What if you woke up one day and found out you were a Pokemon? Well that’s just what happens in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon. Take a quiz to find out which Pokemon you’ll be, then team up with a Pokemon buddy who can communicate with you, now that you’re one of them. Together you both decide to form a rescue team to save Pokemon who are in danger.

The new Pokemon Mystery Dungeon comes in two versions: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness. Both games are pretty much the same except you’ll meet up and battle with different Pokemon in each. And speaking of sameness, these new games are VERY similar to the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team that were on the DS and GBA a few years ago. In fact, the only differences between the two are a slightly different story and dungeons to explore, plus you get to play as and battle with Pokemon from the new Diamond and Pearl games. And all these Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games go into the category of “Rogue-like” dungeon explorer games.

Anyway, in Explorers of Time/Darkness, set up your rescue base, receive rescue missions and venture inside dungeon mazes where trapped Pokemon await your rescue. These multilevel dungeons are randomly generated, meaning you never go through the same one twice. The downside to this is that most of the caves and mazes aren’t very interesting, just square rooms connected by corridors. Inside the dungeons are useful items to nab and enemy Pokemon to fight. Everything you do in a dungeon is turn-based. So if you make a move, the enemy Pokemon will make one move, too. This includes walking a step, using healing or other items, or attacking—they all count as moves. This means you must make strategic decisions when down in the depths of the dungeons.

After a successful rescue mission, you earn money, items, experience, and you might even learn a clue or two on why you were turned into a Pokemon in the first place. In the town near your base, you can buy items and store your money and valuables. You can only take a few items with you down in the dungeon, and if you lose a battle while down there, you lose a lot of your items and all your money. But anything you store in town will be safe. Sometimes, down in the dungeons, an enemy Pokemon will befriend you and join your rescue team. But that only happens randomly, so don’t expect to ‘catch ‘em all.’

As said earlier, if you lose all your life in a dungeon, you get taken out of the cave and lose some of your items and money in your inventory. A very brutal penalty. But through Nintendo’s WiFi online service, you can send out a rescue signal for another player to pick up. Then they can venture in the dungeon and if they find your character and bring it out, you’ll get to keep all your items and the person who rescued you will get a good reward as well.

Explorers of Time/Darkness is so much like the last Pokemon Mystery Dungeon game that only die-hard fans will really get into it. The new game is also much harder than the last one as well, making it only fun for Poke-freaks who are gluttons for punishment.

Kid Factor:

Kids like Pokemon, and with animal rescue shows like “Go! Diego, Go!” so popular now, playing a game where you rescue Pokemon would be doubly cool. Violence is also pretty minimal, as players only attack Pokemon with tackles, lighting bolts, fireballs, and other silly moves. And nobody dies, they just faint and disappear. Strong reading skill is a must as everything in the game is text based. Some kids might get bored of the repetitive nature of the gameplay and its departure to traditional Pokemon catching elements. Kids might also get frustrated with the steep challenge and brutal consequences of losing your items and money when you fail a mission. For these reasons, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon is best for older Pokemon fans only.

Fun Poke-Survey!

OK, let’s end this review with a bit of fun. At the beginning of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, you take a test to decide which Pokemon you’ll be in the game. I got Munchlax because the game said I had a relaxed personality (which is true). I was pretty happy with the Pokemon I got because a Munchlax is just a baby Snorlax, which is my all-time favorite Pokemon. So if I could be a Pokemon, I’d be a Snorlax because all it does is sleep, and sleeping is one of the few things I can do really well. So, in the comments section, tell us which Pokemon you’d like to be! Come on, I know we’re all adults and all, but just do this for fun! Maturity is overrated! And if your kids are around, ask them what Pokemon they’d like to be, too!

Tags: Game Reviews