Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness | |
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Single player |
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time
As a sequel to
In terms of gameplay and premise, the Explorers installments are largely similar to their Rescue Team predecessors, where a human-turned-Pokémon joins an Exploration Society and explores shifting dungeons, fighting hostile Pokémon through turn-based combat. The games received praise for their storyline, soundtrack, and Wi-Fi functionality, but were criticized for repetitive gameplay. The three games had accumulated worldwide sales in excess of 5.9 million copies as of 2010, then 6.37 million copies after 2010.[3]
Gameplay
Playable Pokémon
As with the previous games, the player takes on the role of a human who has been turned into a Pokémon, whose type is determined by a personality test.[4] A partner Pokémon is also selected who will henceforth be referred to as "the partner". Unlike Blue Rescue Team and Red Rescue Team, the gender does not restrict the available selection of Pokémon for either the player or the partner, though both player and partner may not be of the same type. The test sets the player as one of the many natures in the mainstream games, and two Pokémon will be set to that nature, one for male, one for female.
The player may be
Basic gameplay
The basic gameplay is unchanged from Blue Rescue Team and Red Rescue Team - players may use shops in Treasure Town to save money, buy items, store items, and train in special "maze" levels (although the Pokémon running almost all of these shops have changed). Players enter dungeons to complete missions and encounter hostile Pokémon during the exploration. During the story portion, if either the player or their partner is defeated by running out of health, the team will be removed from the dungeon and lose all their money and half (or more) of their items. However, after beating the main story, the team will only be removed if the team leader faints.
New features
New to this series is the option to temporarily send a team member to aid a friend who is in need, which allows a team to have more than four members. Defeated teams awaiting rescue may also engage in a "standby adventure" mode in which players may revisit previous dungeons to raise funds and collect items, but without the ability to level up.
Among new items introduced are treasure boxes, which require money to be opened and may contain rare items that may only affect certain Pokémon and can be used to trade for rarer and more valuable items using a new shop. New items are also introduced to account for new evolution methods which do not translate well from the main series to Mystery Dungeon, like
Version exclusives
As with all Pokémon games, some Pokémon are exclusive to one version, although they may be unlocked on the other through the exchange of Wonder Mail codes. The Pokémon exclusive to Explorers of Time are
Plot
The player is washed ashore by a storm and is discovered by the partner, a timid Pokémon who dreams of forming an exploration team. After teaming up to recover the partner's Relic Fragment from some bullies, the player, who has lost all memories except their name and the fact that they used to be human, agrees to form an exploration team to piece together their identity. The two enlist at the
The player and partner awaken in a prison in the future. After escaping a near execution with Grovyle by Dusknoir, they discover the world is still paralyzed. They learn from Grovyle that the paralysis was caused because of the collapse of Temporal Tower, which also corrupted its head occupant,
Arriving back to the present, the group enlists the help of the guild to take the Time Gears to Temporal Tower to restore time. While Grovyle gathers the Time Gears, the guild investigates Temporal Tower and discovers a way to reach the Hidden Land where it lies, using the partner's Relic Fragment. The player, the partner, and Grovyle travel to the Hidden Land, and are accosted by Dusknoir. He reveals to the player that if they succeed in changing the future,
After the main story, the player and partner graduate from Wigglytuff Guild and move their base of operations to
Development
On March 20, 2007,
During early development, Shin-ichiro Tomie has thought of expressing the meetings and partings theme through bubbles at the game's prologue and end; a theme that is used throughout the series since its inauguration. Additionally, it was close to be scrapped from the final production, before the team was able to add it near the end.[7] An idea was introduced where players could communicate between different hardware much like Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team and Red Rescue Team between the Game Boy Advance and the Nintendo DS. In this case, they were focused on the Nintendo DS and a game made for the Wii, but was later scrapped due to the lack of detailed information on the Wii.[8] This idea was eventually recycled for the Nintendo DS remake of Shiren the Wanderer GB2: Magic Castle of the Desert, where players can exchange content with Shiren the Wanderer 3 via Wi-Fi connection until its discontinuation on July 27, 2011.[9]
Later in August 2007, the duo received an official release date in Japan set for September 13, 2007 along with a playable demo during Pokémon Festa 2007.[10] Four months after the games were released in Japan, a North American release was officially teased from Nintendo, with a pending date set for Q2 2008.[11] The official release date was confirmed the month after, being April 28, 2008, before it was released a week earlier.[12]
Reception
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
GameRankings | 62.39% (Time)[15] 61.25% (Darkness)[16] |
Metacritic | 60/100 (Time)[13] 59/100 (Darkness)[14] |
Publication | Score |
---|---|
Eurogamer | 7/10[17] |
GameSpot | 6.5/10[18] |
GameSpy | [19] |
GamesRadar+ | [20] |
IGN | 6.5/10[21] |
Nintendo Power | 7.5/10[22] |
The reviews for the games were average to positive. The games were scored as 60 and 59 out of 100 by Metacritic for Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness, respectively.[13][14] GameSpot gave the games a score of 6.5 out of 10, criticising the dialogue and inconsistent visuals, but praising the story, soundtrack, Wi-Fi features and easier difficulty.[18] IGN also rated the games 6.5 out of 10, criticising the repetitive and unoriginal gameplay but noted the story for its charm.[21] GamesRadar+ on the other hand gave a score of 2.5 out of 5 (below average), saying that "Explorers of Darkness/Time is a rental at best" and that "Pokémon fans are better served by playing more Diamond/Pearl while waiting for the next Pokémon Ranger game".[20] However, GameSpy gave the games a 4/5 star rating, praising them for their "classic dungeon-crawling gameplay, attractive setting and cheerful music".[19] Both Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness have received a rating of 7.5 from Nintendo Power.[22] Gamezone gave the games a rating of 7.8/10, praising their graphics, gameplay, and soundtrack.[23]
During the 12th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time for "Role-Playing Game of the Year", which ultimately went to Fallout 3.[24]
Combined worldwide sales for Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness passed 4.5 million copies on March 31, 2009,
Anime tie-in
A special episode of the
Notes
- ^ Known in Japan as Pokémon Fushigi no Dungeon: Time Exploration Team (Japanese: ポケモン不思議のダンジョン 時の探検隊, Hepburn: Pokémon Fushigi no Danjon Toki no Tankentai, lit. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Time Exploration Team)
- ^ Known in Japan as Pokémon Fushigi no Dungeon: Darkness Exploration Team (Japanese: ポケモン不思議のダンジョン 闇の探検隊, Hepburn: Pokémon Fushigi no Danjon Yami no Tankentai, lit. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Darkness Exploration Team)
- ^ ポケモン不思議のダンジョン 時の探検隊・闇の探検隊, lit. "Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Time Expedition & Darkness Expedition"
References
- ^ Emma Boyes (2008-03-03). "Two new DS Pokémon games coming". Nintendo. Archived from the original on 2018-06-24. Retrieved 2018-01-03.
