VideoGame Role-Playing with some Game in-between.
The Mystery Dungeon spin-offs (At least the first two, as I've not played Gates to Infinity) essentially invert the Play the Game, Skip the Story problem the main Pokemon games have - the story is rather deep, one can easily get attached to the player character, and it's surprisingly dark, but whenever you are not advancing with the story the game feels a little... dull.
My guess is that it has a slow pace when inside a dungeon:
- The animations cannot be disabled. It's most noticeable when long-range or room-wide attacks, making the wait between each of your turns very long. And Arceus help you if that long-range move is a 5-hit Bullet Seed, or your Unburden-boosted Drifloon using Ominous Wind on a Monster House.
- Floor complexity. It does not really add anything to difficulty - outside of dungeons that don't let you carry items. And even then, you may already have an Apple or Elixir in your Bag or Toolbox. Most of the time, in my opinion, that drops difficulty due to more choke points. Oh, and Explorer's Stair Sensor throws any "difficulty" this could have out of the window. This point goes along with the next one...
- The amount of floors. This was somewhat solved in Explorers's Story with checkpoints after 10 floors (But they don't exist in story-less dungeons). While it's natural in a Roguelike to have a lot of floors, in this series floors hardly ever get more difficult the further you go (Lategame Demonic Spiders tend to come up since the very first floor, not later). Super Mystery Dungeon is said to save in a dungeon anytime, so I guess they learned.
The Mystery Dungeon games are my favourite Pokemon spin-offs along with Conquest, but I find them difficult to enjoy after the post-game story. Other than the bonus dungeons which drop the entering pokemon's level to 1 (At which the leveling up rate is not annoying at all) or force you to carry no items, that is. Or if you are intentionally not carrying enough Apples, Elixirs, long-range or room-wide moves, or useful IQ skills. Otherwise it's just a long, boring trek in which, at worst, you'd have to worry about the occasional Demonic Spider.
You know what, I wonder if its gameplay could improve if it took the Diablo route, as an action-oriented roguelike... or having the possibility of being very unfair like other roguelikes.
VideoGame Rather nice, actually.
When I was little, I didn't really realize what roguelikes were - but I had played Nethack before, so I had some background in it. As I played the game, it took me a bit to realize, but then I realized - yeah, it was the same genre as Nethack. Nowadays, I love many roguelikes, and I am thinking of revisiting this one.
In the first few easy levels, it doesn't feel as much like a roguelike because it's easy, and you don't have to start over again. But then, later on, you get the roguelike feel from the 50+ level bonus dungeons. Combine this with a town (as in Larn and Angband, but you go back there after each dungeon, and it's where story events happen) and you get small roguelike levels eventually going up into big ones, but since you keep your character's stats and all, the gameplay still feels connected.
The story is really great, as well, especially in the Explorers games, which were actually pretty dark. Perhaps I'll make a more in-depth review when I replay Blue Rescue Team and then eventually Explorers of Time.
VideoGame This is what happens when you try to make a Roguelike appeal to the masses.
As a fan of the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games, I can honestly say it's about the novelty, not the gameplay.
When I first realized what these games were — Pokémon - themed Rogue clones — I was amused by the concept. I'm also amused by how the little creatures have gorgeous sprites (even better than those in the recent Gold and Silver remakes), and they're not only talking coherent English now, but telling a very epic, hilarious, and heartfelt story. It's a well-written Pokémon Fan Fic which deserved to be its own game. If you're into Pokémon-centric fanfiction, especially transformation stories, you should have no trouble appreciating these games. It's hard to ignore the beautiful music, too.
However, gameplay is another matter. In a nutshell? It's Easy, So It Sucks.
I'm not saying the game should have been harder, I'm saying the concept was a contradiction from the start. Roguelikes are niche games; the whole appeal is how the game could screw you over at every turn, so each step must be calculated and resources must be micromanaged. Getting to Floor 200 of a dungeon without dying is something exhilarating, it means you were both skilled and lucky where it counted. To really enjoy these games, you should get drawn into a certain mindset where you don't expect to win, but you're going to go as far as you can anyway.
