#i need to actually play a pmd game all the way through...

[wildflowercryptid]

kieflo pmd style... ( bonus below the cut! )

#don't ask me how tf florian's glasses work here i don't know either 😭 #*puts my face in my hands* these two have caused irreversible damage to my psyche... #i need to actually play a pmd game all the way through... #i just put the rom for pmd explorers of sky on my flashcart so maybe i'll try playing that soon #pokemon #pokemon scarlet and violet #pkmn scarvio #pokemon mystery dungeon #pmd #pokemon florian #trainer florian #pokemon kieran #rival kieran #tealmaskshipping #candyappleshipping #kieflo #au : pmd #chara : florian russel cavallari #chara : kieran hinoki #🎨 : mj draws #ask to tw

[oblonger]

Do you have any creative influences? I'm always so impressed by your work— your prose especially— and I need to know if there's any creators out there I need to file away in the creative influence database in my head so I can write like you

This question took all day of me searching and thinking because I can't really say I know who or what's influenced me right off the top of my head. With notable exceptions that bookend this post. Anyway, here you go!

@.teshamerkel 's PMD Seekers of Soul was my TPiaG before I found TPiaG. It helped me through a part of my life that, looking back, was a lot harder than I thought it was. While it didn't move me to the point of starting to make my own art again, I certainly did consider it. And I consider Seekers of Soul to be a must-read for any PMD fanfic enthusiasts.

Tui T. Southerland's Wings of Fire series is the first thing I can remember thinking of fanfiction for. I never did write any of it, mostly because I never felt motivated enough (and partially because it was was all just oc x canon). But even with my misgivings of the series and how bungled the overall theme of arc 2 was with how they defeated the big bad, book 6 is still one of my favorite books of all time.

All of @.saltnpepperbunny 's work is really good, and definitely had an influence!

PMD Victory Fire holds a very special place in my heart for being excellent story, incredible artwork (that I think was done in MS paint), and being one of the first pmd things I consumed besides the games. Even if its on indefinite hiatus, I still consider it to be a must-read for even people outside of the PMD sphere. I would go into more detail, but I don't want to spoil anything!

I also consider Cucumber Quest to be a must-read. I dont have much to say besides that it's genuinely amazing and that you should read it the first chance you get.

Obligatory Avatar The Last Airbender mention. It's shocking to me how the worst that show got was just a mediocre episode in the first season. (The great divide) I genuinely think the entire series should be put in museums or something because it is an enormous accomplishment in the field of storytelling in general.

Scoob And Shag goes from a silly, foul-mouthed joke comic, to... not a joke comic. I would love to gush about it, but I fear that doing so would spoil it. Check it out. Even if its just for the (frankly absurd) glow up in the artistic style and quality. I normally advise going into things as blind as possible, but I would recommend checking the TV tropes page to know what kinda stuff you're in for once you reach around episode 20~30 and then seeing if it's something you would be interested in. It's very good, but definitely not for everyone.

... I thiiiiink that's it for people and content I can point to and know that they've influenced me off the top of my head. (Aside from one massive exception at the end of this post) The rest of this is just kinda a list of content and creators I really enjoy and highly recommend checking out at some point. Even If I can't really tell just how much of an effect it's had on me.

First, videogames!

Despite how much of my time I spend playing videogames, the only few I can point to are:

Celeste

Undertale

Undertale Yellow

Deltarune

Stardew Valley

and Hades. (I recommend Hades the most)

Despite how much I love the series, I haven't actually played any PMD games. (At least, in any official sense.) I am working towards getting them though!

Next, Youtubers:

• Atastic's animations are fantastic! I don't have much to say beyond that they are really good and fun.

• Bumbles McFumbles is a rare example of a person who is equally entertaining while talking about something he likes, as he is while talking about something he doesn't like. He's got an excellent sense of comedic flow and timing. He's part of the reason why my humor is the way it is.

• Doodley is an animator that makes videos on animation principles and is also just generally entertaining while also educational.

• Eltorro64rus makes all of his absurdist, extremely smooth animations in Gmod. Which is endlessly impressive if you know that Gmod is a game first, and an animation software like, 6th. The humor is very much an acquired taste though.

• FutureCanoe has such a funny, dry sense of comedy that it almost makes you forget that he's a cooking youtuber who somehow makes all of his food look like it was poisoned before, during and after cooking.

• GildedGuy is such a cool animator that he got his stickman OC in fortnite! And all his animations are gorgeous masterpieces, that too.

• Krugston is an animator that is constantly experimenting with his style. He went from a generic storytime animator to, in my opinion, one of the most unique and creative animators on the platform.

• Neytirix is an animated youtuber, but describing her videos really difficult because of just how unique they are. My best shot at it would probably be: "horror storytime animator and artist, with overarching plot between videos"

• Overly Sarcastic Productions has an entire, multi-hour long playlist of videos on different tropes. And within those is writing advice. While there are a couple of things that I remember disagreeing with, (even though I can't remember specifically what. probably just opinions on certain shows' quality) The general advise they give can be a big help. (They also do history lessons, and while I don't care for those as much, there is definitely appeal behind them)

• MajorLink doesn't have a large amount of videos, but he does have a fan animated series of The Legend Of Zelda. One with a total runtime reaching just over two hours at this point, with more on the way!

• ScottTheWoz is up there with Jerma as one of the most experimental, consistently funny, and creative e-celebs on their respective platforms. One of the few YouTubers that you would have to watch his videos in chronological order to understand all of the jokes. But even lacking context behind all of the injokes and references is fine because he writes jokes with the knowledge that someone might be watching it for the first time. 'Great Gaming Mysteries', followed by 'The Trial' would be my favorite youtube video of all time if they weren't separate.

• Wendigoon's videos are equal parts entertaining, and disturbing. They also are consistently over the 1 hour mark, so they also make for pretty good background noise material if you want to hear a guy talk for hours.

• Yahya Danboos has several videos showcasing his process of making an ambitious 3d hack-n-slash as a solo dev. It's pretty informative on the process of making a 3d game.

Next is TV shows!

This one is even shorter than videogames since the amount of time I spend searching for shows to watch, and watching youtube videos on said shows, outweighs the amount of time I spend actually watching the shows.

But I can fully recomend these shows though!

Centaurworld

Amphibia

Gravity Falls

Adventure Time

The Owl House

Next up, Webcomics!

All of the following are in no specific order. If I don't say anything, it's not because it's worse, but because saying "it's really dang good and you should check it out" for every entry can get exhausting.

All of these can be found on ComicFury.

PMD: Taken Place

Pokémon Abridgestery Dungeon

PMD: Milos From Home

PMD: On Borrowed Time

PMD: Terminus

PMD: Another Perspective

PMD: The Human Connection

PMD: Rangers Of Sky

PMD: The Rouge Team

Autumn In Sinnoh

Jet's Black Nuzlocke

Last Light

Soul Food

Endurance: In Our Blood

Laika's Comet

The-Heart-Of-A-Monster

Vagabond Sonic

All of the following I found on Webtoons, some I know arent on just webtoons, but I do know that they're all on there.

Lil' Char and Gang

Suitor Armor

Vampire Husband

City Of Blank

The Greatest Estate Developer (genuinely the funniest webtoon ive ever read)

The Last Dimension

Hand Jumper

Spontaneous World Shifting (my favorite out of all of these in the webtoons section)

Magic School Girl: Spare No Villains

Loving Reaper (my beloved)

TRIPTRACK

Spellward Bound

Marionetta

Zodiac Parade

Of Swamp and Sea

Jupiter Men

Vibe Check!

CARL

Next is the various Tumblrinas I follow. (Not tagging them because i feel like it'd be wierd.)

@.cringywhitedragon and @.ghetsis both come up with really cool idea's that are partially responsible for the things I come up with.

@.efplanning Makes some cool art and is also cooking up a really cool universe that I'm excited to see.

@.obogaboo is making PMD: Taken Place and is also just a really good artist.

@.teeterarting Author of The Rouge Team and also makes really lovely art

@.aimer-arts 's art is adorable and wonderful and beautiful and I love it.

Same goes for @.quikyu

Same goes for @.sunsnak

Same goes for @.pichiicake

Same goes for @.pikabata

Same goes for @.chufflepop

Same goes for @.honeycrud

Same goes for @.honrupi-art

Same goes for @.cryptid-creations

Same goes for @.dailyralsei

Same goes for @.bugblast

@.zeropro Is the author of Jet's Black Nuzlocke, and also makes some great art on the side!

@.fwugradiation makes some cool music I think. He hasn't posted it a while though.

@.spicymochi makes cute art that I wanna buy stickers of in the future.

@.advosart 's riolu gives me life.

And now for the grand finale! The person who's my greatest creative influence:

It's @sincerely-sofie

You asked me for my biggest creative influences, but it seems to me, from what I think is implied in that ask you sent, didn't realize that I wouldn't even be here if it weren't for you. I doubt I ever would have gotten started even writing things if it weren't for the things that you make and your constant, uplifting encouragement.

While all of these other things I've outlined in this post did have an impact, and those ones at the start had more of an impact as i might not have thought of before, they all are barely quantifiable compared to just how much of an impact your own stuff has had on my creative expression. It's your stuff that got me to begin creatively expressing after all!

You say you like my Prose, but I actually think that it sounds closest to yours than anyone elses, if we assume that my own personality isnt a factor.

It's genuinely impossible to thank you enough for how much of a positive impact you've had on me.

:)

#text post #i answered a thing #writing

[ask-obt]

A question for Woo. Would you enjoy an explorers DX getting revealed on the upcoming Pokemon Day?

