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Anyone Still Play Pokemon Mystery Dungeon RB/TDS?


Farina's Pegasus
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By the title, I mean the first two "generations", so to speak, of the GBA and DS Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games. Given that these games are twelve and nine years old, respectively, I feel like the only person left who still goes back to them non-infrequently. Of course, I don't go back to these games too often, because they're the games I spent the most time with in my teenage years by a long shot, but I still think the first two Mystery Dungeon series are great games that deserve all the praise they get. 

I was playing MD Blue on and off for a total of about 5-6 years to recruit all 386 Pokémon species, and currently, I'm trying to do the same in MD Sky whenever I feel like taking a break from Fire Emblem. I'd say I'm well on my way, but there's still a lot left to do, like train up a Pokémon capable of learning Fast Friend to completely max stats so it's possible for me to recruit Kecleon. For some reason I started as a Skitty in my current file... even though Normalize is literally the worst ability ever. I'd probably start over again if I hadn't already maxed out my Explorer Rank, cleared Zero Isle (and Destiny Tower, after like 50 attempts) and recruited about two-thirds total of the game's roster of 493.

And for anyone who might be wondering, I don't have much to say about Gates to Infinity or Super Mystery Dungeon. GTI was pretty awful and I didn't find SMD to be much better, but if you've enjoyed those games, that's perfectly fine, they just weren't for me. I picked them up once and put them down after finishing the main stories.

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I tried MD Blue when my regular DS lite still worked.

It wasn't an experience I felt was all that fun and I quit on the dungeon with Zapdos. It might be more interesting with a more open setting rather than being as linear and the pokemon I tried didn't really impress barring the main duo of Charmander (me) and my partner Totodile. The actual combat feels closer to the main series than Go, so that's not an issue.

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10 minutes ago, Dayni said:

I tried MD Blue when my regular DS lite still worked.

It wasn't an experience I felt was all that fun and I quit on the dungeon with Zapdos. It might be more interesting with a more open setting rather than being as linear and the pokemon I tried didn't really impress barring the main duo of Charmander (me) and my partner Totodile. The actual combat feels closer to the main series than Go, so that's not an issue.

I agree, the story of the first games isn't too impressive. The main two characters are good, but they're the only standouts in my mind, you're not missing much from the rest of the cast.

And MD's combat is definitely more simplified than the main games, but I think it's one of the games' stronger points. Moves and types are essentially the same and some of the more challenging battles do have a bit of strategy involved, like the big boss fights in T/D/S. Where I think the games do lack is the variety in strength of the dungeon battles- all enemy Pokémon in a given area have roughly the same stats and level of challenge, though there are a few exceptions here and there. I would certainly love to see the MD series have a bit more of a traditional feel, with common enemy Pokémon having lower stats and the more evolved forms/rarer species being more powerful.

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9 minutes ago, Ace Tactician said:

I don't remember when I put down MD Red. I played that game for a long time and was working on recruiting legendary Pokemon when I put the game down. I had good times playing that game.

I played mostly Blue, it was the one of the two games I preferred because of the better sound quality. There's not much difference between the two other than that, though.

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I got MD Red because at the time, I didn't have a DS lite. I still have my original file on the cartridge. I started as a Torchic, when I put the game down, I had leveled up to level 50. 

I also had attempted to clear one of the 99 floor dungeons. I didn't have the best luck in doing so, lol XD

Edited by Ace Tactician
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Oh boy. Spoilers! The write up isn't very good because it's rather late at night, sorry!

Spoiler

 

I had Blue Rescue Team, and I played the hell out of it. I always reset until I got Eevee, and Pikachu was my partner. I loved the whole fugitive arc, and the way you could troll your partner (asking Pelipper to fly into space, the whole stomach hurting when saving Shiftry, hahah!). I do go back to it occasionally, it never gets old. ...That bloody Mew though...Buried Relic is a pain in the backside...and don't even get me started on Joy Tower, Purity Forest and Wish Cave!

I did own Red Rescue Team, but it was one of those which never saved. If I remember correctly, that was a thing.

I owned Time, which I passed on to my niece when I bought Sky. Sky is THE definitive Mystery Dungeon game to me. I always play as Vulpix, and have Riolu as my partner. The entire build up, watching the duo grow as an exploration team, being betrayed by Dusknoir, seeing the future, learning the truth about Grovyle...ahh, Grovyle! Words cannot explain how much I love Grovyle. I love the whole post game, especially the Manaphy arc, where you essentially raise the little tyke! And the Shaymin arc! Honestly, Sky was just a masterpiece, with a gorgeous story and soundtrack. And the supporting cast! The Guild members were absolute delights, and benefitted greatly from the Bonus Episodes. Sky is also more emotional for me, simply because your partner actually goes a few months without the player, compared to the past game where it was like, an hour at most. ...The way they just break down in front of Bidoof...ah gosh.

