Nintendo DS Review: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness/Time

Review by: Pikaboo

Before I start this review, it should be noted that to review this game I played Explorers of Darkness and not Explorers of Time. If there are two major differences between the two games besides for different Pokemon, then I shall include a section for Explorers of Time.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon is an indirect sequel of the first game, “Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team”. The dungeons are still randomly generated and the main town will be where you can do various things like in Blue Rescue Team. In the main town of both games, you can buy items or TMs, store your items and money, link moves, train at the dojo, and take on some missions. The game has basically remained the same from the Blue Rescue Team and Explorers of Darkness, however there are a couple of new changes added to the formula.

A small change is that in Blue Rescue Team, you could receive missions and other stuff through mail, but in the new Mystery Dungeon, they scrapped that idea altogether, and replaced it with Chatot telling you what your objective for the day would be (which is usually just to look at the available missions). Another small change is now there are two mission boards: one for basic missions like in Blue Rescue Team and another for Bounties (where you must defeat a certain Pokemon to retrieve an item back for your client). In Explorers of Darkness, every now and then, you will be forced to play a footprint minigame, where the objective is to match the footprint of a Pokemon to the Pokemon within a set time period.

In this game, there is a brand-new story, which Blue Rescue Team was lacking. Though they basically use the same opening, throughout the game, the story seems to get darker and darker and there are actually some surprises that actually shock you, even if it's just a little. First you take a small test answering questions much like you did in the previous games. After taking the exam, you press your finger onto your touch screen so that it can “feel your aura”. I'm not sure whether this actually does something, or just to integrate the touch screen controls, but I didn't seem to notice anything. After that, you become a Pokemon based on your results. Once you have found out who you will be playing as you have your choice of choosing whichever starter Pokemon you desire to be your partner.

Anyways, the story starts like this... You wake up on the beach and you can't remember a thing, except for your name (which you can input) and the fact that you were a human. Your partner is the first to find you and tell you that you are [insert your Pokemon here]. It seems as though your Partner was about to join the Wigglytuff Guild, but was too afraid to go through with it. A Koffing and a Zubat see this and now know that your Partner was a coward. After your Partner meets up with you, the Koffing and Zubat steal your partner's most precious possession, his Relic Fragment. Your partner and you will now team up together to take back his treasure.

Like previous installments, players may send out an SOS if they are defeated in the dungeon, which can be done either using passwords or DS Wireless Communications as before, but also through Wi-Fi. New to this series will be the option to temporarily send a team member to aid a friend in need, which may allow a team to have more than four members. Defeated teams awaiting rescue may also revisit previous dungeons to make more and collect items, but without the ability to level up. I have not used this feature much, so this is where this review should lack.

The best change is the face that there is no need to buy Friend Areas like you needed to do in Blue Rescue Team. In Blue Rescue Team, the player had to buy different Friend Areas, or they would not be able to befriend some of the Pokemon. Explorers of Time totally scrapped the idea and set it up so that you could set up a team just by talking to a Chingling.

As far as graphics go, this could have been done on the Gameboy Advance, like Red Rescue Team. Explorers of Time still uses the same old sprites as the previous game. This game also does not feature any FMVs, which we all know the DS can now handle. This may be an entertaining game, but the visuals don't really back it up. The soundtrack is upbeat and the music seems to go in great with the dungeons, however the visuals don't shine as much as the music does. The controls are basic and simple. You can use your D-Pad to move, B Button to attack and L + B Button to use your set move, which you can choose form your menu. You can also use your touch screen to move around and attack, but the D-Pad feels much more comfortable.

If you're a rabbid fan of Pokemon, you should get this without a doubt. If you enjoyed playing Diamond/Pearl and you're looking for that same vibe from Explorers of Time, try somewhere else as this is does not have the same satisfaction as the old-school Pokemon. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon is, by far means, not for everyone. If you remember playing some old Dungeon RPGs back in your day, you may want to revisit the genre by playing this game. And maybe if you've never played a game of this genre you can try now, but I can not guarantee that you will enjoy this game.