Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time

"Gotta Explore 'em All!"

On September 1, 1998, a new game was introduced. It was called: Pokemon. Launching a huge, multi-million dollar franchise, the "Pokemon" creatures captured the imaginations (and money) of children worldwide, all without saying a single word... until now. Well, not exactly now, but a few years ago, anyway. You see, there was this game called Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, where you played as the Pokemon, and they talked, because you can`t exactly have a game where no one talks! Or can you? Anyway, in this series, of which this is the second installment, the Pokemon form exploration teams and, well, explore. But is the game itself worth exploring? Read on and find out...

Gameplay: 7.5/10
This is not your grandfather's Pokemon game. Well, most grandfathers didn't have a Pokemon game, but it's a figure of speech. Unlike the main series, you play as a Pokemon and explore dungeons, which are randomly generated each time you advance to a new floor. This can lead to quite a bit of variety in the levels, although it also adds a certain amount of luck to the equation, as you could very well bypass almost an entire dungeon simply because you happened to start out in the same room as the staircase on half of the floors. The battle system is unique for a Pokemon game – you encounter an enemy in the field and fight it right then and there, without any special transitions like in most RPGs. While this is certainly an interesting, effective system, it can cause a bit of confusion at first, but once you realize that it's still turn-based and get into the rhythm of it, it gets pretty fun. The control is pretty good for the most part, but a bit more fine-tuning would have been appreciated due to occasional, slight aiming errors. The difficulty remains balanced for most of the game, although it starts to feel a little too easy after you level up excessively from difficult missions, only to find that this has left you able to plough through the rest of the game without breaking much of a sweat. All in all, the gameplay is up to par for a Nintendo title, although it probably could've been better.

Story: 8/10
Despite all the praise that Pokemon games routinely get, they tend to receive criticism for their equally routine stories. Fortunately, this title seems to be an exception to that rule. Throughout the game, you'll find no mention of Team ______ trying to capture ______ so they can take over the ______ region. Instead, you will be treated to an engrossing tale about two Pokemon who become friends, form an exploration team, become caught up in a monumental series of events that threatens to destroy time itself, and are charged with recovering a silver-plated croissandwich... or else! Okay, so maybe I made up the part about the croissandwich, but you get the point – the story is quite good, fairly original for a Pokemon game, and actually a bit sentimental at times. That is, until it ends. You see, in this game, the story actually continues once you've theoretically “beaten” the main segment. The necessity for this post-game actually weakens the main game's ending, which was surprisingly (and refreshingly) not completely happy and ideal. In the post-game, the story starts to drag on a bit, and occasionally feels like a less-polished imitation of the main game, although it still has some great moments. During the post-post-game (yes, there actually is such a thing) it really bottoms out, and eventually disappears entirely as you're left to take routine missions from the game's job boards, playing out the further, less exciting adventures of what is now just a really good exploration team.

Graphics/Sound: 6.5/10
As has been demonstrated numerous times, the DS is capable of producing wonderful, breathtaking imagery that exceeds the capabilities of console systems from only 10 years ago. As has been demonstrated even more times, it's also capable of producing graphics that look like something a 10-year old made using a ham sandwich and some gardening tools. This game's graphics fall somewhere in between the two extremes; they're certainly adequate, and present the game's events in a fairly well-done fashion, but they're not breaking new ground or pushing the limits of the system. For the most part, they look as if they could probably have been accomplished without much trouble on the GBA, although there is a definite improvement in clarity and detail from the last game, which was actually designed for the GBA. Several of the game's key story sequences are played out using animated cutscenes, which, although much better graphically than the main game, seem to be too few and far between, and rely too heavily on still shots rather than full animation. Similarly, the music is passable, and accomplishes the task of providing a backdrop to the action without being annoying or distracting, but isn't going to win any awards or be played by the New York Philharmonic. The sound effects are generally sparse and hardly noticeable, but on the whole, this doesn't detract from the game in any significant fashion. One item of note is that there is no voice acting, which is to be expected from a Pokemon game, but might have been appreciated given the DS's impressive capabilities and this game's heavier reliance on dialogue compared to the rest of the series. To sum it up, the graphics and sound aren't the best ever accomplished, but for a Pokemon game, they do what they have to.


Play Time/Replayability: 9.5/10
Remember what I said in the Story section about there being a post game, as well as a post-post-game? I wasn't kidding. It would have been pretty weird for me to lie about that, and as you can see, I didn't. The play time and replayability of this game are tremendous, with the main game alone most likely taking up about 30-some hours. The replayability is quite significant once the credits have rolled, as the game is filled with extra missions, hidden secrets, new bosses, and the aforementioned post-story (although unfortunately no croissandwiches) to keep you occupied for days, or even weeks afterward. Even after you're thoroughly, completely, unequivocally finished with every last little possible thing that can be done, it can still be fun to come back to the game every now and again to do the occasional mission or two, although the gradually waning story and decrease in difficulty as your characters level up causes the game to lose some of it's original spark. The replay value is significantly helped by the fact that all of the dungeons are randomly generated, so you're not going through the same levels over and over again. The developers also seem to have attempted to stretch out the replay value even further by adding four “ultimate dungeons” where certain gameplay mechanics are altered so as to increase the challenge; in my experience, this has backfired somewhat, as they're just too long and intimidating to be worth the trouble and lack any significant reward besides bragging rights. Overall, though, this is absolutely one game that you can count on to deliver long-lasting fun.

Final Recommendation: 8/10

The Pokemon franchise has certainly had it's ups and downs, with some great, worthwhile games being produced, alongside some sub-par games made solely to cash in on the popularity of the cartoon series, and what is quite possibly the only game that revolves primarily around watching TV. However, I'm happy to say that Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time does not fall into the latter category. The gameplay is unique and, for the most part, well-made, the story is original and creative, the replay value is quite simply through the roof, and although the graphics and sound are nothing to write home about, they do get the job done. While the game certainly has it's flaws, as do all games that “use DS functionality”, or “revolve around exploration”, or “exist”, they tend to be fairly minor in comparison to the generally high quality of the game. The bottom line: if you're out looking for a fun, challenging game to provide some long-lasting enjoyment, you certainly can't go wrong with this one.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/13/08

Game Release: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time (US, 04/20/08)