I loved the sprite based graphics of the first two instalments, but then...

Gates to Infinity. If there's ever a game I regret spending money on, it's this one. I didn't like the graphics, I didn't like how you could only choose from the Unova starters plus Pikachu and Axew of all things. Why not Lillipup? Or idk, Zorua or Purrloin or Roggenrola? I didn't get very far at all, I think I saved Dunsparce and that was that. I didn't like how they threw a legendary directly into the early game, I know Rescue Team did that with the legendary birds, but they were bosses. Either way, I strongly dislike GtI.

Now Super Mystery Dungeon was alright. I enjoyed it, but...the school prologue was just...long. It was like, 10 chapters, I think. The story was rather dull, but I loved the rescue tree branch thing. I liked how it called back to older characters, but...you could get an extremely powerful Salamence very early on. Kinda...breaks the game. I enjoyed the bond between the player and Nuzleaf, but the whole possession thing kinda ruined it. I also didn't like how it was the partner who got the focus in the end game. I always felt like it's more impactful for the player to be the one to disappear, but that's just me.

I still don't like the 3D graphics. They're too bright, and colourful, too large and blocky, and I find the dungeons difficult to move around in.

If we ever get a new Mystery Dungeon, please, please, please return to the Explorers formula, or just remake Sky.

 

However, Mystery Dungeon isn't my favourite Pokemon spin-off, oh no. That honour belongs to the Ranger trilogy and Conquest. Maybe I'll do a really in depth write up on them at a reasonable time of day, hahah!

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Had Red Rescue Team. LOVED IT. Nearly cried at the beginning of the fugitives bit, please tell me I'm not alone in this.

Explorers of Darkness was fun too, but it pisses me off that the partner and starter can't evolve not even in post game until there's literally nothing more to unlock. Haven't played Sky or any of the others.

A minor nitpick: but it would be better if the pokemon NPCs had actual names. Like...not everyone of the same species should be called the exact same thing, it would get confusing.

Edited by Dragoncat
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17 minutes ago, Lau said:

Oh boy. Spoilers! The write up isn't very good because it's rather late at night, sorry!

  Hide contents

I had Blue Rescue Team, and I played the hell out of it. I always reset until I got Eevee, and Pikachu was my partner. I loved the whole fugitive arc, and the way you could troll your partner (asking Pelipper to fly into space, the whole stomach hurting when saving Shiftry, hahah!). I do go back to it occasionally, it never gets old. ...That bloody Mew though...Buried Relic is a pain in the backside...and don't even get me started on Joy Tower, Purity Forest and Wish Cave!

I did own Red Rescue Team, but it was one of those which never saved. If I remember correctly, that was a thing.

I owned Time, which I passed on to my niece when I bought Sky. Sky is THE definitive Mystery Dungeon game to me. I always play as Vulpix, and have Riolu as my partner. The entire build up, watching the duo grow as an exploration team, being betrayed by Dusknoir, seeing the future, learning the truth about Grovyle...ahh, Grovyle! Words cannot explain how much I love Grovyle. I love the whole post game, especially the Manaphy arc, where you essentially raise the little tyke! And the Shaymin arc! Honestly, Sky was just a masterpiece, with a gorgeous story and soundtrack. And the supporting cast! The Guild members were absolute delights, and benefitted greatly from the Bonus Episodes. Sky is also more emotional for me, simply because your partner actually goes a few months without the player, compared to the past game where it was like, an hour at most. ...The way they just break down in front of Bidoof...ah gosh.

I loved the sprite based graphics of the first two instalments, but then...

Gates to Infinity. If there's ever a game I regret spending money on, it's this one. I didn't like the graphics, I didn't like how you could only choose from the Unova starters plus Pikachu and Axew of all things. Why not Lillipup? Or idk, Zorua or Purrloin or Roggenrola? I didn't get very far at all, I think I saved Dunsparce and that was that. I didn't like how they threw a legendary directly into the early game, I know Rescue Team did that with the legendary birds, but they were bosses. Either way, I strongly dislike GtI.

Now Super Mystery Dungeon was alright. I enjoyed it, but...the school prologue was just...long. It was like, 10 chapters, I think. The story was rather dull, but I loved the rescue tree branch thing. I liked how it called back to older characters, but...you could get an extremely powerful Salamence very early on. Kinda...breaks the game. I enjoyed the bond between the player and Nuzleaf, but the whole possession thing kinda ruined it. I also didn't like how it was the partner who got the focus in the end game. I always felt like it's more impactful for the player to be the one to disappear, but that's just me.

I still don't like the 3D graphics. They're too bright, and colourful, too large and blocky, and I find the dungeons difficult to move around in.