// if this hypothetical proposes that this sort of explorers DX would be almost exactly the same in execution to rescue DX then I'd have to say................ no..............

before you bring out the pitchforks, let me explain myself. anyone who attends my streams or catches me in the wild in discord servers knows that I don't really like how the 3d games look. it's not as much a debate on "does pixel art or 3d models look better", but more "which style does chunsoft handle better", which I can sum up how I feel about in one screenshot

which is to say, my main problem with the 3D games is that the charm kinda got sucked straight out of them. it's true that pixel sprites have limitations- it's why we have portraits to more easily convey how characters are feeling, and your brain can fill in any missing details. but with 3D games, every aspect is able to be rendered out, and if you aren't going 100% all in, it's a lot more easy for the intended emotions to fall through. we have the ability to have pokemon emote like this now,

so why on earth is this the range that we're stuck with for PMD?

the simplest answer I can think of is that chunsoft is trying to apply the same strategy they used with sprites onto 3D models... which I think could work in theory, but not in the way they're applying it. as is, they don't have the models emote much and rely on portraits to carry the intended emotion through. the models also have some of the most stiff rigging I've seen in any game to date. I'm sure it has something to do with hardware limitations, but if that's the case I don't see why they couldn't create something that would fit their needs better like pokemon rumble's low poly models. well I know the answer is that they don't wanna actually render new 3D models for a PMD game and just use the library of models they got from gamefreak, but I like to think something like XY or ORAS's overworld models would make for a nicer looking game.

one pet peeve of mine is seeing folks praise DX for its unique look, which I think is true for the backgrounds!... but not really the models. I don't think putting an outline and paper texture overlay on the models is particularly revolutionary. it's a good direction to start, but far from peak aesthetic.

other problems I have with DX are how the main hub areas look (the grass for pokemon square is so blown out I have to play the game with lowered saturation and a darkened screen), and how the general UI looks in the dungeons. idk if it's because I'm neurodivergent or if it's just a "me" thing, but there's so much useless information being thrown at me at all times in a dungeon that it makes it really hard to focus on what's happening

I imagine this is mostly a side effect of losing the dual screen ability on the switch and I don't really have a proposed solution, but at least removing the text bubbles that come up every single time you get attacked or use a move would be a good start. maybe just save those for critical hits or smth idk, I don't really need to hear every single thought that comes out of my team.

I also think accessibility features like the auto-dungeon crawl feature are nice for those who want it, but it does feel a little overpowered by (seemingly) knowing exactly where the stairs are in a dungeon, which can take the exploration aspect out of playing the game. I'd also like the ability to disable that feature in a menu since I tend to misclick sometimes and accidentally activate things lmao

I just kinda tore into DX, but there are a few things I do like about it. the gummi system is vastly improved first of all (thank god I can stop grinding for one million gummis), and I think the dungeon environments are some of the best to come out of the series. I also think the models wearing scarves is super cute, I loved it in Super and am glad it made a return here. I'm sure there are other QOL features I'd like in theory but I kinda... didn't get very far in the game due to the aforementioned graphical and UI issues that felt like actual sandpaper to my brain.

if there was an explorers DX, I actually think one fun direction the series could take is something like pokemon cafe remix or paper mario, which is still the energy of a 2D game just using nice looking art assets instead of sprites. I just think a PMD game that looks like this could be really cute and charming...

and it'd probably be closer to chunsoft's wheelhouse since it'd take notes from how they put the sprite games together! just wishful thinking though. my current crack theory is that rescue DX was just to test the waters for how popular PMD still is and maybe to test out the engine on switch before releasing an original game, a la let's go pikachu/eevee to sword/shield. I doubt they'll make an explorers remake.

#on borrowed time comic #ask-obt #ooc #pmd dx #dx #that was a lot of words hopefully this is readable

[hisuian-history-makers]

We know the usual story. Get called to the Pokemon world, wake up as a Pokémon, and get dragged into our first mystery dungeon...

Except we don’t see the struggle each human goes through adapting to their new body. Fur takes longer to dry than our skin, scales would probably itch when shedding, and accidentally breathing fire will be a constant worry for them. How do instincts work with the human mind? Some moves like Tackle or Scratch might be easier to regularly use than say—Razor Leaf. A whole new center of gravity to figure out while doing demanding exercise every day. Pokemon logic means all the options seem to have teeth.

The pokemon probably have different written language considering what we see in close shots in-game. Imagine for a moment being illiterate in a world that functions without the internet. Where the easiest way to earn money is by going to dangerous places where innocent people get lost daily in. Places that change their layout each time you go in and space bends to make these crazy dungeons with infinite foes. Most Pokemon we defeat in there disappear like illusions with us having to beat up enough to maybe find one mon who can actually talk.

If dungeon Pokemon are supposed to be the quote-on-quote “wild” Pokemon, then why do they still attack us after we save the world? How is attacking any non-dungeon Pokemon considered more riled up than normal? I wish the story went into further detail since we know some live-around dungeons. Like the Luxray/Manetric pack or the three-mankey. The word wild fits them better than the MD Pokemon.

Moving on, why do we only see helpful mature humans as the protagonists? Where are the poke-verse native kids who grew up with horror stories about people turning into Pokemon? I’d expect them to be pretty scared if it happened. There are probably some humans who want to profit from the main currency gold coins. Maybe some people are turned into Pokemon they know nothing about or dropped in places with ones not native to their home region.

What about more skeptic partners who don’t believe us outright when we say we are human? I mean, there will be very few Pokemon who know exactly what a human looks like. We might have been the ones to invent TMs in the universe. Literal CDs that contain moves with no computers in sight. What if the Ninetails’ Legend was more well-known making most picture us as manipulating monsters? The partner could form a team with us in the first game to watch over potential danger. A crazy mon could hurt themselves while an actual human will probably mess with something old.

Could humans even understand Pokemon? Or did Grovyle play charades to tell his human partner about something? Would scarves work on humans in the first place, wands I can see being farmed for them to take advantage of.

(Just a bunch of PMD thoughts I had recently. So many unanswered questions and mysteries left in the entire series. Needed to format my thoughts to get them out in all honesty.)

#pokemon #pmd #pokemon mystery dungeon #discussion #rant #protags #pokemon trainer #real world #sorta

[shima-draws]

SHOUTS I’m replaying PSMD right now and honestly going through this I really, truly think that PMD Sky is the Perfect Game. The game ever, if you will.

Things I’ve noticed playing PSMD and comparing it to PMD2:

-It takes Eight Years just to get through one dungeon seriously why the FUCK does it take me 15 minutes just to get through three floors. I can scale three floors in PMD2 in under a minute the pacing in the dungeons is just SO much better. Also the wild Pokemon feel way more balanced regarding actual appearance? In PSMD it’s like every time I turn a corner there’s an enemy Pokemon it’s never ending I cannot catch a break ever

-PSMD has that garbage feature where moves get “powered up” the more you use them. The issue with this is that base moves absolutely suck ass AND their accuracy is god awful so I’ll miss like 3 or 4 attacks in a row. Why. WHY is it this bad. It should not be this bad. Moves had a way more reliable accuracy in PMD2 and you could power them up by choice so their base power was already good from the beginning

-More about pacing, the actual story…takes so long to get started…I’m fairly certain that you spend more time in Serene Village in school than you do at the Expedition Society, which is supposed to be the main catch of the game. You barely ever get to explore on your own until like. Post game. AND the fact that the story forces you to proceed, there’s not a lot of times where you can stall and go to dungeons to stock up on items or grind some levels. In PMD2 you can do whatever the fuck you want and go wherever you want (within reason) and stall out the main game for as LONG as you want. AKA me grinding levels until I’m 15 above where I should be at that point in the game, which I enjoy bc I’m a sucker who loves being overpowered and absolutely dominating boss fights.

-PSMD’s recruiting system…the concept is cool but the execution is reeeally bad. The fact that you can only recruit ONE of each Pokemon and that they aren’t always readily available when you need them? Logically it makes sense but as a gameplay mechanic it’s so terrible, I don’t want to have to wait a day to get the member I want to use or rearrange my team bc someone is out for the day;; PMD2…okay you get my point right you can recruit as many of the same Pokemon as you want in PMD2 and take them with you whenever you want

Anyway I love PSMD so very much but GOD it has a lot of flaws. Meanwhile PMD2 my beloved who’s never done anything wrong in its life ever and continues to be the pinnacle of all PMD games. My original thought was that nothing could ever compare to PMD2’s plot but now I’m starting to think it’s the same for its game mechanics as well lol

#LOOPLETS AND EMERAS ARE NICE THO I will give PSMD that. #I wanted to replay PSMD bc I really do adore it a lot it’s my second favorite PMD game in terms of plot #And GOD PSMD partner. Love of my life. My absolute angel #There’s a lot of good things about this game but #Since I haven’t played it in so long the bullshit mechanics are driving me NUTS #Especially how slow the dungeon crawling sections are. It should not take me that long ever #The 3D games really fucked up the pacing of proceeding through dungeons 😔 #PSMD #Pokemon #PMD #Pokemon Mystery Dungeon #PMD Sky #I will play this for Chimchar and Chimchar only #THE best partner in the world. GOD I adore the PSMD partner so so so so much #I’m mentally ill about them actually 🥰 #Shima speaks

[canonicallyginger]

I have beaten Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of the Spirit, and honestly? one of the best fangames ive ever played period. The understanding the writer(s) had of the characters is perfection (especially Wigglytuff). The gameplay was pretty damn fun, even if i struggled through the Road To Shaymin Village the entire way. The story concept was amazing, and the exploration of the themes presented in Explorers of Sky was wonderful.

That said, the ending was the part that disappointed me. Big spoilers ahead

The ending was so anti-climactic. The way they negated the stakes before even getting to the final showdown was certainly a choice. I think it would have worked better if Celebi had pointed out that the world isn't ended after the final boss rather than before. Because taking away the stakes takes away most of the excitement.

The fact that there's no room for post-game disappointed me too. There was so much I wanted to be able to explore in this take on the setting. I wanted to be able to see Shaymin Village, and I wanted to have the opportunity to talk to the legendaries that apparently exist without purpose in the setting. If there'd been any post-game at all, i think i would have been less bummed out by the anticlimactic ending.

