Spin-Off What do you guys think of the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games?

[firepanda]

Did any of you play them? The Red/Blue rescue team games got quite big in my school, for some reason. I'm considering getting one of the later games, since they seem to be going cheap on eBay. Which one did you think was the best? I thought they had a certain charm, but some of the gameplay didn't really suit pokemon.

 

[DarkMeow]

Eh, I didn't really like them very much, mostly because it was a bit harder than what I was used too, and it just seemed really odd in general. I plan on trying out Gates Of Infinity in the future though.

 

[Bolt Strike]

I've only played Time/Darkness/Sky, although I have seen a playthrough of GtI. Between those two, TDS is definitely better.

 

[firepanda]

I've only played Time/Darkness/Sky, although I have seen a playthrough of GtI. Between those two, TDS is definitely better.

That's what I've heard too. GtI basically dropped the ball on most counts. Only issue is it has gen V pokemon and dem fancy 3d graphics.

 

[RazorBayleef4]

I've played Red Rescue Team and Explorers of Sky, and I loved both of them. Honestly I was more invested in the stories of those two than any main series games I've ever played. I'm really keen on playing the other ones too.

 

[Sakuraa]

I love the first 2 sets. Pokémon Blue Rescue Team was my very first Pokémon game ever and for that it holds a special place in my heart. I loved the story and characters so much. I loved it so much that I later got Red Rescue team to replay over and over. I'll forever love these as my favorite games.

Time, Darkness, and Sky were great too. The story was much deeper, even extending to the post game. I liked the concept exploration teams with the goals of finding treasures and stopping outlaws in addition to rescuing. The greater amount of characters and interactions was great in these games mainly due to the guild.

Then Gates to Infinity came out and kind of threw me off. Well not kind of. I hated it. I never understood or cared for the Pokémon Paradise and none of the characters were as interesting or likeable to me as in the previous games. And I swear that the plot was all over the place. I barely even remember it. Seriously, I remember the plots of the other games pretty much flawlessly, but can't remember much of the most recent one. And I haven't replayed Red/Blue Rescue Team in years. That's how much I didn't care for this story. I also hated the extreme lack of Pokémon in the game. It was polluted with pretty much only gen 5 mons, which I don't care much for, with only a few from all other gens combined. Now I could understand it if it was due to having to make 3D models for all these Pokémon, but it was still such a let down since the previous games had their entire amount of Pokémon available. And with that, it also sucked that you could only choose between 5 Pokémon at the beginning. With the lack of the personality test, I would have hoped that you could just choose from a big list of starters and make it easier, but no. So yeah, limited variety seriously killed this game for me. But like I said, the previous ones will always be special to me.

 

[zakisrage]

I don't really care for them, since I find them to be kind of difficult, though Gates of Infinity was definitely better than the first two. I like how it was unusually dark for a Pokemon game. Still, I prefer the main series games because they're easier.

 

[TerraTF]

They peaked with Explorers of Sky. The more recent ones just aren't as interesting.

 

[Steel_Justice]

Loved the first two but I don't intend to pick up gates because of the small pool of pokemon you can use.

The first two has crazy awesome music, story and battles, plus I can be a Riolu in Explorers of Sky which is awesome.

 

[Stratelier]

Been awhile since we've had a PMD thread....

First, Pokemon's gameplay doesn't adapt to the Roguelike formula perfectly, so there are points where things just don't feel balanced (that you wouldn't also see in the main series).

Of the three installments we have (Rescue Team, Explorers, and Gates) the gameplay is similar throughout all three of them, obviously, but it generally gets better and smoother with each one. For example, in the Rescue Team games all recruited team members (other than your two mains) return to their Friend Area after EVERY mission, so you're constantly having to re-assign them. Plus, when you recruit a Pokemon in the wild you have to finish the mission (or use an Escape Orb) without them getting KO'ed or you lose them (in later games you can simply send them back, like how in the main series caught Pokemon are automatically sent to the PC). Gates changes up the XP formula and abilities a lot (favoring "Team Skills" over IQ skills, which are shared by all party members but pretty difficult to actually acquire; Pokemon not on the active mission will still gain XP, they just won't level up until they're taken out on a mission; and Pokemon other than your two mains can freely evolve at any time during a dungeon, no special trips required to a specific location as in the previous two games) and the gameplay is smoother for it, if a bit easier. Oh, and the third game (generally) doesn't use the Hunger/Belly mechanic, so you don't have to worry about keeping a supply of Apples in your inventory.

Storywise, the Explorers games (Time/Darkness/Sky) has the best story of the series, don't miss it (choose Sky over Time/Darkness if you can). Rescue Team and Gates have kinda so-so stories; yes they do have their emotional moments, but overall their stories don't feel all that memorable, especially in comparison.