If we ever get a new Mystery Dungeon, please, please, please return to the Explorers formula, or just remake Sky.

 

However, Mystery Dungeon isn't my favourite Pokemon spin-off, oh no. That honour belongs to the Ranger trilogy and Conquest. Maybe I'll do a really in depth write up on them at a reasonable time of day, hahah!

That part of the main story is definitely the highlight for me, along with the ending. And I never had much difficulty with Wish Cave, since I stuck to always using Kecleon, two Frustration TMs and a few Link Boxes, but Purity Forest and Joyous Tower were the bane of my existence. I think Joyous Tower is actually the harder of the two, considering how insanely hard it is to even encounter Chansey, let alone recruit it, and the number of enemies that are at such an absurdly high level that you basically need some kind of set damage to defeat them.

And Sky, to me, is about as perfect a Mystery Dungeon as we can every hope to get. Everything's better than the first two games, the story and characters and music and gameplay. It did pretty much everything right. My only gripes are that the cutscenes can become a bit dull once you've seen them twenty times over like I have, and I didn't enjoy the Special Episodes very much. I only really liked the final one, but even that was a bit of a stretch because of how long it was, though the ending was incredibly satisfying and probably my favorite moment in all of the MD games.

As for GTI and SMD, I'm honestly pretty glad I don't remember them much. I did come out of SMD thinking "Well, it's better than GTI, but it doesn't hold a candle to Time/Darkness/Sky or even the first games", but GTI felt like such a waste of time. Why the developers only chose to include >200 total available Pokémon, I have no idea, but even if all of the Pokémon (at that time) were included I still don't think I would have liked it. SMD felt like an improved version of GTI and nothing else, and some of the things about it seemed flat-out copied from the better games, like whatever it was that happened when the main characters discovered what happened to the Pokémon who were turning to stone felt cribbed from the future of the DS games, where time was frozen. Idk, like I said I barely even remember anything about the 3DS games.

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28 minutes ago, Dragoncat said:

Had Red Rescue Team. LOVED IT. Nearly cried at the beginning of the fugitives bit, please tell me I'm not alone in this.

Explorers of Darkness was fun too, but it pisses me off that the partner and starter can't evolve not even in post game until there's literally nothing more to unlock. Haven't played Sky or any of the others.

A minor nitpick: but it would be better if the pokemon NPCs had actual names. Like...not everyone of the same species should be called the exact same thing, it would get confusing.

I don't think I've ever cried at a Pokémon game, but it was definitely an emotional moment, and not something I think anyone would expect from a children's game.

Yeah, that bothers me, too, but since it's related to the story then I guess I can't be too harsh on it. If you can get a copy of Sky then I would recommend giving it a try, it fixes a lot of the problems I have with Time/Darkness with a ton of small but useful features, like an item recycling facility where you trade in items you don't want for better ones, and the fact that you get seven bonus dungeons in-game without needing to look online for passwords. (I'm talking about the "Seven Treasures" dungeons, which contain some Legendary Pokémon and a unique treasure item each.)

I also agree on the names, especially considering how members of your rescue teams can have them, but no other characters do. They could at least use nicknames or titles for the characters, like how everyone calls Wigglytuff "Guildmaster" and the Kangaskhan who stores your items is sometimes called "Auntie".

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TDS are some of my favourite video games (Sky is the best of the three.) i like the gameplay, the characters are amazing and the story is one of the best video game stories ever, at least the best nintendo one. 

 

I still cry during Grovyles sacrifice.

Edited by Geenoble
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i remember playing the crap out of rescue team red, but once i got mystery dungeon sky ive rarely gone back to red. sky just a lot better both in terms of story, and in game mechanics since a lot of quality of life changes happened that improved the experience for the best.

havent really done much with the ones after sky though, idk they just... dont have the same charm to them.

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My brother's actually still working on Red Rescue Team, he's trying to have one of every Pokemon in the team at the same time. I think the only thing holding him back right now is that he needs two Chansey(one to keep and one to evolve), so that's had him on pause for a bit.

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Red Rescue Team was my actual first Pokemon game. Loved both the Originals and TDS. I've clocked in hundreds of hours in all of them but it's hard to play RRT these days since my original DS pretty much has to constantly be charging to not die on me.

I also didn't care much for the 3DS titles. The sprites gave it a lot of charm for me that 3D models lack, and the story honestly just boiled down to Friendship is Magic for both of those games and they just didn't have that more dire feel the first two paired games had. I even still have a 2nd copy of GTI that I still haven't opened. I just can't bring myself to like the story enough to play it again, while I've played RB and TDS several times each~

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14 hours ago, SoulWeaver said:

My brother's actually still working on Red Rescue Team, he's trying to have one of every Pokemon in the team at the same time. I think the only thing holding him back right now is that he needs two Chansey(one to keep and one to evolve), so that's had him on pause for a bit.