Also, the player character's disappearance doesn't feel nearly as sad for the partner pokemon. Every official PMD game has made me cry at the ending, but this fangame, which handled the characters so perfectly at every other point in the story, failed to stir up any emotion other than disappointment in the final act.

Also, the way Breloom returned but didn't have any dialogue for the main duo? That was a huge disappointment for me. I just... I feel like they spent so much time developing a truly interesting new character and then they just. didn't give him anything to say about the hero and partner.

But back to the good things-- still spoilers:

When Ampharos and Mawile mentioned in the epilogue that they were moving on to explore other continents, that make me go "IT IS THEM!!! It's THEM! They're in this! I knew i recognized their mannerisms!" because Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon is literally my favorite pokemon game. The way Team AWD is written is also fantastic. Letting the team be morally gray instead of just blandly antagonistic and greedy was really interesting and good. Team Charm being morally gray for the same reasons was great too. The fact that Wigglytuff sent the main duo to Armaldo in hopes of showing them that he doesn't believe anyone is beyond redemption. The way Darkrai gets actual motives!!!!!! The way the partner just chucks the Odd Keystone in the epilogue because of the game's thesis statement of "no such thing as an irredeemable spirit," which was something Explorers of Sky tried to convey but then didn't follow through in the final act. The way Grovyle is clearly not sure what to do with himself in a world that doesn't need saving. The way Celebi is just fucking pissed at him for going on another fucking adventure without even trying to let her know. God, there's so much i can say about this game being amazing and that wouldn't do it justice.

If you've read through all this and haven't seen or played it, then i'm mad at you for ruining the plot by reading these spoilers, but you should still give it a go. You're expected to know the entire plot of Explorers of Sky tho

#PMD: Explorers of the Spirit #explorers of the spirit #pmd eots #eots spoilers

[ifbench]

Rescue Team DX

Rescue Team DX is a game that means a lot to me. Not only was it the very first PMD game I truly played, it was the first Pokemon game I finished. Before this, I never finished a Pokemon game before.

I got it as a graduation gift from my siblings, and originally didn't have any plans on playing it, but after talking friend of mine in another community, who was a big fan of PMD, I decided to try it, and liveblog my experience to her.

Best decision I ever made in 2020.

It was the most emotion I felt about a game ever up until then. Closest thing to it was maybe Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks or Mario and Luigi: Dream Team.

Rescue Team DX was the first game that I actually cried at. When me and my partner were chased out of town, with Run Away, Fugitives playing...I legitimately teared up. And when my partner called out my name as I drifted away at the end of the game...I started full-on crying.

Compared to other PMD games, its story may be simplistic. But does that invalidate it as a story? Does that make its story any less worth telling? I don't think so.

It may not have the grand, time-spanning or world-spanning plot points of Explorers or Super, nor the fantastically-developed characters of Gates. But it has heart.

It has a tale it wants to tell, and that tale is one that resonated with me to my very core. It's a simple tale of finding your place in an unfamiliar world, but I love it with all my heart.

I think Rescue Team DX made a masterful decision in having the artstyle be similar to a picture book. It's a simple tale, one a child could enjoy, yet still has enough heart and care put into it to make a grown man cry.

DX embraces this with the artstyle, painting the world as if it was a bedtime story that you want to hear again and again every night. It feels like childlike wonder recaptured.

Does it have its flaws? Sure. The Mankey gang quest, for one. But a few too many treks through one dungeon isn't enough to sour the experience for me.

Rescue Team DX is something truly special to me, in that I could only ever play it once. I could never find it in my heart to start another save file, to erase the memories me and my partner had together.

Acacia the Chikorita may have just been pixels on a screen, but I cared for him. I cried over him. I wanted to hug him.

Sometimes, I do play a little more. Going on with my current team, and doing a few more rescues. But for the most part, Acacia lives on through my writing and memories.

Rescue Team DX is a story of coming to terms with an unfortunate event, and learning to make the most of what you have now. It's about learning to find yourself in an unfamiliar world. It's about growing attached to that once-unfamiliar world, and wanting to stay. It's a story about self-discovery.

And, in a way...given what I was dealing with at the time I first played it, it was exactly what I needed.

I love, with all my heart, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX.

#pmd #pmd rambles #rambling #pmd rescue team #rescue team dx #rescue team spoilers #pokemon mystery dungeon #pmd spoilers

[dishsaop]

Hello!! I want to say hi because I see you interact with Rads a lot, and he also told me you love Pokemon \ PMD :)

From your interactions that I noticed on Rads' page, you sound like a nice person to talk to in general, but also... as of late I've been slowly getting into Pokemon ^^"

I played Black last year (loved it, especially N lol), and now I'm finally getting into Mystery Dungeon too (I'm playing the DS version of EoS via homebrew). I wanted to try PMD for years, but it did not click for me until just a few days ago, so... When Rads told me you're talking to him a lot about it, I was like 'omg I could use some advice and just have fun hearing about the game!!'

so yeah, that's why I'm writing this. Have a nice day!!

hi, omg this is so sweet! i LOVE pmd2 eos and im always way too excited to talk about it. my sister and i played it together growing up - we'd do individual missions and grinding and stuff on our own but as soon as plot came we'd close the ds and wait till the other was around so we could both watch what happened. i've played it a billion times since then, i just think it's fun! it has a genuinely good story and smooth and fun, if routine, gameplay.

(i'm a fake pokemon fan though, i havent played a main pokemon game since x/y and i havent FINISHED a game since platinum. i obsess over the side games tho lol. the pmd games, the ranger games, and colosseum my beloveds)

advice-wise, i can give you a few tips without spoilers i think? if anyone wants to add more feel free though!

reviver seeds are your best friends. they are more important than any other item. hoard them. spend all your money on them. my sister always told me i was missing the 'spirit' of the game by going into dungeons with 12 reviver seeds, but when one of your missions is escorting a low-level pokemon through a dungeon and another is fighting a high-level bad guy, you will appreciate the reviver seeds then.

you will eventually encounter monster houses. always carry a petrify orb, foe-stun orb, or some other item that will affect an area of pokemon. you shouldn't get monster houses too early in the game but it doesn't hurt to be prepared.

pmd2 is a kids game, and as such you won't need to heavily grind. still, depending on your comfort level, it can be really nice to have a few extra levels. pmd2 also is a game where plot events are scheduled - meaning if you go on a certain number of missions/otherwise use up a certain amount of in-game days, plot points will automatically occur. if you want more time to complete missions and otherwise level up/goof off, you often don't actually have to go on the plot mission, even if an npc says you do. just do your own thing anyway, it's fine. they'll keep reminding you but whatever, lol

to that last point, sometimes you'll be on longer missions and will be offered two paths to take from area to area. it will be obvious which is the correct one, as the incorrect one will always be labelled as 'foggy path' 'dark path' 'rocky path', etc, ending in 'path'. that one will just send you in a loop. you can take it as many times as you want to level grind. or you can skip them entirely if you want to get on with the game!

save, idk, 3-5 blue gummis in storage if you plan on finishing the game and doing post-game stuff. it isn't game-changing, it really isn't important, but it'll save you some minor time and annoyance.

there's no shame in looking up a guide for the personality test at the very beginning that determines which pokemon you play as. if you enjoy the surprise and/or actually want to align your personality/pokemon type, hell yeah! but there's a fun list of possible pokemon and it can be fun to pick which pokemon/type you like playing best as. personally, i love being riolu, learning focus punch, beefing it up with ginsengs, and destroying all in my path. i'm also weak to eevee, skitty, and shinx, because these four were the two my sister and i played most.

don't be afraid to use your normal (non-pp) attack, but also don't be afraid to use pp attacks. max elixirs aren't hard to come by, but not endless. however, you Will Not make it if you never use pp attacks. you'll find a balance!

you can control the moves your partner uses by switching them on/off in their move menu. if they have no moves selected, theyll default to the normal attack. im pretty sure they dont use normal attack if any pp moves are selected, though? you can also edit their "battle tactics" - eg, whether they follow u, seek out battles, run away, etc. this can be really useful as the only character you yourself fully control is the main character. make sure ur partner saves their low-pp high-attack moves for important situations, etc.

this isn't a NECESSITY but it helps if you and your partner are well-balanced or at least not exactly the same type-wise. it'll be just you two a lot, and you'll save yourself a lot of trouble if you picked a partner pokemon whose type balances out yours so you're not struggling through certain dungeons.

if you're using an emulator, save states are lovely, especially since dunegons are all randomly generated, but i know some people consider it cheating and don't like it. up to you!

there will be randomly encountered shopkeeper kecleons in dungeons. unless you can get to the stairs IMMEDIATELY, do not steal from them. jesus christ do not. or at least prepare to reload the game or give up on the dungeon.

if you can, take a bunch of missions at once in the same dungeon and just blast through them all in one trip.

play with the music up if you can! it has a deceptively incredible soundtrack.

i think that's enough to be dangerous with! there's more i could add, but honestly this game is pretty straightforward. if you have any specific questions, feel free to ask! this game means a lot to me, nostalgia-wise, and i genuinely love the story and the characters. just let yourself feel out what your favorite play style is. some people like bigger exploration teams and some don't, some people use every amenity in treasure town and some don't, everyone prefers different items and moves. but in the end, it's a kids game, and i know you'll do just fine!