But Pokémon... is the dictionary definition of mainstream. To put "Pokémon" into the title, you've got to appeal to the fans. Give the player enough storage to hold nearly 50 reviver seeds. Allow powerleveling. And no dungeons over 20 floors. After all, what good is the story if nobody's going to see the ending?
But without that element of intense risk and thrill, dungeon crawling becomes just. Downright. Boring. Hold the run button, fill the map, attack sometimes. That's literally all. The games deserve every negative criticism they got for monotonous gameplay. Even the casual players found it wasn't exciting unless they were doing poorly, and just narrowly escaping with their lives. Because that's the Roguelike showing a tiny bit of its true nature.
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon is just an unfortunate series: the gameplay can't work. But it does deserve thunderous applause for story, presentation, and everything it does right.
VideoGame It's the story, not the gameplay
Alright people. Pokemon is a real slouch in story normally. Be a Master and stop an evil orgainization along the way. This all changes when YOU become the Pokemon.
Right off the bat, my favoirte thing that keeps me replaying is the idea of what Pokemon I'll be next time. From a hardy Pikachu to a relaxed Vulpix, this keeps me trying again and finding some way to bring my every trusty Mudkip with me. (They liek me so I like 'em back.)
The first game gets irony points for having two of my fave Pokemon being essiental to the story and the other being a starter. (Gardevoir and Ninetales and as I said Mudkips liek me!) The third, however gets the charm points with an eaiser difficulty and MUCH more charaterication. Not to metion Vulpix being a starter for the updated re-realease. The story grabs you in and sucks you through Nighmares and Heartwarmings. And of course, finding how to recruit a Ralts earlier. ^^
The charms rubs off and I will continue to put down my money for the chance to be a Pokemon and save the world again. Now if you'll excuse me, I got a Chatot to burn to a crisp.
VideoGame Inverts the Mainstream Pokémon Story Issue
So, to give you an idea of who this review is coming from: I am someone who has played all of the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games, not including the WiiWare Japanese exclusive in 2009. I have also never played the original Red & Blue Rescue Team, but I have played the remade DX version for the Nintendo Switch. I am also someone who is very much into story-heavy games. I also gravitate toward games that have very compelling gameplay loops even if the story is subpar, which is likely why I am also a fan of the mainstream Pokémon games. I will happily take both in a game, but I don't usually see a problem in one lacking and the other captivates me enough.
Anyway, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon is a game that essentially inverts everything you knew about the Pokémon games you're used to. You're a Pokémon instead of a trainer in a world where humans do not exist, and each one in the series follows the same basic formula of a human-turned-Pokémon meeting your partner Pokémon and forming a rescue team or something similar to do good for the world. Also unlike the regular games, it focuses more on story instead of gameplay. The games always start off lighthearted and fun, but quickly go into something far darker. I believe this game walks the line between making a more mature Pokémon game and making it completely unplayable for younger audiences perfectly, and the Mood Whiplash that it hits you with for the plot twists might be some of the hardest you can experience in a video game if you get that far.
And that's the key wording: "If you get that far."
The Mystery Dungeon games are, as stated earlier, heavily focused on story instead of gameplay. The story bits are broken up by arguably mind-numbing dungeon crawling sections that are fine in their own right. I never found myself struggling during any of the gameplay points, but it took me a while until I realized I never really had as much "fun" playing the actual game as I was watching the story unfold. This is the problem that many players face during the game, and why some people put the games down before they can even pick up. In that sense, I can completely understand why some people might downright dislike this take on Pokémon.
My opinion on it is, players will likely enjoy this game best if they treat it like a visual novel-like story game with occasional roguelike gameplay to break it up instead of the other way around. The game functions best if you let yourself get hooked in the story that the characters are telling and let it take you where it wants to. It's like eating a bowl of Lucky Charms and working your way through the rest of the cereal to eat the marshmallows. If that sounds like it would be something you can't do for the game, then Pokemon Mystery Dungeon might not be the series for you. And that's okay. I don't really like Lucky Charms myself.