When Nintendo and Chunsoft teamed up
to release Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red and Blue Rescue Teams in 2006, they
(like most things Pokemon) were huge successes. Despite the fact that these
games belonged to the hardcore ‘roguelike’ genre, Pokemon fans everywhere
enjoyed this new take on their favorite franchise. The success of those games
introduced legions of new players to this obscure RPG sub-genre. Now, they’ve
again partnered with Nintendo to bring Pikachu and gang back into the Mystery
Dungeons, with Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time for Nintendo DS.
The story begins much like Red/Blue
Rescue Team: the player, a human, wakes up on a beach to discover that they’ve
become a Pokemon. With no memory of how they got there or how this
transformation took place, you decide (with the help and partnership of the
Pokemon who discovered you) to join Wigglytuff Guild, which organizes teams to
rescue Pokemon in need in the recently-discovered mystery dungeons. What starts
as a simple rescue gig soon unfolds into an epic adventure that leads (of
course) to a plot that threatens the entire world, with the player positioned to
save it. The story is quite substantial with plenty of lengthy cinematic
sequences, and while it’s fairly well written, it doesn’t really tread any new
ground as far as RPG storylines go. Genre fans will likely find themselves
skipping past the copious dialogue to get back to the real meat of the game —
the dungeons.
The game takes place largely in a
series of dungeons, each of which is randomly generated, then populated with
various items, enemies, and traps. Gameplay itself has the player acting in
turns with the enemies and various helpful characters — they don’t act until you
do, but every time you take any action, they each get a turn, too. Walking a
step, attacking, using an item-each uses one turn and allows every other dungeon
resident a turn as well. If all this sounds familiar, there’s a good reason:
Chunsoft released another game last month — Shiren the Wanderer — also for DS,
which featured very similar gameplay. But where Shiren took the path of brutal
difficulty, Explorers of Time takes a softer approach. This game is much more
forgiving, with less harsh penalties for death and a much smoother difficulty
curve, which makes it a much better game to ease children into the genre,
especially when paired with the kid-friendly Pokemon cast.
For roguelike fans, though, that
might not be a good thing. In fact, much of the fun of this genre comes from the
tension that that arises when ruthless enemies and traps could be anywhere (and
of course the relief and satisfaction that comes with overcoming them). With the
setbacks suffered upon death greatly lessened (in Shiren, you would lose all
your money, items, experience levels, and dungeon progress, whereas here you
just lose your money and about half your inventory) and the ease with which you
can level up, the tension just isn’t there, and with it goes the sense of
accomplishment. This probably wouldn’t bother most people; in fact, some might
like this reduced difficulty. Personally, it meant that the game just didn’t
grab me the way other Mystery Dungeon titles have, and genre veterans should
realize that the challenge they crave won’t be found here.
At least it looks pretty good. Sure,
it might not push the DS to its limits, but the spritework is cute, detailed,
and colorful. The Pokemon are as cute and visually interesting as ever, and each
has their share of smooth animations. The music as similarly cheerful, with
bouncy, catchy tunes playing throughout (although a few can be too sugary for
anyone out of elementary school). Not as great were the sound effects; some of
the Pokemon’s cries sound like they used the same sound clip from the original
Game Boy Pokemon titles.
As has become the standard for
Pokemon titles, this was released with a companion game, Explorers of Darkness.
Aside from a few exclusive Pokemon (only Time, for instance, has the immensely
popular legendary Pokemon, Lucario) and a couple of unique items, the two
versions are identical. Also par for the course: players can track down friends
with the other version and trade in order to catch them all. And just as in
Shiren, fallen Pokemon can send a rescue request via Nintendo WiFi.
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers
of Time is not a bad game in the least. With its simplified gameplay systems,
more forgiving difficulty, and widely loved characters, there’s no better game
to introduce the roguelike genre to a younger crowd. At the end of the day,
though, there are better games of this type available for the DS, and any mature
fan looking for a deep, intelligent, challenging roguelike would do better to
look elsewhere.
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Review Scoring Details for Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time |
Gameplay: 7.8
While the turn-based combat and dungeon exploration isn’t quite as deep as we’ve
seen elsewhere, it can still get pretty addictive. Still, without the threat of
failure looming quite so threateningly as in other roguelikes, the game can get
a little bland.
Graphics: 8.4
Bright, colorful, well-animated Pokemon inhabit intricate 2D environments. The
dungeons can look generic sometimes, but the towns look great.
Sound: 7.6
The music is pretty catchy most of the time, but it can get a little saccharine
sometimes. The game’s sound effects range from decent to laughably low fidelity,
and quite a few effects sound like they were taken directly from Pokemon Red and
Blue.
Difficulty: Medium
Compared to its sibling roguelikes, Explorers of Time is a walk in the park.
That said, what’s easy for a roguelike can still get somewhat challenging,
especially by kids games’ standards. Still, a basic understanding of Pokemon
combat strategy (elemental weaknesses and so on) will take you far.
Concept: 8.5
The Pokemon universe is a perfect fit for this type of game, with virtually
every element from the main series titles making it into this game in some form
or another. They’re also the perfect license to get younger players interested
in this remarkably hardcore genre.
Multiplayer: 7.8
Trading Pokemon with your friends is as fun as ever, and being able to send out
an S.O.S. can definitely come in handy. It makes me wish for a true co-op
version of this game, though.
Overall: 7.8
Explorers of Time doesn’t provide the intense challenge or genuine sense of
accomplishment that some of the other Mystery Dungeon titles are known for, and
adult players might find the whole thing a little cutesy. Still, it’s the
perfect way to introduce the next generation of roguelike fans to this obscure,
hardcore, but very entertaining genre — as well as a perfectly serviceable, if a
little underwhelming, addition to the DS’s growing RPG library.