#m text #pmd2 #pokemon mystery dungeon #explorers of sky #eos

[teeterarting]

here's a list of things i love about PSMD for no reason other than i think it deserves appreciation (spoilers)

the hero gets adopted by a nuzleaf. Hero, a young child that doesn't know why they were brought into this world, attacked by beheeyem, scared and alone, finds someone that takes them under his wing and gives them a home. it's really sweet that once Nuzleaf brings them to the Village, Hero's not alone anymore.

yes it was all a trick, he deceived you. but being betrayed by your father figure hits so much harder. it's much more personal, especially when both Hero and Partner are kids. and when Nuzleaf goes through all that ordeal in the post game, then gets accepted back into the village?? And his little speech to Hero????? it's heartbreaking and incredibly touching at the same time

everything is just so cute!!!! you go to school with your new friendo and you're friends with the schoolkids, and you make the trip to school every morning taking in the scenery, the smell of dew and fresh grass, and the sun on your face... and you take classes about Mystery Dungeon mechanics, and principal Simipour is a big BRO, the school nurse Audino is super kind and helpful... and you get to play with your pokemon friendos in summer vacation, and explore a dungeon with 'em... AND your bond with your Partner begins to form, getting stronger and stronger from then on. PSMD's beginning arc is so warm and pleasant, it's like reliving childhood memories all over again, when things were happier and you didn't have to worry about how cruel the world is. this story section's one purpose is to get the player used to the game's mechanics, as well as foreshadowing. unfortunately most of the school kids get forgotten later on, but I still love this part for everything it is, even if unintentional.

it's not just the beginning that's cute. PSMD'S ENTIRE WORLD IS ADORABLE. It's just filled with life every town you go. there are a bunch of pokemon locals and they all have interesting things to say, in the main story and the post-game. there's a point where their comments get repetitive, but that's bound to happen in any PMD game. Even then, the days are never the same. one morning you wake up and the Lively Town locals are exercising, then the next they're having singing lessons, and then they're practicing martial arts. and you get to connect with (or recruit) some of them just by.... chatting!!! Sitting next to that big ol' venusaur and sharing stories, laughing and having fun. it's good stuff.

Sometimes you find travelling pokemon in dungeons and it's jsut the coolest thing. Imagine you're exploring a dungeon, then your Connection Orb notifies you there's a fellow explorer in the floor. First thing you do is try to find them, and when you do - oh dang a travelling Archeops!!!! And then they just,,,, exchange their experiences and thoughts on exploration and how hard it is to fend off those enemies and the cool treasure they found the other day (the game calls it "[Team Name] and [Traveller pokemon] compared notes"). then the traveller heals you, fills your belly and restores your PP. and they go on their way. idk man it's such a cute interaction. explorers chatting, empathizing and helping each other, bc their job is not an easy one...

PSMD Partner is the most developed Partner in any PMD game yet. They start off as this naive, hyperactive kiddo, then stuff happens, and worse stuff happens, and you get to see how they grow and change and by the end they're a different person than they were before (in more than one way ...). It's just so nice to be by their side, from the beginning to the bitter end, and watch their growth. in contrast, Hero is a little unbalanced in that their backstory is not explored as much, and their personality is kind of a blank - probs meant to be vague so the player can be in their shoes. to me this just gives you the opportunity to shape their character however you want, so you can have tons of different hero/pardner dynamics.

The music is rlly flippin' good. Some of the tracks are recycled from previous entries, but when they go original??? it's a blast!!! "Echoes of the Mystical Forest" is one of my favorites in all four entries, it has no right being so amazing for a random dungeon. "Time to Set Out" makes me cry immediately (also i think it would be a better fit for the parting ways scene at the end...). Don't even get me started on "Second Dark Matter Battle", it has everything an epic climax needs and MORE. the Partner remix????? absolute genius

speaking of which, Dark Matter ITSELF,, is freaking amazing. Its actions were foreshadowed in the very beginning, though they were not blatant through the game. i do think they could have done a better job at showing the pokemon's negativity raising in the world, as well as negative feelings in the characters... but it's not like Gates did a good job at it, either (outside of cutscenes, all the locals in Post Town are incredibly nice to you and fights didn't "break out often". it's like the game tells you the world is a dark place, but what it shows in gameplay doesn't add up). so i'll cut them some slack. Still, I find Dark Matter a more compelling villain than the Bittercold for several reasons. it is sentient. its speech is a jumbled amount of voices all talking at the same time - the anguished voices of the world. It actually concocted a plan to hurl the planet into the Sun, using pawns like Nuzleaf and Yveltal to do its dirty job. in the Voidlands, Hero and Partner discover its past, and how it'll come back after defeat, like a cycle. when Partner accepts Dark Matter, they accept negative feelings as something everyone has within themselves. Most of all, the fact that Dark Matter is a manifestation of negative feelings doesn't make it just a generic threat, a final obstacle to be defeated so the world can be saved. It makes Dark Matter - negativity itself - a natural part of the world, the yin to its yang. and that's why I LOVE IT SO MUCH DANG IT EVEN THANKS PARTNER FOR THEIR ACCEPTANCE

The fact that Dark Matter can possess pokemon that have "even the smallest amount of darkness in their hearts". it makes me think of Mr. Nuzleaf and what he might have gone through in the past to make him so easy to be controlled. Did he hold a grudge against someone?? Did he commit a crime?? Had Nuzleaf always been malicious???? And if so, is this why he shows so much remorse in the post-game??????? because he had always been this vile fiend and then he met this small kid and got attached, but still carried on with his evil actions because his malice was still stronger than the positive feelings and Dark Matter's hold on him intensified?????? I don't know!!!! and as much as i wish the game could have given us that sweet mr. Nuzleaf backstory, it's pretty fun to have freedom to come up with your own version.

Everything about Super's climax is just phenomenal. Every single flippin' legendary is there to help you. Arceus is in the game. MEWTWO IS THERE. and when things are looking hopeless, they really seem hopeless. First the Tree of Life is dying, then your allies get turned into stone and sent to hell The Voidlands, Arceus gets turned into stone, the entire world is stone (except for several mon' that are still safe and holding onto hope, but they're so few). Your Harmony Scarves stop working and you and your Partner are back to your feeble, basic stage forms. You are bordering exhaustion, you have no Emeras, it's just you and your Partner against an eldritch abomination that's killing the life on the entire planet like a parasite, devouring all hope. but you still fight back. Given how adults in the game always discourage the village children from going adventuring, that they cannot do this or that because they're so little and fragile, it's awesome how Hero and Partner beat Dark Matter as tiny kids.

PSMD is not a flawless game. in fact there's plenty of things that hold it back and i even mentioned some... but it's still full of love put into it and it resonates w me more than PMD Explorers of T/D/S and Gates to Infinity (Rescue Team is a close second). its my all-time favorite PMD game.

#pmd #pokemon mystery dungeon #psmd #pokemon super mystery dungeon #Teeter rambles #long post

[pmdobt]

The rules I used for this playthrough the comic is based on! A bunch of semantics below the cut, not important information unless you really wanna know my exact playstyle.

Since I usually have like, 20 people ask me, "other means" means I use an action replay! I actually played this run on a PMD: EOS cartridge I've had since the games came out, so I can't use super fancy hacking. But this way, I can actually shake things up a lil and put the partner in danger more often to give y'all some more suspense :3c And now for some rule technicalities because there's a lot more words to the rules, but they aren't really important unless you want to know exactly how I played through the game. -First pokemon who asks per an area is defined by dungeon/area name. For example, lower steam cave and upper steam cave count as two separate areas. The semi-exception to this is cafe recruits and rescue recruits. If I have not recruited a pokemon in a certain dungeon and I rescue a pokemon that wants to join the team, they can technically count as the recruit for that dungeon. -Tactics don't have to apply to escorts since they're out of my control and always set to the default. -No map is allowed, but I am allowed to use IQ skills to help find the stairs (esp since those IQ skills require a million gummis to unlock) -No bank is allowed, but mostly because it's unnecessary since a wipe means the end of the run. What doesn't constitute as the end of the run, however, is if after a quick save I bumped my cartridge which the game counts as a loss. This has unfortunately happened, and that'll be a fun point in the story. -Get a reviver seed in a dungeon? Eat it immediately. No exceptions. Not even for escorts. If an escort faints, they'll be considered dead in-story. How fun! -Not much to say about legendaries here. -The only exception to the Wondermail rule is if the partner dies and needs to be swapped out via Action Replay. Since I couldn't crack a way to directly replace the partner in-story (only post-game), I more or less have to hack my way through it by changing the partner's species and giving them TMs for moves the new partner is supposed to know. It's complicated. -This run is incomplete at the time I'm writing this, so the hero dying is a fun and dangerous surprise even for myself! As previously mentioned, "outside means" means the Action Replay. I didn't mention it, but the replacement partner must be someone who is already recruited on the team, barring legendary pokemon of course. -And this isn't listed in the rules, but I used the Action Replay to give the main character Ice typing as well as giving her my closest approximation to the Alolan Vulpix movepool. And that does it! Though I should mention that not all actions in the game translate directly to the comic, so if you're a bit of a stickler about rules being portrayed exactly in this nuzcomic, this might not be the comic for you. Otherwise, enjoy reading!

#on borrowed time comic #pmd #nuzlocke

[heavy-lobster]

Okokok I’ve had thoughts and I am going to organize them into several paragraphs so buckle up

PMD DX is an important game, because it marks the PMD series not being completely dead, and has given people hope for more entries in the future. Of course, I think everyone would prefer that next entry be something new, rather than a remake of a past PMD game. Even then, since DX was announced I’ve seen plenty of talk about the inevitability of a PMD 2 remake, whether it’s coming next or will be following something new. Most people I’ve seen talk about this seem in agreement that PMD 2 would be the next game in the series to get remade if any. This is really strange to me.

I don’t feel like Explorers of Sky really needs a remake. Here me out.

Like a lot of people, EoS is my favorite PMD game. The pixel art graphics are pretty much everything I could ever want out of a game and the soundtrack might just be my favorite video game soundtrack of all time. The story is incredible and the characters are fun and charming. While I personally don’t really play PMD for the gameplay at all, EoS has the most enjoyable gameplay in the series in my opinion. I really love this game, so why wouldn’t I want a remake?