 

[firepanda]

Loved the first two but I don't intend to pick up gates because of the small pool of pokemon you can use.

The first two has crazy awesome music, story and battles, plus I can be a Riolu in Explorers of Sky which is awesome.

And shinx. <3 God I love that li'l guy. I just wish I could use Luxray in competitive.

 

[Barfing Ogres]

I think that next to Emerald, I've put the most hours into Explorers of Darkness. Sky is rapidly catching up though. Red Rescue Team was so unique that I was instantly sold on the next batch. Gates to Infinity never even saw a chance when I saw it only had 144 Pokemon. I do hope they rectify that for the next one.

 

[Bolt Strike]

I don't really care for them, since I find them to be kind of difficult, though Gates of Infinity was definitely better than the first two. I like how it was unusually dark for a Pokemon game. Still, I prefer the main series games because they're easier.

Time/Darkness/Sky weren't dark? Really? The game in which you get dragged into a post apocalyptic future for half of the game? Wut.

I wasn't as impressed with GtI's storyline because it kind of reminded me of TDS' in a broad sense. Especially with Munna/Hydreigon's roles mirroring Dusknoir/Grovyle's. I also didn't like the limited Pokemon, and the limited amount of recruitable legendaries. I mean, one of the things that I really wanted to do was to tear through dungeons as Zekrom, but he's only a boss in this game, which was disappointing.

 

[Norzan]

Explorers of the Sky it's hands down my favourite of the series, it has a story that is better than all the stories of the main series games combined (doesn't mean much since they are all terrible), funny and interesting characters, entertaining and funny dialogue, the gameplay, while a bit repetitive, it's solid and the soundtrack is awesome, Primal Dialga theme is one of my favourite in the entire franchise.

 

[Stratelier]

Loved the first two but I don't intend to pick up gates because of the small pool of pokemon you can use.

The first two has crazy awesome music, story and battles, plus I can be a Riolu in Explorers of Sky which is awesome.

And shinx. <3 God I love that li'l guy. I just wish I could use Luxray in competitive.

My Explorers of Sky team was specifically Riolu as the main (I wasn't trying for it, that's just how my quiz answers turned out) and Shinx as the partner.

 

[Ivysaur]

Damn, PMD really fell off the radar after such a great start. I got Blue Rescue Team and I absolutely loved the deeper story it offered. Explorers of Time came out soon after and I really liked that one too (even if I preferred Blue slightly more, at least in terms of the characters). Never got around to playing Sky and I heard the series just hasn't been the same since then. The furthest I got was playing the demo of the 3DS one and I just couldn't get into it anymore.

Really, the DS era was just damn good time for Pokemon spin-offs. Trozei, Ranger and Conquest were all great, but Mystery Dungeon was always my favorite one. A real shame they couldn't sustain that success.

 

[Stratelier]

Explorers of Time came out soon after and I really liked that one too (even if I preferred Blue slightly more, at least in terms of the characters). Never got around to playing Sky....

Sky is basically the same as Time/Darkness, in the way that Platinum is to Diamond/Pearl.

 

[Ivysaur]

Sky is basically the same as Time/Darkness, in the way that Platinum is to Diamond/Pearl.

Yep, which is why I never got around to playing it. I heard the additions didn't really justify the full price tag to those who already played Time or Darkness. I did sell my copy of Time though (quite regrettably), so maybe I'll finally come around to giving it a shot one day.

 

[Lugia trainer]

The first two were great but gates to infinity really fell far from them. There are several things I didn't like about: 1: Every time you recruit a new team member in a dungeon you are forced to give it a nickname. 2: You can only do 1 job at a time even if you have multiple jobs that take place in the same dungeon meaning it takes longer to increase your rank. 3: Every single team member that isn't on your active team gains experience when you defeat enemies so if you take a team member into a dungeon for the first time in a while you have to sit through a long session of them leveling up multiple times in a row. 4: You cannot recruit every single pokemon there is like in the previous games. And 5: The post ending story focuses on something that takes place during the ending in previous games instead of being a continuation of the main story like in the previous games. So..... yeah. The next PMD game they make should fix all that. You know what I mean.

 

[Osprey]

The Explorers series was the first I played, and by far the best. It was great in every category- especially in story and music. The world was beautiful and engaging to my 9-year-old mind at the time. It did what Rescue Team did, except better. Gates to Infinity apparently had an unbearably dumb end and cheesy themes.

Spoiler

I mean, the final boss is a freaking giant snowflake. Come. On.

Primal Dialga's one of the coolest-looking antagonists in all the Pokemon games if you ask me. :loopy: