Pokemon Legends: ZA today I received my first major DLC – with arrival Mega Dimension. I played it for a few hours, and while I need to play more before I make a final decision, I'm a little disappointed, saying it's more of the same flavor we've already been served.
On the one hand, this is not a problem. I loved Pokemon Legends: ZA – I gave it four and a half stars in my review – and said that I want to see more Pokemon games like this from Game Freak in the future. Likewise, the title wasn't perfect, and my two biggest problems with ZA could have been easily solved with this DLC, but they didn't.
Expect spoilers to follow, mostly based on leaked information that has now been verified Mega Dimensionrelease.
Before I dive into my two problems, I'll start with a positive.
The best thing about the DLC so far is the introduction of monsters above level 100, the usual cap for all creatures in the series. If you've devoured Legends ZA like me, you'll probably have a team of maxed-out Pokémon, maybe a few more in your box, and DLC introducing weaker wild enemies might be trivial.
Admittedly, some battles did seem easy – especially the battles with new trainers that I've fought so far – but there were others that really tested my abilities. I even lost a match to a duo of wild Pokémon I encountered in a side mission that I wasn't as prepared for as I thought. In fact, I lost to them three times before I succeeded – demonstrating a level of difficulty that a Pokemon game hasn't offered me in a long time.
I also love this story with the return of Korrina as the Mega Evolution Champion and the debut of Ansha the donut carrying hoopa as well as the new Mega Forms.
But this is my first disappointment: we again have no new Pokemon.
Returning to the region in modern conditions, we expected Legends: FOR will not offer any new ideas other than megaforms. It made sense from a story perspective, but as someone who has always enjoyed the “Gotta catch 'em all” mantra, it was a bit of a shame that there weren't even a couple of new Pokemon to add to my collection and adventures together.
Introducing an alternate dimension filled with Pokémon that aren't native to Kalos or Lumiose City, this DLC was the perfect opportunity to finally give us at least a couple new Pokémon to interact with. Maybe even tease a couple from a region we have yet to visit.
As I mentioned above, we're getting some new Mega forms, which is great – and again I like the varied selection of Mega recipients (except Flygon misses the point again, isn't there justice in the Pokemon world?). However, to me the new mega is not the same as the new mon.
My other disappointment is that Hyperspace Lumiose is too similar to regular Lumiose. Considering that this interdimensional space is inhabited by non-native Pokémon, perhaps the reason is that the geography of the Hyperspace variant is completely different, allowing the designers to include more wilderness that feels new to explore.
Unfortunately, that excuse hasn't been used, and each zone I've visited so far looks very similar to the last, with a slight palette swap. The Pokémon Company could have simply called this new region Shiny Lumiose.
Add to that the fact that by the end of the main game, Lumiose City felt like it had gone overboard, and the opportunities offered by this DLC do feel a bit missed.
At the same time, despite my problems, I have a lot of fun and I will 100% devour Mega Dimension DLC when I finish. So if you want a little more Pokemon Legends: ZA, this DLC will offer you just that – for better and for worse.
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