I don’t feel that EoS needs a remake. I just don’t feel like there’s any improvements to be made here. Let me clarify; I’m not saying EoS is perfect. It definitely isn’t. No game is. EoS has plenty of issues and things that could be improved and added to the game. So what’s the problem? I just don’t feel like hardly any of the things that actually need improving would be improved in the remake I know we would get. The remake would most likely just “update” the graphics, “update” the music, change and update some gameplay features, and maybe some new post game content or something if we’re lucky idk.

I feel the update to the graphics would almost be reductive in a way. The pixel art style of EoS just doesn’t really need “updating”. Clean, stylized, pixel graphics are timeless and will ultimately hold up better than any 3D graphics, the standards for which just keep getting higher and higher. It’s distinct and charming and I don’t feel that anything of value would be gained by making the game 3D. To clarify, I don’t hate the graphics of the 3D PMD games. They look just fine and there’s some parts of these games that look fantastic! I just feel like in the graphics department of an EoS remake, there nothing to be gained and everything to lose.

Music wise, this argument is entirely based on my own nostalgia and biases. I like the music! It’s good! Every orchestral rendition I’ve ever heard of a track from these games just hasn’t done it for me. Part of just really doesn’t want to hear an “official” version of these orchestral arrangements because I just. don’t like the sound as much. I’m a music nerd and even I genuinely can’t justify this with any kind of logic beyond just the nostalgia factor for me personally.

The gameplay is the only area I can see being actually improved and even I’m not really sure what more they could do other updating it to be more like it was in DX. Which would be nice I guess but it still just doesn’t feel that necessary to me idk. I doubt the story would go through any major changes, for better or for worse, so overall there’s just not enough improvements to be made to justify a whole remake.

If any PMD were to get another remake, the game I feel is the most deserving of it is Gates to Infinity.

Gates has grown a reputation for being the worst PMD game, the reasons for which are completely beyond me. Gates is my second favorite game in the series. The story is great and it fixes one problem I’ve had pointed out about EoS story-wise,,,, that being the generally pointless flashbacks to events that happened 5 minutes ago. The graphics are outdated by today’s standards yeah but,,,, Gates was the first fully 3D Pokemon game so how hard can you really be? The music, while not quite as good as its predecessors in my opinion, is still very good! Especially the goodbye theme, that’s a good one. The gameplay is. Certainly gameplay! Overall it’s a really good game and I like it! So why do I think it deserves a remake more than EoS?

There’s a lot more things to improve and expand on with Gates. Gates felt like it was being held back from what it could’ve been. There were so many cool features n shit that just wasn’t really utilized much and it’s sad because these games could’ve been even better! Gates feels almost incomplete to me, like there was supposed to be more to it. Probably not but it feels like it to me.

Graphic wise there’s a lot of obvious improvements to be made. The models in Gates definitely aren’t bad, but they could be better for sure. The environments would look SO good if the graphics were touched up,,, I wanna see the great glacier in high-def dammit! A lot of the animations were kind of awkward too, those could benefit from a touch up. A big problem with Gates is that the camera is zoomed in wayyy too much. You really can’t see shut most of the time and it just doesn’t look very good. That could be fixed in a remake. The music doesn’t need much of touch up that’s not really one of my points here it doesn’t get its own paragraph.

One thing I want improved story-wise is the post game. I really like the post game of Gates but it’s so short and there’s just. Not much there?? There’s actually kind of sort of a bad ending to Gates! You can straight up refuse to return to the pokemon world and then the cave collapses and fades out to some weirdly eerie text. I really like this!! I like everything about this climax in the post game! But that’s like,,, pretty much the only thing worth noting! I like the overwhelming feeling of emptiness, and I like the way your partner just silently stares at your old bed every morning before you get to control him. I just think it’s neat! But it could’ve been so much neater!! I just want to see it expanded on.

The gameplay is mostly fine in Gates dungeon-wise. The other things I’ve mentioned plus just updating somethings to fit in with recent PMD games would fix all the problems I have with the dungeon gameplay here. No I don’t care if they add hunger back or not, hunger adds nothing of substance to the gameplay and I couldn’t care less whether or not it’s a feature.

The gameplay I want to see improved isn’t in the core dungeon aspect. I want to see the Paradise building aspect of the game improved and expanded on. It’s a really cool feature! It could be so much cooler if it wasn’t as limited as it is!! I have so many ideas but I’m,,, not writing them down rn sorry. Also magnagates! That weird little feature no one cared about. Those were cool I just wanted to bring them up,,, I kinda miss them.

TLDR; I feel like there’s so much more they could do and improve with a Gates to Infinity remake, whereas there really isn’t many ways to handle an Explorers remake. But also I really don’t want them to remake another PMD game I just want new content please I’m starving here-

#!!DISCLAIMER!! These are just my thoughts don’t get angy! #feel free to start discourse however #I can write a whole ass essay about PMD but I can’t do my homework smh #I have so many thoughts you have no idea #this is completely incoherent btw it’s a total ramble #pmd #lobster.txt

[axolotlcute497]

PMD GTI Player Never Returns AU

Hi guys Elle again. Like I said in my previous post, I’ve been playing some PMD and am planning to quit the games after my player disappears. So this is how it’ll go if the player (in GTI) disappears forever.

The AU:

Many weeks have passed since Faith, a female Oshawott, has disappeared. Her friend Spark, a female Pikachu, is devastated and depressed about it, hoping to see her again. Then Hydreigon discovers a way for Faith to return, revealing that Spark must traverse across a dungeon known as Worldcore to make a wish for Faith to return.

However, like the actual game’s storyline, the wish quest fails and the player disappears forever. This is how things become different.

So she went on that quest and just when she got there, a Giratina appeared out of nowhere and attacks Spark, making her unconscious. Then, Giratina explodes Worldcore, destroying the place. The Giratina then dropped Spark, causing her to fall, just like the player did in the beginning of the actual game except it’s really higher because Giratina dropped her very high.

After the huge fall, Spark finds herself regain consciousness but feels very, very weak from the impact. She tries to get up, but fails due to how weak she is. So she decides to rest and she drifts off to sleep. Then a voice wakes her up, causing her to open her eyes and see who’s the voice that woke her. Then, Upon arrival, she meets four Pokémon she’s never met before.

The four Pokémon were three triplet siblings, a Pansage named Leaf (who’s male), a Pansear named Fireball (who’s male) and a Panpour named Aqua (who’s female, and their friend a shiny male Cubone named Bruno.

The four then help her, with Leaf and his brother and sister looking for potions and/or oran berries and with Bruno bandaging Spark’s broken, crooked, wounded tail, that she (Spark) broke during the impact. Bruno asks Spark her name and how she ended up like this. Spark tells him her name, how she failed her mission at Worldcore, and vice versa.

When the triplets gave Spark some oran berries, Fireball curiously asks Spark if there’s a paradise they can live. Spark replies yes and tells them she’s the founder and the one who made this paradise, woahing the four Pokémon. Spark asks the four if they’d like to stay there and they excitedly and happily accept. Then Leaf had an idea.

”Hey, why don't we make this paradise even better than before?” Leaf suggested.

”That’s a great idea!” Aqua exclaimed.

”I agree.” Fireball said.

So the five agreed and decide to upgrade the paradise. But even so, Spark knew that the triplets nor Bruno cab never replace her old friend, Faith.

The same events of the actual game unfolds. After some exploration missions, the five confront Kyruem and the five set off on two missions, with them to stop the bitter cold and to save Keldeo. During the journey, Bruno tells Spark that they need to talk and he takes her somewhere private. Then, Bruno, finally, asks her why she’s been depressed lately and why she cries herself to sleep at night.

Spark explains to him her whole journey. She tells him of her previous best friend, Faith, she on the same spot she met him and the triplets, and tells him that her friend was the original leader of the team. She also tells him about Kryuem and that she and Faith saved the paradise from the bitter cold and her best friend's disappearance. She ultimately breaks down into tears again and cries in Bruno's arms.

Bruno feels very sorry and sympathetic for everything Spark has gone through. He tries his best to comfort Spark, saying that life is hard and that these things happen, and we just have to try our best to get over them and stay strong.

He tells her how much he really loves her and has come to care for her, and that she can try her best to fill the void of her old friend. Spark feels really flattered by his kind words and can't thank him enough, and she continues crying in his arms, but this time tears of joy.

She knows deep down that no one will be able to replace Faith but she's willing to let her new friends to live up to her old friend.

The five then save keldeo and defeat kyruem. A lot of post game stuff happens, except it now focuses on Spark and her new four partners, Leaf, Fireball, Aqua and Bruno and some other slight differences since Sparks's old friend, Faith, is not present. The Giratina (Lets call him/them Giratina to make things a little easier) knows he/they destroyed the Worldcore and Spark has lost her friend forever, but he/they realizes that she‘s made new friends, meaning that this could be a threat to his scheme of destroying the world and tearing apart friendships.

So Giratina kidnapped Hydreigon and disguised himself as a fake Hydreigon and tricks Spark into bringing her and her new friends to a dungeon known as The Dark Dungeon. The five manage to get to the dungeon and it was all a trap. Spark recognized him as the Pokémon who attacked her to prevent her for making her wish, and showed signs of anger.

Giratina then reveals to the five that Faith was a human and that he was the one who turned her into a Pokémon. The four were shocked that Faith’s old friend was a human that turned into a Pokémon. They then battle and the five manage to win and destroy Giratina.

They rescue Hydreigon and make it back to the paradise. The five then celebrate their victory and everyone cheers for them and their heroic efforts. After this, the five would eventually evolve, with Spark into a Raichu, Bruno into a Marowak, Leaf into a Simsage, Fireball into a Simsear and Aqua into a Simpour, and go on many other explorations afterwards.

At this, Spark has noticed how much of a bond she has formed with Faith, and saw that she was worthy of the title of her five new friends.

Sven though she can never completely get over the loss of her old friend, she’ll still be confident knowing Bruno, Leaf, Fireball and Aqua are around her, she felt happier than if she was alone.

It's pretty much a role reversal, Spark use to be the partner and now she’s pretty much the main character.

