admin Pokémon Legends: ZA‘S Mega dimension DLC is a lengthy coda to the base game, expanding on every storyline and mechanical overhaul Game Freak has brought to Lumiose City. It’s essentially the post game that SAT was missing when it launched in October, and while your mileage may vary depending on whether or not you want to spend an extra $30 to play it, this is a compelling twist on everything that made the game one of the best. Pokémons most convincing experiments.
Mega dimension takes place after the events of Legends: SAso you’ll have to see the credits (the real ones, not the fake one) to dive in. A young girl named Ansha appears in Lumiose City to ask for Team MZ’s help. She is looking for a powerful legendary Pokémon to give as a gift to her mother. Being heroes who never turn away anyone in need, we agree to help her find this mysterious beast, but before we can really start searching, the city is overtaken by mysterious portals leading to a bizarre version of Lumiose called Hyperspace. In this mirrored universe we find Pokémon that are not native to the city and are more powerful than they should be.
The only way we can face these powerful enemies and investigate this strange phenomenon is to give Ansha her partner Pokémon Hoopa berry-filled donuts, allowing it to strengthen our Pokémon as we go on short expeditions to Hyperspace. All of this paves the way for an interesting, if somewhat underbaked (ironic, considering the whole Donut gimmick) rogue-like mode that will put all your combat knowledge to the test.
Mega dimension doesn’t really introduce a complete mechanical overhaul of Legends: SA‘s real-time combat system, but it is much more demanding. Each time you enter Hyperspace, you’re on a timer whose length is determined by the quality of the donut you make for Hoopa, which also increases your stats and raises your level above the typical cap of 100. You only have a limited time to complete a few missions to collect information points, and learning how to make the most of your limited time can be the difference between a lucrative run or a wasted one.
These trips to this mirrored version of Lumiose can last anywhere from a few minutes to almost ten minutes depending on the recipe Ansha cooks, all determined by the berries you bring her. Once you’re in Hyperspace, you’ll have to make quick choices about which enemies you fight, which targets you focus on, and which Pokémon you bring and use. Even your most powerful monster might waste some of your time because it takes too long to charge its moves, and the clock keeps ticking as long as the game isn’t paused.
It can take some time to get the hang of the whole system, especially when the first expeditions you take into Hyperspace only give you a few minutes to acclimatize to the ways in which you’ll have to change the way you conduct yourself in this hostile new environment. By the time I made donuts that gave me more minutes on the clock, I had a strategy that I would immediately adapt. I led with a Pokémon equipped to deal with the assigned element of a rift, running through the mini-quests assigned to me for that route and then heading to higher ground to find the Bonus Ball treasure chest that would appear after I completed my tasks. I used my Salamence to search for this item, as its ability to fly meant it could reach this golden ball just about anywhere, allowing me to grab it in the precious seconds I had left while running.
These trips to Hyperspace have made me more aware of some weaknesses in the composition of my party. I didn’t trade out any Pokémon, but as the time limit in these sections expired, I became more aware of how slow my Houndoom’s Dark Pulse was charging and the time I could save by trading it in for a faster Crunch attack. My Raichu is specified as a physical attacker, but only one of those attacks can reach targets in the air. By the time I really tried to keep every Hyperspace run to a minimum, I had changed some of my favorite movesets to accommodate the ever-present threat of being ripped out of Hyperspace. Quick attacks that could reach targets above eye level were more important than heavy attacks that took precious seconds to eject.
While Mega dimensionThe game’s roguelike elements are a bit superficial, with your success largely determined by how far past the level cap you are when you enter Hyperspace. The time limit and focus on verticality require you to rethink what efficiency looks like in a Pokemon game, and ideally you think about those things before entering the imaginary city of level 140 monsters.
The problems I expect some people will have with the roguelike half of Mega dimension is that the one huge drag. I hit the credits after about a dozen hours, and large chunks of that time were spent going in and out of Hyperspace gathering information for people back home to investigate the cause of this phenomenon before it engulfed the entire real city. I personally don’t mind, like Legends: SA‘s combat system has always felt more like a puzzle game to me than a grindy RPG. I like to spot a Pokémon in the distance, pick who in my party is most likely to be able to take it down the fastest, and see if I can pull it off. The grind started to hit me hardest in the endgame when I was trying to catch some of the key legendary monsters in the DLC, and even when I take some things away post-game, I still feel it. But I still enjoy it Legends: SA‘s combat system enough that the grind isn’t a disadvantage for me.