Yeah, that can take a while. Although there is a slightly simpler method- if you don't recruit Jirachi (but you have both the Wish Stone in your inventory and access to the Friend Area "Mount Moonview" you can wish for "something good!" and you will either get your rank raised by one level, or a random Pokémon will ask to join your team. The cool thing about which Pokémon it is, is that it can be any non-Legendary in the game, including the extremely rare Chansey and Blissey. It still takes a lot of time and a bit of luck and skill to be able to get to Jirachi, of course, but that was the method I used for obtaining a handful of the really frustrating species.

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12 hours ago, Landmaster said:

Red Rescue Team was my actual first Pokemon game. Loved both the Originals and TDS. I've clocked in hundreds of hours in all of them but it's hard to play RRT these days since my original DS pretty much has to constantly be charging to not die on me.

I also didn't care much for the 3DS titles. The sprites gave it a lot of charm for me that 3D models lack, and the story honestly just boiled down to Friendship is Magic for both of those games and they just didn't have that more dire feel the first two paired games had. I even still have a 2nd copy of GTI that I still haven't opened. I just can't bring myself to like the story enough to play it again, while I've played RB and TDS several times each~

Yeah, I would've preferred sprites over models, the dungeons in the newer games just don't have as much especially. Also, the dungeon layout especially in the 3D games bothered me from the start. In the first games, there's a specific setup, with a varying type of floor layout and every room having at least one entry and exit. In the 3D games it's just kind of a mess and a pain to navigate.

It seems like a pretty unanimous opinion that the 3D games aren't as good as the earlier ones. I hope Nintendo takes note once they decide on making a new one, though at the same time I don't think I'd be too surprised if SMD is the last. At least we got a couple of really good games out of the series, if that's the case.

 

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6 hours ago, Farina's Pegasus said:

Yeah, that can take a while. Although there is a slightly simpler method- if you don't recruit Jirachi (but you have both the Wish Stone in your inventory and access to the Friend Area "Mount Moonview" you can wish for "something good!" and you will either get your rank raised by one level, or a random Pokémon will ask to join your team. The cool thing about which Pokémon it is, is that it can be any non-Legendary in the game, including the extremely rare Chansey and Blissey. It still takes a lot of time and a bit of luck and skill to be able to get to Jirachi, of course, but that was the method I used for obtaining a handful of the really frustrating species.

I think he decided to do that, we just also had other games come up on our backlog and so Red Rescue kind of got shelved for a while.

Also, I notice you're relatively new, welcome, and that you're a writer, so, if you haven't seen it yet, I'd like to suggest the Write Your Butt Off Thread for you. Even if you don't decide to join in, you can still read everyone else's stuff and potentially snag new ideas for your own work!

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Play them now?  No.  But when I played them, I was alright with R/B, but adored the Explorers series.  Cried like no one's business at the end, and Sky made me cry twice.  I hope that another PMD game can bring back that kind of emotion!

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14 hours ago, SoulWeaver said:

Also, I notice you're relatively new, welcome, and that you're a writer, so, if you haven't seen it yet, I'd like to suggest the Write Your Butt Off Thread for you. Even if you don't decide to join in, you can still read everyone else's stuff and potentially snag new ideas for your own work!

I did take a look at it just now, thank you. I'll keep an eye on the thread, I don't really have much (read: any) time to work on writing for the next few days, but, I would be glad to enter once I do, anything that gets me out of my comfort zone is a good opportunity. 

14 hours ago, eclipse said:

Play them now?  No.  But when I played them, I was alright with R/B, but adored the Explorers series.  Cried like no one's business at the end, and Sky made me cry twice.  I hope that another PMD game can bring back that kind of emotion!

I hope so, too, though I'm not sure we'll ever get anything to top MD Sky. If there ever is going to be a new MD game, I will play it, but I don't think I'll have high expectations after the subpar 3DS games.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm actually playing Sky for Pokemon Showdown's Spin Off of the month club. I'm currently a Riolu and my partner is Vulpix. What I absolutely love about these games is that the post game is just as big as the pre-ending. I have yet to see a post game like that in any other game! The story was so deep and full of twists; I kind of wish Awakening had done the Explorer's path of the future. In fact, I'd bet its so much more interesting and well-thought than any of the core RPGs. I agree that GTI was awful, while SMD was alright. Explorers was the golden era. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I haven't played either of them but I'm considering getting it for my sister, who's around 5. Should I get RB or Sky, or is this game going to be hard to play for a 5 year old? She found the main line Pokemon games boring, so I thought this series would be a type of gameplay she likes.

 

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