#pokémon mystery dungeon #Pokemon Mystery Dungeon AU #AU #Player never returns AU

[radramblog]

Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon is basically OK

Recently, I’ve partaken in some kind of cultural exchange with a friend of mine- namely, I’ve lent her my copies of the Scott Pilgrim novels (god do they kick ass), and she’s lent me her copy of Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon, seeing as I never played it at the time.

Well I’ve now beaten this game, and I have some thoughts about it, so chop chop Keara the story isn’t getting any younger I expect a full book report on my desk next Sunday.

Jokes aside, this was my first experience with a PMD game since Sky (discounting the demo for Gates to Infinity), and having missed the series’s third entry (fourth if you count those Japan-only WiiWare games), it’d be remiss of me not to at least mention that maybe some of the things I’m going to complain about were originally that game’s fault. But apparently that one actively sucks ass so who cares, just shift the blame over, eh?

(ah, primary-school-tier bullying, exactly what I want in my Pokemon game, cool)

I think one of the foremost issues people have about PSMD is the story, and I can’t help but agree. The game spends what feels like forever fucking about in Serene Village, doing what could charitably described as tutorial followed by slice-of-life-ish plots, and while I love me a good slice-of-life anime, those tend to be a lot less slow than this. Also the characters tend to be a lot less one-note, but it’s a kids game, so whatever. Speaking of kids, this to my knowledge is the only PMD game where you and your partner character are canonically children, and spend a lot of time around others. The game seems to establish unevolved Pokemon as kids, which while it doesn’t really add up with the rest of the series (e.g. in the first ones, Caterpie is clearly a child, but Metapod is as well and Gulpin is at least adult enough to run their own store), it would ultimately be excusable if it didn’t make that huge section of the game so boring.

They aren’t consistent with that kids thing, by the way. When you finally reach the Expedition society, you’re met with a bunch of unevolved Pokemon (Archen, Buizel, Bunnelby, Swirlix) that are running around behaving very youthfully, who then turn around and go hey we don’t allow kids in our gang please leave. Like, the plot had been leading me to believe that the whole place was shut down, Ampharos as its final member, and those kids were just running around an abandoned building, but nope, here are your teammates for the rest of the game.

(brown sus)

The remainder of the plot is basically fine, its not like the plots in this series are the greatest on the planet (save maybe Explorers), though the focus on the villains turning people into stone felt pretty awkward. It’s like they wanted to pull off a more dramatic, more personal-stakesy plot but couldn’t actually kill anyone. This gets kind of egregious when you end up in actual hell for a bit, in what I guess is the series tradition of potentially traumatic experiences and blasted hellscapes being exposed to the protagonists. The endgame plot all seems to come at you at once, not helped by it being lots of chained dungeons without returning to towns beforehand- it wouldn’t be as bad if the whole game was like this, but with such a slow start, it just feels so inconsistent. The endgame twist was pretty spicy, I’ll admit, but it didn’t have enough buildup to feel earned in my honest opinion.

(pictured: the best character in the game)

But the plot doesn’t matter so much as the gameplay does it? And as someone who has also concurrently been playing through the first Pokemon Mystery Dungeon game on my GBA, there’s a lot of interesting comparisons to make. The dungeons on the whole are shorter in PSMD, with few of the main-game ones reaching beyond 10 floors (and not going much past it) compared to the prequels’ capping off with a 25+5 floor behemoth in Sky Tower. This is made up for by every floor of the dungeons in PSMD feeling much larger and more labyrinthine than anything in other PMD games, meaning each one takes much longer than you’d think. I dread to imagine what the 99-floor dungeons are like in this game, especially considering you now need an item to quicksave the game if you want to do anything else now. The dungeons themselves additionally really do not feel like they’ve taken advantage of the 9 years of potential design improvements and two console generations of technology improvements between games- it is frustratingly same-old same-old in the dungeon design.

These problems are capped off with the increased difficulty- that is, that every individual Pokemon is significantly more of a threat to you than in previous games, and you don’t really get the opportunity to level grind much. And I’m not opposed to difficulty in games, obviously, but what it does in PSMD is ruin the flow of the gameplay for me. What works in Mystery Dungeons previous was that blend of exploration and combat, and in Super, that gets completely broken up by protracted encounters with even the chump-tier mons you encounter along the way. Also, they made the basic attack complete shit, and I don’t like that.

That’s not to say that the gameplay is all bad. I won’t comment too heavily on the Looplet/Emera system, because I’m kinda mid on it, but it didn’t help that despite all the game’s tutorialising I still didn’t get part of it until most of the way through the story. The game does have some moments of genuine brilliance in design, though. The way you recruit more Pokemon is so much better than the luck-based mission of the previous games, wihle managing to actually make you want to go on the random missions you get thrown throughout the game- for one thing they aren’t random, but it means you have a guaranteed good reward instead of the semi-RNG system where you just end up with a bunch of Gravelerocks and berries you’ll never use. In addition, the system where on non-plot days (and in the postgame) you just get 3 random Pokemon recommended to you, that get bonus EXP if you use them that day, is a great way of encouraging the player to diversify their Pokemon usage substantially, which is nice.

There’s a few other nice gameplay things I’d like to highlight. Considering the increased difficulty, the ability to rescue yourself (read: come back with the overpowered mons the game dropped in your lap) is really nice, especially since it’s not like anyone else is playing these games who can help. The way moves get better the more you use them is nice, especially considering how much more you use one move over and over in this game compared to main series Pokemon games. The random bonus missions and travelling mons you encounter in dungeons are nice, as well as the increased variety in missions available- as well as actually being able to revive fallen escortees, it makes the mission system overall much stronger than in previous entries.

Beyond that, though, I’m not sure what else I have to say about Super Mystery Dungeon. The game is a decent entry in what can barely be called a franchise these days, considering it’s 6 years old and yet still the newest entry, excluding the remake of the first ones that came out last year. It’d be a shame if this was the note we went out on for Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, but to be fair, I don’t think they’re ever going to be able to recapture the magic of the first two games. They struck gold with a lot of people, but I guess at this point, the gleam wore off.

#ramble #video games #pokemon #psmd #pokemon mystery dungeon

[twilightvolt]

Well....that was one way to start a new decade, i guess. >  >’

Ok, from the death and destruction to the quarantine caused by viral disease to large parts of the world literally going up in flames, this year was like an ominous beginning that revealed the true ugly colors of everyone around us.

But there’s something telling me that that was just the universe releasing all of it’s built up rage from the last decade, so to think on the bright side, the only way to go is up now, right?

Regardless, pushing all the crap that happened this year aside, this feels like one of my best years yet in terms of art. i don’t think there’s any wedge of this clock that i wasn’t completely satisfied with and i had a TON of tough decisions on what to put in said wedges cuz i just luved almost everything i’ve created this year.

If you’re up to it, i’ll have my usual month to month reflection under the cutoff, but if you’re not, i hope to keep giving y’all even better art next year! ^  ^

So without further ado, let’s review!

January: ~ Days ~

Runner up: Team Solar Rises Again! (drawing in celebration of PMD finally returning with a remake of the first game)

Kicking off right where 2019 left off, i was hot on the heels of my Beastars phase, still cranking out countless drawings and doodles, mostly featuring Legoshi, and even hanging around the Beastars Amino and making some new friends there. this piece in particular i think encapsulates what i was mostly doing at the time, making up stories and stuff within canon to give myself more wolf boi content. which is something that i rarely do normally since i’ve mostly just done OC related writing before this.

February: - Sk8ter Wolf -

Runner up: Re:Hukaro (That thing i drew for Moon)

Ahh yes, the day i peaked with punk rock energy and created something in a highschool notebook sketch style. ngl, with the release of Beastars’ english dub on the way and the fandom quickly growing, i felt like i was on fire with the amount of stuff i was drawing. i felt so inspired and things can’t possibly go bad.

Or can it?

March: We Can Be Heroes

Runner up: One More Day, Emo Bird Boi Sketchies

Ahh yes, the month the worldwide quarantine started because they discovered the virus around this time. from this point onward, time pretty much meant absolutely nothing since i was stuck indoors for a majority of the year, only going out if i had to. on top of that, i tried a little attempt at a fandub and got picked on immediately by yahoos on Youtube. it...wasn’t fun.

I tried doing a little challenge i made up called Animarch where i drew a drawing representing anime i liked every day, but i only got about 5 days in i think? ehh, whatever. i did try, so that means something. lol

April: - ANOTHER SIDE -

Runner up: BEAST CROSSING ~Legoshi & Raymond

This was pretty much the final month i drew anything Beastars related as i slowly started shifting back to Pokemon due to the wait for season 2. but not before getting the new Animal Crossing and drawing a thing with Raymond and Legoshi that would blow up with hundreds of notes and interactions across every platform i posted it on. lmao

Regardless, i feel like Another Side was a perfect way to end that phase of my art journey. it’s like a nice finale to a long string of ideas that i will totally return to once season 2 drops next year.

May: - KOUJI -

Runner up: Fashion (that sketch of Alex and Jet in casual clothing)

What happened this month again? oh right, i went back to Digimon for a hot minute cuz i continued playing the copy of Cyber Sleuth Complete that i won from a giveaway on Twitter and created Alex and Jet, my latest Tamer and her Hawkmon partner. i should really do some more stuff with them.

ANYWAY,

June: - DOUBLE TROUBLE -

Runner up: “No Time to Waste! HENSHIN!” (AF attack against IonicIsaac on Twitter), Cafe Mix ~Ace, Yagami, Lance and Seliph

Art Fight. third year. and this time i kicked things up a notch and beat my old record from last year!...after uhh....cramming in 8 attacks at the very last night and totally going insane from the amount of sleep i lost. ^  ^’

But trust me when i say i will NOT do that again next year, i swear.