Like everything Mega dimension had to offer were the roguelike elements, but I wouldn’t be too excited about it. Luckily, there’s also a whole bunch of new quests packed with them funny citizens saying crazy thingsstories to hear and monsters to catch. More than 100 returning Pokémon from areas far beyond Kalos appear in Hyperspace, and that includes a host of new Mega Evolutions. As everyone who has paid attention to me screams about it Kotaku will know for months, Mega dimension added two Mega Evolutions to my favorite guy, Raichu. I was ready to drop $30 to finally see my son get some love, and the X forms Superman-like fighting style makes him one of my favorite Mega Evolutions that Game Freak has ever released. But Raichu is just one of many added Megas Mega dimensionand there are some inspired choices. Legends: SA‘s base game Megas skews a bit too dumb for some people’s tastes, and Mega dimension definitely tips the scales in the opposite direction with a bunch of “cooler” designs. I won’t spoil some of the monsters that Game Freak wanted to reshape, but suffice it to say that I was eager to see each new mold when I finally faced them.
Many of those Megas are especially memorable because Mega dimension brings back the best part of the base game with Rogue Mega Evolution battles. These lengthy boss battles against rabid Mega Evolutions are still probably some of the most entertaining skill checks Pokemon game, and they’re made all the more challenging because they take place in Hyperspace, giving them a time limit and a broken level cap to deal with. These frantic battles are tough, require coordination between your player character and Pokémon, and there are still ways to surprise me in how the different Rogue Megas behave.
One of the best things Mega dimension adds that you can replay these battles, which wasn’t available in the base game. I’ve had a lot of fun revisiting some of those battles with Mega Raichu in my party so he can actually take them on. One of my biggest problems with Legends: SA was that the focus on Mega Evolution made the party compositions feel more limited, as it was much harder to tackle some of these battles without Mega Evolution critters on your team. Mega dimension doesn’t change that, but at least it gives me a chance to replay these battles with my favorite guy.
All this is connected in a story that connects multiple sides of the world Pokemon universe. Each generation of this series is set in a different region, and as such they can feel a little disconnected from each other. Mega dimension makes a point of showcasing multiple sides of the mythology, so it surprisingly feels like a sequel to games you might not expect. Fans of Ruby And SapphireThe Hoenn region will probably get a kick out of how much this plays into it Mega dimensionbut there’s something here for fans of it Diamond And Pearl‘s Sinnoh legends too.
Pokémon Legends: ZA – Mega Dimension
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Quote from the back of the box:
“Raichu flies around like he’s Superman, and if you don’t think this is the tightest shit you’ve ever seen, I don’t know how to help you.”
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Developer:
Game freak
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Type of game:
Post-game expansion for Legends: ZA with more monsters, megas and challenges
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I liked:
Roguelike mode is a new challenge and interesting use of the series’ mythology, Mega Raichu.
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Didn’t like it
It’s a drag, roguelike elements could be a bit meatier.
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Platforms:
Switch, Switch 2 (played)
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Release date:
December 10, 2025
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Played
~12 hours of credits, still working on post-game stuff.
As much as I loved everything Mega dimension gave me, I understand that the $30 price tag is a big ask for people. I try not to get into the price of things in reviews, because I don’t know every reader’s financial situation, and it feels unfair of me to try to make a judgment about whether or not something is “worth” a certain amount of money. Mega Raichu sold me on the expansion before I even played it, but looking at the DLC in the context of Pokémons long history, it feels a bit dirty. Legends: SA‘s post-game was virtually non-existent, and Mega dimension makes the post-game one of the most robust in the series, but comes on top of an already pricey game in a world where video game prices are only getting more expensive.
I can’t tell you if it’s “worth” the price, but I can tell you that I got a lot more of a game that I loved and that spoke to the things I love most about this series. Legends: SA‘s biggest strengths lie in its experimental combat system and its city-oriented stories that makes the most of its merry band of misfits. I have that in abundance here, and I was able to see it with a mega evolution of my favorite Pokémon by my side.
If you haven’t already loved Legends: SAI’d be surprised if anything here changed your mind. However, I’m having a great time. Raichu and I haven’t finished exploring every inch of Hyperspace for the Pokémon we haven’t met yet, and if this is the end of Legends: SA‘s story, it will still be one of my favorite games in the series.
