Pokémon Mystery Dungeon (DS & GBA): don't overlook it!

[Cantaloup]

I just wanted to post and say not to overlook this game! Even though it got a 35/40 in Famitsu, it's gotten some awful review scores (GameSpot, IGN, etc.) here in the US. I got it this week and it's actually quite a good game. It's basically a roguelike with a Pokémon theme. If you like roguelikes at all, I highly recommend looking into it. However, it's much different than other Pokémon RPGs, so if you have no idea what the heck a "roguelike" is, be sure to check into the gameplay first. Otherwise you will be in for a surprise.

Questions, comments?

[youruglyclone]

what is roguelike?

no seriously I'd like to know

[Cantaloup]

Entry for "roguelike" at Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roguelike

Some popular roguelikes include Angband (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angband_%28computer_game%29), NetHack (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NetHack), Larn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larn), and Moria (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moria_%28computer_game%29).

[Cryomancer]

Actually the "mystery dungeon" games have been being made in Japan for ages, there's one for DQ, FF, etc. It's kinda it's own little genre.

[Daria]

Actually the "mystery dungeon" games have been being made in Japan for ages, there's one for DQ, FF, etc. It's kinda it's own little genre.

And they're generally disliked here in the US. I'm wondering if the addiction kids seem to have for all things Pokemon is enough to overcome that stigma. Would be nice to see one of these games actually do well for a change.

[joshnickerson]

I picked up the DS version last week at Wal-Mart, after getting a price match for Circuit City (and ended up getting it a dollar cheaper, $22). I didn't play it until a couple of days later, but I have to say, I thought it was a horrible game, mainly because I had no idea what was happening during the battle sections and the controls were clunky.

But it's started to grow on me a bit since I've slowly started to understand this "new-to-me" turn based battle system. It's definately different from a typical Pokemon game.

[BydoEmpire]

I've never played a pokemon game, but I'm definitely interested in this. I love dungeon crawlers (I actually did play rogue and nethack back in the day).

[Kitsune Sniper]

If it was related to Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest, it'd be worth something to reviewers, but since it's Pokemon, nobody takes it seriously.

I'd like to get this game. I don't like the type of game (roguelike) that much, but I've heard this isn't as difficult as the other games on the Mysterious Dungeon series. :)

[8bit4life]

I never could take Pokemon seriously either...

But a good gamer friend of mine just started working at thier NY offices a couple months ago. He told me they completely push thier product on them and he's really been getting into the games a lot. He even forked over the cash to buy a pokemon edition gamecube...

I still can't see myself getting into it.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Well, I got the rom, and just spent an HOUR playing it. Holy crap. It's a GOOD game.

I'm seriously considering purchasing it sometime in the near future!

...

Now why the hell did I get Psyduck? :(

[Daniel Thomas]

Well, I got the rom, and just spent an HOUR playing it. Holy crap. It's a GOOD game.

I'm seriously considering purchasing it sometime in the near future!(


So I take it someone's finally made a playable emulator for DS?

[Kitsune Sniper]

Red's on GBA. Blue's on DS. :P

[joshnickerson]

Just got an email from Nintendo saying that at select Wal-Mart stores, when you buy either version, you get an exclusive DVD of the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Special they showed on Cartoon Network last month. Might give me a reason to pick up Red Rescue Team after all.

[FantasiaWHT]

So to compare it to more modern games... would it be fair to compare it to Azure Dreams or Chocobo Dungeon?

I love those two games...

[Cantaloup]

So to compare it to more modern games... would it be fair to compare it to Azure Dreams or Chocobo Dungeon?

I haven't played those two games, so I don't know. But I have heard them mentioned in conjunction with this game (for example, the Wikipedia entry on Fushigi no Dungeon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fushigi_no_Dungeon)), so they may be similar.

I'm now over 50 hours of game time, and my opinion of it is even higher than before. I think they did a great job of fusing this play style with the Pokémon universe. After you finish the main story (about 15-20) there is a huge amount of stuff still to do, and you have a lot more freedom about how to do it.

[jdc]

Geez....I haven't posted for a week or so, and I'm surprised by the lack of posting on this game. It's Pokemon and it's fun. I wouldn't recommend levelling up though. Just use regular attacks instead of "moves", or it pretty much removes ALL challenge from the game.