Welcome to EXPlay, (Explain & Play) the review series where we care not for scores, but tell it how it is when it comes to every game we get our hands on, all whilst including some lengthy gameplay, to give you, the reader, the chance to form your own impressions and views while reading and watching.
In this explanatory review, we’re covering the all-new paid DLC for Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Mega Dimension DLC by developer, GAME FREAK:
Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Mega Dimension DLC (Nintendo Switch 2)
Announced on September 12, 2025, just over a full month before Pokémon Legends: Z-A was due to be released on both the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2, Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Mega Dimension is one of the quickest DLCs ever released in Pokémon history, thanks to a speedy release on December 10, 2025, less than three months after it was first revealed. But, with a $29.99 price tag and repetitive roguelike gameplay, it’s time to compare Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Mega Dimension to the DLCs that came before it.
In terms of value, Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Mega Dimension is the most expensive DLC yet released for a Pokémon game in terms of what it offers. For instance, unless additional content is announced, for the price of $29.99, Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Mega Dimension provides players with a new story featuring a new setting, but ultimately, it’s one expansion with a Pokédex that consists of 132 Pokémon to catch, on top of the game’s base game count of 232, as long as you’ve completed the sidequests to get Diancie and Mewtwo.
In the case of Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield, however, while players need to purchase the correct Expansion Pass for the version of the game they own, at the same price of $29.99, the Expansion Pass has two expansions to offer, with one being a new story set in The Isle of Armor with 200 Pokémon to catch to fill the Pokédex. (211 counting Zarude.) Whereas the other expansion added a new story and Dynamax Adventures in The Crown Tundra and another Pokédex featuring 210 Pokémon to catch, which is on top of the game’s base Pokédex, which requires players to catch 400 Pokémon to complete it.
Then, in the case of Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet, we have another base game that has a Pokédex that tasks players with catching 400 Pokémon, but for the players who want more, that’s where The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero DLC comes in. Priced at $34.99, $5 more than the other Pokémon DLCs mentioned above, The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero DLC consists of three expansions. Two of which take players to new locations completely separate from Paldea in the form of Kitakami and Unova’s Blueberry Academy, whereas the third expansion is a return to Kitakami in the form of the game’s DLC exclusive epilogue.
Furthermore, Kitakami has a Pokédex featuring 200 Pokémon to catch, whereas Blueberry Academy has 243 Pokémon to catch. So, despite a bigger price tag, for what it actually offers, and the gameplay experience it provides, the value of The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero does, in fact, justify the cost. The same can also be said for Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield’s Expansion Pass, as both do a great job of highlighting how minimal the Mega Dimension DLC’s content actually is. But, since the size of a game’s or DLC’s Pokédex is not enough reason alone to dismiss it, it’s time to dive into what the DLC does offer and highlight a couple of missed opportunities.
From a story perspective, Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Mega Dimension continues the established narrative of Pokémon Legends: Z-A and provides the game with a continued story, which is only available once players have beaten the game. The story revolves around a young girl named Ansha and the Hoopa who is accompanying her. After a fateful encounter and the reveal that Ansha is after Rayquaza, in the hopes of catching one for her awesome mother, mysterious dimensions begin to open up throughout Lumiose City. Ansha, Hoopa and her ability to create powerful doughnuts, pave the way for our heroes to venture forth into the dreamscape that is Hyperspace Lumiose.
What starts as a seemingly harmless interdimensional, turns into anything but when our heroes realise the threat of Hyperspace Lumiose poses a real threat when people and Pokémon start getting pulled into it, which, when you consider the game’s gameplay loop, is a tad contradictory. You see, to explore these pocket dimensions consisting of a parallel Lumiose, with a variety of small, medium and large-sized areas recreated, the player must utilise Ansha’s doughnut-making skills to create doughnuts out of the berries you possess, to feed them to Hoopa so that you can enter one of the hyperspace wild zones. Depending on the doughnuts you make and feed Hoopa, can affect how many calories are in it, with more calories resulting in more time to explore each dimension.
Once time ticks down to zero, players are kicked back out of the dimension, which is why it’s a bit odd that other people and Pokémon are getting sucked in, as they don’t have Hoopa helping them to get in and despite the DLC’s new 80 side quests that are added, not a single one of them, or any of the new story missions, involve having to save random NPCs and get them of Hyperspace Lumiose. Instead, the new side quests are more of the same, with some seeking players to capture specific Pokémon, most featuring battles and others requiring you to enter certain Hyperspace wild zones where side quests can be found in the form of battles against new Mega Pokémon. Beating them will result in you obtaining a new Mega Stone that will allow you to mega evolve one of your Pokémon into the Pokémon you just beat.
But there’s a little more nuance to battles than just that. You see, not only does Hyperspace Lumiose see the return of Pokémon already available in the base game of Pokémon Legends: Z-A, but other Pokémon are available as well. None are brand-new Pokémon or brand-new evolution or regional form to an existing Pokémon, as the only new Pokémon are new Megas, but these Pokémon are all levelled higher than level 100, thus giving battles a higher difficulty limit in the base game, due to higher level Pokémon being able to one-shot your Pokémon.