July: Squad Up

Runner up: Comin’ Out to Stun (Jet the Hawk sketches)

So after playing and beating PMDX, i started fleshing out Lance and Selpih’s characters and made more art and stories surrounding them and the rest of the team. one of those being a drawing for Mystery Dungeon Day, which happens the day after Odaiba Day. which is in August. why did i put this down for July then? some questions just don’t need to be answered.

August: - TOGETHER -

Runner up: In the Storm

You can tell by now just how uneventful life was this year cuz i have literally nothing else to talk about other than the art parts. no life issues, no big adventures like moving or something. just....indoor stuff.

It’s...kinda sad, now that i think about it. but hey, at least i was making the most of my time, trying new things and getting around a bit more.

September: Small World

Runner up: Rescue Together, PMD Forever!, Midnight Adventuring, Down Time

So this year, i turned 21, which a lotta people say is important. not really, if you can’t do much i guess. though, i did crank out a ton of art i’m super satisfied with as you can see by how hard it was to frickin’ pick one to use for this month’s wedge on the clock.

October: Feathers of the Shadows

Runner up: PAPERMOON - Final Mix - (not picked because it’s a touch up of an older drawing)

Hoo boi, this month was crazy. cuz i drew a whole lotta e d g e .....and a whole lotta Murkrow. lol

It was fun letting my inner edgelord out this month. even if nothing really significant happened in reality.

November: ~ One More Game ~

Runner up: UPokerap Project: Frogadier, - LEAF STORM -

This month....was actually kinda rough. it was basically me falling into a depressive episode after a scare at the dentist made me worry about my self image and insecurities again. but this time it really hit me just how much permanent damage i’ve done to myself in that aspect of my appearance. i know i shouldn’t worry so much, but it’s not great when people tell you to smile when the most i can do is grin since i’m just so....unhappy with my teeth.

But then around the end of the month, i stumbled upon a Pokemon themed Discord server with people that made me feel....not as alone as i suddenly felt i was. which i’m glad i could meet them even after only knowing them for a month now. if they’re reading this, i hope you know i’m thankful for raising my spirits when there’s still things i just can’t do due to financial issues.

December: Colors of the Heart  + Happy Holidays! ~Grovyle ver.

Runner up: ~ After the Battle ~ (the two part KHII anniversary drawing), - XIII -, Sketchmon: Buizel

And now this month. on top of my insecurities, i’ve now been struggling with my frustration with not being noticed as much as i should, watching as some people quickly climb up in following when i’m going much slower. honestly, i feel like the months when everything started lightening up for the world....was when things started falling apart for me. yeah, i know. pretty depressing way to end, huh? i hit 300 before the year ended thanks to the support from my new friends though, so i’m actually pretty happy.

But that doesn’t mean i’m not still scared of the future. i mean i have my teeth to worry about and also my wisdom teeth are coming in. so next few months...might be kinda rough.

Though, that’s not to say i didn’t soldier through it. this month i pushed myself, plowed through as many commissions as i could get to raise money for my new computer and made some of the best drawings that to me, feel like a great accomplishment. even if a couple of them weren’t as grandiose as some of my previous work. it was a big step forward for me as an artist. at least in my eyes.

And i have a feeling....that it can only get better from here.

#digital art #art meme #summary of art #2020 summary of art #rambles

[eternal-fractal]

So I just had a thought.

So, Dusknoir, right?

This guy. I was re-reading their Pokedex entries again, and it gave me a thought.

They all talk about some kind of “spirit world” or “worlds unknown” which isn’t too outstandish for Pokedex entries, but I think I may be onto something here.

How would people know it’s the spirit world? What’s sending them signals? Their purpose? And they don’t 100% know for sure, because it’s been said it sends them to “home” or “worlds unknown” and that the spirit world isn’t much of a concept, or talked about in the series, 

My guess, is that they’re just talking about a ghost type killing people for souls, which is normal.

But in the most recent dex entry from sword, along with the diamond pearl one there, it heavily establishes that it:

That Dusknoir receives transmissions/commands via it’s antenna, which it then follows.

That it’s completely unknown who, or what Dusknoir carries orders out for.

And finally, that no one knows why it does this, follows these commands, it’s purpose, or if it even has a will of it’s own.

But wait, WHERE, and WHO do we see Dusknoir carrying out orders for?

For this question, we have to leave the main series and go to a spin-off.

That’s right, I’m talking about pokemon mystery dungeon, more specifically the explorers instalment. 

If you never played, please stop reading now, and play the game, emulator if you need, or just a no commentary let’s play if you don’t want to play the games.

Back on topic, who I believe that the unknown being from an unknown realm Dusknoir obeys, and carries out the wishes of, is Dialga/Primal Dialga.

I’ll refresh you on Primal Dialga.

This is Primal Dialga. They’re basically a feral, mindless, and crazed version of Dialga who went insane because time stopped, and can’t be fixed. They serve as the antagonist of the game, who, (suprise suprise!) sends a Dusknoir agent who’s goal is to capture you, bring you into the future, and then, with no exaggeration in the slightest, execute you.

The reason Primal Dialga wants you dead, is because you pose a threat to Primal Dialga, as you plan to change the past in order to stop the end of time. It’s been said several times in dialogue that Primal Dialga is “incapable of logical reasoning or showing mercy, only seeking self-preservation and preventing time from flowing properly.”

But why did Dusknoir side with Primal Dialga, and become their henchman?

It’s never actually said, which brings me to my hypothesis.

I believe that Dusknoirs were created/are controlled by Normal Dialga as a way to hunt down people/pokemon that posed a threat to the flow of time, cause paradoxes, and plan to disrupt time, even because of butterfly effects.

I could just end there, but I have two big reasons to support this.

1.) Dusknoir was introduced in gen 4, the generation featuring Dialga, and the pokemon mystery dungeon Explorers instalment.

This speaks for itself mostly, but it’s still worth mentioning, it’s very first Pokedex entry, in diamond/pearl, is quote on quote: “The antenna on its head captures radio waves from the world of spirits that command it to take people there.“

To add onto this, to show what the writers might have been thinking when making this, pokemon diamond/pearl and PMD time/darkness was released only a year apart.

2.) You can only evolve a dusknoir with a reaper cloth via trading, and dusknoir aren’t found in the wild.

I really don’t know what to say about this, but I’d say that if Dusknoir can only be obtained with a very specific, and mysterious item, thats only described as cloth with horrifyingly strong spiritual energy because there is literally no lore behind it, AND that it has to be TRADED WITH THE ITEM to evolve, AND that somehow, Dusknoir have been found in the wild, known in the wild, and the Pokedex has been saying what they’ve been recorded doing in the wild, that the only known way to evolve Dusknoir is so, artificial, and odd that it’s a bit puzzling how they evolve in the wild, and that they can’t be found on purpose. And what about the Dusknoir’s you evolved/own? Are they also temporal agents with no mind of their own who serve Dialga? Of course not. Why would Dialga care if a lot of trainers have evolved Dusclops into Dusknoirs for themselves? It’s like if you used a lifehack you thought of, someone saw, and everyone started using that lifehack. Not exactly like it’s gonna impact you using it. And even if your Dusknoir is mindless, (which it isn’t they’re shown to be like any other pokemon,) it’s not like a mindless pokemon is unheard of in the series. I mean, Parasect is literally a zombie fungus controlling a dead crab. 

And while I don’t have any concrete evidence since Dusknoirs past in PMD 2 isn’t talked about, I’d say that Dialgas Dusknoirs WERE all mindless agents, but when time collapsed, so did Dalgas control over them. Most Dusknoir were likely frozen in time, and most of the survivors in hiding, leaving one Dusknoir, who just wants to live, and not disappear, to serve as primal Dialgas loyal servant. 

My point with that is that it’s perfectly reasonable to believe that Dialga had looked at pokemon to use as temporal stabilization agents, that Duskull/Dusclops had great potential, but even that:

Dialga has most likely invented as perfect henchmen based on Dusclops that can: 

Always recieve it’s orders, in any period of time due to it’s antenna,

Who have the ability to transport to the temporal tower, via dimensional holes, which Dusknoir travels through in mystery dungeon,

Are unable to disobey orders, and not have a mind of their own if created by Dialga, heavily backed up by Dusclops dex entry of how “Its body is entirely hollow”

And that Dusknoir are able to store multiple souls, and take them to “the spirit world” which I think basically means “wait, we fucked up, you’re the soul of the chosen one you weren’t meant to be a random Corphish” Or that they might also use their souls to create a new ghost pokemon, (happens a lot, Phantump, Yamask, Spiritomb, etc)

It’s earliest evolution is able to “pass through any wall no matter how thick it may be.“

Able to “make itself invisible, and silently sneak up to prey.”

And that Some of Dusknoirs abilities seem to be more useful upgrades of Dusclops abilities, such as:

Dusclops can “absorb anything, however large the object may be.”

Dusclops is able to hypnotise others, who are “made to do Dusclop’s bidding.”

AND FINALLY, that Dusknoir is incredibly strong, and would easily be able to take care of any potential threat to time way before it happens, whether it be people or pokemon.

All in all, I strongly believe that Dusknoir was created as Dialgas perfect agents, who ensure time, and the future of the world will go smoothly, whether it be causing/preventing butterfly effects, moving misplaced souls, taking care of unstoppable, world ending villains before they do anything, etc.

#pokemon #pokemon theory #pmd explorers #pmd #pokemon mystery dungeon #pmd rescue team #dusknoir #pmd dusknoir #pokemon mystery dungeon explorers of sky #pokemon mystery universe #pokemon mystery dungeon explorers of time #pokemon mystery dungeon explorers of darkness #pokemon theories #pmd theory #pmd theories #pokemon mystery dungeon theory

[catflowerqueen]

Still not quite finished with Gates, but I’m nearing the finish line for the main game? I think? So I have some more structured thoughts below. 

