Sunday 6 October 2013

Review No. 52 Pokémon Mystery Dungeons Explorers of Sky - DS (3+)

Strong Points:
Great music
Huge map
Lots of things to do
Loads of Pokémon to befriend
Lots of legendary battles
Great and slightly darker storyline
Loads of Starters
Personality test is still great
Challenging
A variety of missions
Spinda's Cafe is a great touch
Special Episodes adds more to the game

Weak Points:
Can get frustrating
Music overtakes graphics yet again
Friendship areas are gone
It's much the same as its predecessor



In-depth Review:

Release Dates:
Japan: April 18, 2009
North America: October 12, 2009
Australia: November 12, 2009
Europe: November 20, 2009

Controls:
Outside of Dungeon:
D-Pad: move Pokémon/move cursor
A Button: confirm command/talk/advance text
B Button: cancel command/advance text quixkly
B Button + D-Pad: run
X Button: open menu/select detail
Y Button: select detail/sort items
L Button: select multiple items
L Button + R Button: select all items
R Button: talk to partner
R Button + D-Pad: advance items list pages by 10
Start Button: display more detail
Select Button: sort items

Inside of Dungeon:
D-Pad: move Pokémon/move cursor
A Button: confirm command/talk to Pokémon/advance text/regular attack
B Button: cancel command/open item menu
B Button + D-Pad: run
B Button + A Button: pass turn
X Button: open menu/select detail
L Button + A Button: use set move
L Button + B Button: check message log
L Button + R Button: throw set ammo
R Button: display diagonal move cursor
R Button + D-Pad: move diagonally/sort moves
Start Button: display grid
Select Button: display amp/set moves/sort items

This game builds upon formula of Mystery Dungeons even further by adding new mechanics and content. Yet again it starts with a personality test which decides which one of the 19 starters (all starters, Pikachu, Vulpix, Eevee, Phanpy, Skitty, Shinx and Riolu) and then you get to pick a partner to the same rules as before.

While the storyline of the game is basically same with only minor changes such as introducing things that weren't there before (I'll get to that later) it doesn't mean that the game is stale. On the contrary I really enjoyed playing through the storyline again. This just proves how good it was.

The new things that have been introduced includes an entire new building and another Pokémon (Shaymin) to a secret Bazaar and new items and missions. The new building is Spinda's Cafe where you can do two different things. The first thing you can do is give the owner of the Cafe, Spinda, a food item which he will turn into a smoothie. If you drink the smoothie you could get a stat boost or other things such as nothing at all! The other thing you can do is recycle useless items at the Recycle Shop where you get prize tickets for recycling. The prize tickets can then be used at the Big Treasure section of the shop where you can win items depending on your luck. Later on, you could gain access to Unexplored Land by doing these three things.

Special Episodes are another thing added to the game and they really bolster the content. There are five of them in total: Bidoof's Wish, Igglybuff the Prodigy, Oh My Gosh, Here Comes Team Charm and Into the Dark Future. They all follow the storyline of some of the in-game characters: Bidoof, Wigglytuff, Sunflora, Team Charm and Grovyle and Dusknoir respectably. Anyone interested in Pokémon Mystery Dungeons lore should really take a look here.

The last thing introduced is something that is completely dependent on luck: The Secret Bazaar. This Bazaar is found randomly inside Dungeons and in all my time playing it I might have found it about once. There are for stalls here and each help you in different ways; for a few of course. Mime Jr will heal you fully and restore your hunger, Shedninja will let you escape the Dungeon, Lickilicky will clean your jammed items and Swalot will give you a Luck Pocket which could contain a useful item. Or it could not.

Overall this game builds even further on the previous games and is definitely worth getting.   

Rating: 92%

Goodbye for now, Harry
 

2 comments:

  1. This game... oh my god... i love it so much

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    Replies
    1. It is brilliant, isn't it? Have you played any of the other Pokémon Mystery Dungeons by the way (Blue Rescue Team is also superb!) or any of the other Pokémon Spin Offs (in my opinion Rangers and Conquest are almost as good as the Mystery Dungeon games!)

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