Additionally, should you catch a higher-level Pokémon and take them back into Lumiose, their levels are reduced to a much lower level, based on which Hyperspace you entered, as higher-level Pokémon are obtainable from higher-ranked dimensions, such as four or five stars. In contrast, lower-level Pokémon are obtainable from one, two and three-star dimensions. Thankfully, you won’t just have to rely on type advantage, though, as in addition to doughnuts determining how much time you can spend in a Hyperspace wild zone, but depending on what berries are used to create them and the game’s RNG system, a varierty of benefits are available, such as encounter power, strengthening move times, boosting alpha encounter odds and even shiny odds. Of course, players can put down a hard save at a Pokémon Centre and boot up the backup save should they make a doughnut that doesn’t provide them with the benefits they desire.
Regardless, there is a little more to Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Mega Dimension’s story than just exploring Hyperspace Lumiose. Across multiple story missions, players must repeatedly enter Hyperspace and complete certain objectives, such as catching x amount of Pokémon, catching an Alpha Pokémon, or destroying x amount of floating Poké Balls. For each objective you complete, you can earn Research Points, which are used to advance the game’s story, but only if you get the required amounts, such as 25,000, 50,000 and 75,000. By reaching the goal posts, a special Hyperspace will appear, a new Rogue Mega Evolution battle will occur.
By beating the mega, you can obtain their Mega Stone, and smash open a Bonus Ball, a large floating golden Poké Ball, which inside, features various Hyperspace berries and butter, a pivotal item that improves the quality of the doughnuts Ansha can make, but then it is rinse, wash and repeat until you’ve beaten the main Mega Pokémon, causing Hyperspace Lumiose in the first place. Except things don’t just end there. Ansha’s wish hasn’t been fulfilled and after the credits roll, it is time for the DLC’s post-game content, requiring players to grind more Research Points, do three more powerful battles, only to then lead into post-post-game content. Because after Ansha’s wish has been fulfilled, Special Scans are now unlocked.
For every 25,000 Research Points you have, you can interact with an NPC to conduct a special scan, resulting in a 5-star Hyperspace to appear. The size can very, as can the Pokémon that appear in them. Some portals lead to a Gimmighoul-only area, some take you to a place where only Rotom or the entire Frigibax line can be encountered, whereas others will be home to a legendary or mythical Pokémon, with three of the Swords of Justice Pokémon, able to be shiny hunted. The same can also be said for Eon duo. There’s also a big final battle against a certain Mega Pokémon that was revealed via trailers, which, once beaten, unlocks a special boss rush mode against Mega Pokémon at the Quasartico Inc. building.
But here’s the rub. When you first start playing the DLC, it can be quite easy to come across zones with new Pokémon to catch, and progression is at a decent pace, but things start slowing down the moment the game’s RNG goes against your favour. One minute, you can be lucky with the portals made available to you, but the next, none of them are offering anything new, and you find yourself having to rest on a bench to swap day to night, to refresh the zones until something new pops up.
During my playthrough in particular, I can honestly say, Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Mega Dimension took me a lot longer to complete its Pokédex than any other game, especially when the DLC’s entire initial story and post-game story is only around 10 hours at best, and yet it took me 40 hours just to get all 132 Pokémon and that leads us into the next slight issue we have with the DLC. As much as we enjoyed the Hyperspace Lumiose setting, the handful of maps only captivated us so far. Sure, some of the battles against Legendary Pokémon happened in unique locations, but when you have the likes of Alolan, Galarian, and Hisuian forms available, it feels like a missed opportunity not to have made them exclusive to their own unique Hyperspace wild zones. For instance, Hyperspace Hisui could have lurked above the museum for obvious reasons, and it would have been nice to have a small Hyperspace Alola and Hyperspace Galar area, as both could have featured a small map or two.
Still, I feel it is a missed opportunity entirely to have had a DLC that sees the protagonist return to the home they came from and have a Kitakami/Blueberry Academy-sized adventure there. I say this, as I still find it odd our unsung hero only came to Lumiose for a vacation, only to get wrapped up with everything that was going on and having to save Lumiose more than once. Sure, they get to stay in a hotel for free, make friends, join Team MZ and have a Pokémon thrust upon them, but as an older protagonist, it’s a bit interesting as to why they don’t have one already. Did they never want to be a trainer, but suddenly accept the role now that they’re on holiday, or do they have a Pokémon Professor or nursery in their hometown, looking after a Pokémon they were willing to leave behind? So many questions and nowhere near enough answers.
In conclusion, for anyone who played Pokémon Legends: Z-A and fell in love with it and its characters, Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Mega Dimension can be a worthwhile purchase for you. It brings back many of the game’s standout characters and builds upon the foundation Z-A established, but when compared to previous experiences, by no means is it the greatest. For all the things Pokémon Legends: Z-A got right, the DLC seems to do the opposite. Nevertheless, it would be a very nice surprise if we ended up getting a second expansion at no added cost, thus helping to elevate its status among its predecessors, but we’re not going to hold our breath on it anytime soon.
Game Specifications:
Developer: GAME FREAK
Publisher: Nintendo
Platforms: Nintendo Switch (Digital) | Nintendo Switch 2 (Digital)
Genre: Role-playing
No. of Players: 1 (Single System) | 1 – 4 (Online)
Release Date: December 10, 2025
Price: $29.99
File Size: 1.98 GB with update
Nintendo.com Listing