- ^ "Nintendo Europe Q2 2008 release list". Nintendo UK. 2008-04-22. Archived from the original on 2012-05-30. Retrieved 2018-01-03.
- ^ a b CESA Games White Papers. Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association.[ISBN missing]
- ^ "Pokemon Mystery Dungeon :: DS Game Reviews". Kidzworld. 2013-05-13. Archived from the original on 2009-09-06. Retrieved 2009-04-13.
- ^ "New Pokemon Game Announced". IGN. March 20, 2007. Archived from the original on August 24, 2022. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
- ^ Gantayat, Anoop (May 15, 2007). "New Pokemon Game Unveiled". IGN. Archived from the original on August 24, 2022. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
- ^ Seafoamgaming (April 18, 2022). "The Meeting of Destiny: An Interview with Shinichiro Tomie from SPIKE CHUNSOFT". Archived from the original on April 19, 2022. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
- ISBN 978-4924978614.
- ^ 「風来のシレン」3タイトルのWi-Fiサービス終了のお知らせ. chun.sega.jp (in Japanese). July 27, 2011. Archived from the original on January 5, 2013. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
- ^ "『ポケモン』最大のイベント「ポケモンパルシティ」幕張会場の様子をレポート!". 4gamer (in Japanese). August 3, 2007. Archived from the original on December 24, 2021. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
- ^ "Strong Lineup Of Games Continues Nintendo's Momentum In 2008". Nintendo. January 16, 2008. Archived from the original on January 19, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
- ^ Langdon, Rachel (February 28, 2008). "Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time". IGN. Archived from the original on August 24, 2022. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
- ^ a b "Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time for DS Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 2018-02-17. Retrieved 2018-01-03.
- ^ a b "Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness for DS Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 2017-12-27. Retrieved 2018-01-03.
- ^ "Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time". GameRankings. Archived from the original on 2019-12-06. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
- ^ "Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness". GameRankings. Archived from the original on 2019-12-06. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
- ^ Dave McCarthy (2008-07-04). "Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Explorers of Darkness". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 2018-01-10. Retrieved 2018-01-03.
- ^ a b Austin Shau (2008-04-29). "Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 2014-11-17. Retrieved 2018-01-03.
- ^ a b Gerald Villoria (2008-04-23). "GameSpy: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness - Page 1". GameSpy. Archived from the original on 2018-06-04. Retrieved 2018-01-03.
- ^ a b Raymond Padilla (2008-03-01). "Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness/Time review". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on 2019-02-19. Retrieved 2018-01-03.
- ^ News Corporation. Archivedfrom the original on 2012-10-18. Retrieved 2018-01-03.
- ^ a b "MetaCritic reviews for Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time, sorted by publisher". Nintendo Power. Archived from the original on 2021-09-26. Retrieved 2017-12-03.
The strength of the first "Pokemon Mystery Dungeon" was its in-depth story, and that's true of the second pair of titles as well. [June 2008, p.86]
- ^ "Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time". Gamezone. May 27, 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-10-02.
Bright, colorful, well-animated Pokemon inhabit intricate 2D environments. The dungeons can look generic sometimes, but the towns look great.
- ^ "2009 Awards Category Details Role-Playing Game of the Year". Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
- ^ "Nintendo Co. Ltd. Financial Results Briefing for the Fiscal Year Ended March 2009 Supplementary Information" (PDF). Nintendo. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-05-04. Retrieved 2018-01-03.
- ^ "Nintendo Co. Ltd. Financial Results Briefing for Fiscal Year Ended March 2010" (PDF). Nintendo. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2018-01-03.
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- ^ "1999年テレビゲームソフト売り上げTOP300". Geimin.net (in Japanese). Archived from the original on October 24, 2016. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
- ^ "2002年テレビゲームソフト売り上げTOP300". Geimin.net (in Japanese). Archived from the original on October 24, 2016. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
- ^ "ポケモンスクープ" (in Japanese). Pokémon Scoop. 2007-07-14. Archived from the original on 2008-04-12. Retrieved 2020-03-10.