(Apologies for the length, but... well, that’s part of why I’m putting it under the cut)

Most of the mechanics I think are an improvement on Explorers—and definitely on Rescue Team, since Explorers introduced a lot of improvements (like the way healing items are handled—in Rescue team you had to throw them at your allies, and only the hero could eat them directly from the bag). I like how Gates handles experience for allies left at home, and the way that you can level up individual moves and share them among everyone rather than using a ginseng on a single move for a single pokemon (that I don’t think retains that level up if you forget it but then go and remember it again? I can’t recall that part), and some of the team skills are useful… but the problem is that they are really luck-based in terms of actually acquiring them. I’ve only gotten two so far. Comparatively, IQ skills were very much based on the individual, but also a lot easier to get, allowing for a sort of customization aspect? It allowed more care and a better sense of victory, at least.

The V-wave thing is pretty cool, though, especially when paired with how exp works, even as annoying as I find Victini.

Getting rid of the hunger mechanic is I think positive overall? It does free up some inventory space, which is nice, but it also removes a bit of the puzzle and challenge for some of the longer dungeons—and I can’t help but wonder if the reason they did so is just because of how many dungeon layouts in Gates were comprised of many, many sprawling hallways with tons of intersections and small, unnecessary turns and corners, but only, like, three rooms—meaning that everyone would starve to death if the hunger system was involved. I know Explorers had some of those, too, but those were mainly for later stage dungeons, where bigger challenges were expected. It also makes a lot of the dungeons… really boring and repetitive? Like, the graphics are great, but there isn’t really too much variety of the non-plot dungeons beyond differences in color schemes? And while the puzzles involved are excellent, there aren’t really a lot of them, and so far Inflora Forest is the only one where the puzzle is still relevant after making it through the first time—the other ones seem to keep the bridges and stairs you make the first time around, leaving those sections rather superfluous.

And while I like how Companion mode lets me have more of a casual sort of playstyle, and I can build up Paradise and do mini-games without interference from the plot… It kind of makes Post Town really unnecessary beyond specified plot scenes? Like… I don’t have to wait to open any Treasure boxes. Once a dungeon ends I get instant gratification of finding out what’s in them (assuming I have enough money). Same thing with the gold bars. And since Quagsire operates as a shop as well, there is really no need for Kecleon (in Post Town—the ones in the dungeon are still extremely useful) beyond maybe him having some rarer items on occasion—but even then, getting certain shops in Paradise also makes him even more redundant.

 (Though, speaking of Paradise shops: Elite boutique—not worth it. Maybe if all shops operated that way—were only around for a specific period of time before inevitably closing—it would be less grating… but there was no warning that that shop would only be run for a few days before closing forever, in addition to the fact that I have to watch Gurdurr’s sad face and laments about destroying the place [after a big part of his backstory involved someone deliberately destroying his work, mind you!] when they could have easily solved it as running more like the travelling salesmon in post town—you never know who or when someone will show up, or how long they’ll stay, but the possibility is at least there that someone will show up again.)

I also don’t like how you can’t stack missions—it really takes the emphasis off of the actual “exploring dungeons” part of the game, and puts it more on trying to build up Paradise. Which is fine, but it just doesn’t feel like traditional gameplay for a PMD game, you know?

As far as characterizations goes… It’s honestly kind of a mixed bag for me in comparison with some of the other games? Like… I do think that, overall, your immediate team and allies had better characterization visible in story, following the plot. As in, they came right out and showed you in the cutscenes, and didn’t depend on you going and talking to them individually in town, reading their diaries, and playing special episodes. I don’t think that the partner is the absolute best-characterized one writing-wise, but they were very, very well-done and do show good growth throughout (Rescue Team is the worst, mostly because of how bland they actually are—especially in the Post Game, where they are completely optional, and no longer follow you around or really talk to you at all like an individual character, rather than just another pokemon you recruit from dungeons [and on that note—I’m kind of sad that Gates got rid of the feature that actually let you talk to your team in the dungeons themselves. Sure, most of what got said was the same ten or so bland lines for everyone, but… I still liked having that option to just turn around and discuss things, especially since at some points it was unique based on where in the plot you were!)

But at the same time… that does take a little mystery out of it? Like… it makes your own (the actual, physical player’s) relationship with them a bit… less rewarding? You aren’t actually working at forming them, this way, the way you would be if you were exploring the town, happened across someone from the guild, and then decided to talk with them. That way, learning all these cool little hints and quirks was almost like a puzzle itself, something you had to work for, something that really embraced the idea of exploring and immersion.

Which is also kind of why I’m of two minds about the fact that the hero does actually have scripted lines, beyond just their thoughts and the little “running motion” indicative of things being said, but not actually described. There aren’t as many dialogue trees, you don’t really get to make that many choices, and the lack of space left up to the imagination… well, it doesn’t make me resonate with the hero as much as in other cases? I don’t really feel like they’re “me,” or could be “me,” so while they do feel in-character for the “character” of the hero… it just doesn’t feel like I’m actually the hero. It doesn’t leave space for that option the way that the other games do.

As for other characters… honestly, it’s kind of hit and miss for them as far as characterization goes, and I think a lot of that has to do with my earlier remarks about how unnecessary Post Town feels most of the time. I feel like they were really over-ambitious with their ensemble cast? Because, sure, some of them like Leaveanny, Swadloon, Lillipup, and Herdier I thought were well done… most of the others were rather forgettable? There were some travelers like Trubbish, Mienfoo and Dwebble that I really like, but I think that most of the others just don’t get enough characterization. Sure, it’s nice that a lot of them care about the player and greet them as their own individual, clearly trying to convey that relationships are being formed… but I just don’t care that much for the town as a whole? The others don’t really grab me, or add that much to the plot at all? Especially since half the time bigger plot discussions only really happen with the group in Paradise?

Like… Explorers had a lot of people, but the fact that they did travel in and out of town, and would sometimes go missing for days, but clearly had their own little stories and plots they were following was really interesting! Same with Rescue Team—the Pokémon Square was small, but it actually felt like a lived-in town? And I’m pretty sure the main towns of PSMD that you were actually using as a hub had that too—Serene Village definitely did. But Gates… I just don’t really see it. They were too ambitious, and they fell flat. I feel like maybe they could have fixed this if you were allowed to visit it in Companion Mode, too—or if they just didn’t let you visit any non-Paradise shops and only allowed Quagsire to edit your party—or if they shrunk it down so that the only thing there was Swanna’s place and the hill, and had the individual characters visit on a basis similar to Explorers, but… yeah.

As far as plot/story goes… well, some of that is hard to determine, just because of how much is involved in a good story. Characterization, like I said, is fine overall, but the story does seem really… low stakes? For the most part? Especially when compared to Rescue Team or Explorers. I think it has good progression over all—especially when compared to the mess that was PSMD!—but there isn’t quite as much of an overall… driving force? I think?

Like… okay, I know I’ve said before that it is a little weird that the hero in Explorers—and I guess also in Rescue Team—spends so much time focusing on other stuff rather than figuring out exactly what happened to them, why they turned into a pokemon, why they have amnesia, etc. (especially since that is part of their stated reason for joining the Guild in Explorers), but in all fairness… what else are they really supposed to do? They have amnesia, they have no clues as to a starting place to even look, it makes sense that they would want and need a safe place and routine figured out so that they can even start looking. And there are some hints pretty early on about their backstory/the state of the world (in dreams and dimensional screams). But the Gates hero… well they actually do have something of a starting place, and they have far more reason to really care about figuring all that out. For one thing, they do not have amnesia. The game makes that pretty clear, and the partner even makes comments on that—asking about friends and family, etc.

So why aren’t they making more of an effort to figure out how to get back home so they can actually reunite with those loved ones?? Or at least commenting on why they might not be concerned about that?? And since the hero doesn’t have amnesia, they also clearly remember the fact that they were called to the pokemon world specifically because someone was asking them for help—and they had a visual description of who they assumed that someone to be. They have a starting point. Why are they not asking around about that?? Why did they wait for more dreams to happen first? And, while it did get brough up in game a little bit, with them commenting on how maybe it wasn’t the greatest idea for them to be taking one of the spots on that initial Great Glacier Expedition because they do, actually, have some responsibility they’re supposed to fulfill, and they don’t know if they’ll have more dreams on the way… they still go on that expedition! Without bringing any of that up verbally, or to the partner who has by that point already agreed that they will go with the hero to save that pokemon as soon as their dreams clear up more.

But… like… they shouldn’t just be being so passive about this??? There are things they could all be doing to prepare! And maybe that is getting into some different facets of the partner’s personality, and showing how really dependent they are on the player—like, having their reluctance to do more be because of how much they really don’t want them to leave after (which does get brought up a little bit)… but I don’t think that’s quite what the game was going for—and if it was, then that needed to be made clearer.

So I guess over all… I think that Explorers is a better game to play if you do want something more story/plot driven, and want to, well, explore things a bit, while Gates is better for a more casual sort of play. Like… the actual plot almost seems like the side story or Special Episode in the face of building up Paradise.

Though, that probably does say more about an individual’s playstyle over the game itself, huh?

I guess… if you’re more into direct characterization via cutscenes, Gates is better (though there are times I wish it showed more of the visuals—like for some of the party scenes, or the housebuilding scene). But if you want a more integrated plot, Explorers is better—or Rescue Team, but it doesn’t have as good of a post-game).

And PSMD… well, I still stand by my earlier statements that I think the first part of the game was great, and the partner was the best-explored/characterized of them all… but it quickly lost plot cohesion and most of the adult characters are terrible people who should not be allowed around children—and the player character really got screwed over by basically everyone and never got closure for any it.

(Also, I can’t actually say anything about DX, since I don’t have a Switch, but from what I’ve seen it’s basically just Rescue Team with some improvements to gameplay mechanics? The story seemed to be pretty much the same from what little I saw.

Oh, and also Ekans’ sprite looks very, very weird.)

...I think that’s everything I had to say for now.

#pokemon mystery dungeon #explorers of sky #explorers of time/darkness #red/blue rescue team #gates to infinity #super #dx #spoilers