega Evolutions started. With Pokemon Legends: Z-A, we get that. Well, sort of. The story follows your character who has recently taken a trip to Lumiose City and finds themselves in amongst the hustle and bustle of the city. You and your new acquaintances will help the Rogue Mega Evolutions to be calmed and solve the mystery behind this.

The base game is full of twists, turns, humour and detail (despite the lack of wall textures on buildings). The game introduces a whole new battle mechanic too, one that is more like the anime. Your pokemon will have free movement along with yourself (much like that of Pokemon Legends: Arceus), but instead of turns, each move has a cooldown on it, but you can continue to use other moves while you wait. Combine this with the Mega Evolutions – both old and new, and you’ve got a recipe for a really fresh feeling game!

The Core Loops

Pokemon Legends: Z-A’s core gameplay loop revolves around the Z-A League. This is a tournament where you will enter the battle zones around the city at night, battle trainers for points and then work your way up to the rank battle for each letter. There is quite a lot of this and it can be quite tedious after a while, but there are plenty of other bits to do in between (side quests, wild zones and more).

Let’s get into the DLC. Mega Dimension has a similar loop with a different approach. You’ll enter the Mega Dimension – A segment of the Lumiose City where the Pokemon are strong and different from those traditionally found in Kalos. Rather annoyingly, you must enter the portals around the city by making donuts (with the help of Hoopa) to complete challenges and earn points. These points will unlock a new Mega Evolution battle. Once complete, you will progress to learning more about the portals and thus repeating again. While I didn’t mind much in the base game, I’m personally a little tired of this mechanic.

Plenty to do

The Mega Dimension DLC introduces not only new Pokemon, new Battle Zones, new Mega Evolutions but also more side quests. Some of these quests have ties to the base game and tie up some loose ends. You’ll find yourself talking to the dead, running a shop and helping those in need. These side quests I feel are often more engaging than the standard gameplay loop, so don’t pass them up!

Looking at the map, it can get a bit cluttered. Luckily a new filter has been added so you can just see the portals you’re looking for, along with what you might find inside them. The difficulty of these portals goes up the further you progress, so be sure to make great donuts with the hyper berries you will find inside the Mega Dimension. These power up your Pokemon and give you more time in “the other side”.

I don’t want to give too much away as this game and its DLC have a lot to offer, it can just be a bit of a slog to get through the core loop. With all the content, this game keeps me coming back for more. It’s been good addition to the Pokemon franchise, and performs really nicely (I played it on Switch 2). While I don’t think the game or the DLC live up to that of Legends: Arceus, I do think that it’s worth playing for any fan.

Rapid Reviews Rating

4 out of 5

4

You can buy Pokemon Legends: Z-A and Mega Dimension on Nintendo Switch & Switch 2 via the store or the Pokemon website.