Review: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team (NDS)

Pay attention to that tag line, as it adequately sums up much of the content of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon. However, since reviews are expected to last for more than one word, here are some additional ones...

This game is actually part of the ongoing Fushugi No Dungeon series of dungeon-crawler RPGs, all of which are apparently very popular. Since there has to be someone out there who is still interested in pocket-sized monsters and the catching thereof, a Pokémon version has been made (two versions, no less) to fill the void before the next 'real' Pokémon games. Judging by this effort, Gamestyle really finds it hard to see why Fushugi No Dungeon has proven so popular.

At the beginning, you wake up one morning to find out that you've been turned into a Pokémon (which one is determined by a personality test upon starting a new game) and stranded in a world racked by natural disasters. While trying to find out why this has happened, you and a partner Pokémon set up a rescue team to help Pokémon trapped in danger zones. The story that follows is as suitably daft as a brush, and reminds us of fairy-tales we used to read as kids. As anyone who has played a Pokémon game knows, though, the game's only half-done once the credits roll. Your ultimate objective is to recruit all 386 species of Pokémon into your rescue team. You will do that by progressing through one of the most repetitive games you'll ever play.

This game is one big dungeon crawl, as you traverse the very similar-looking dungeons to complete the missions that have been thrown in to justify your repetitive journey. Missions boil down to three basic types: rescue a stranded Pokémon, get an item for someone, or escort someone to a part of the dungeon. That's it, with next to no variation whatsoever. The escort missions are especially bad, because your client is extremely weak and very stupid; they will often attack enemy Pokémon and hence die in one or two hits. The missions serve as little more than filler for repetitive dungeon crawls, and they themselves are repetitive because you do the exact same things in them each time. The fact that dungeon maps are randomly-generated each time you enter tends to irritate more than diversify the experience, as it makes for a very inconsistent difficulty curve. You can get completely lost looking for the stairs on one floor, then find them right next to you when you enter the next floor.

To be fair, the Pokémon combat system has been quite well-implemented, and the controls and mechanics are easy enough to get to grips with. Dungeons are all turn-based, so every time you make a move the enemy makes a move, whether it be walking or an attack. The basic 'rock-paper-scissors' system from the normal Pokémon games (certain move types are strong against certain Pokémon) is present and correct, and other factors such as the positioning of yourself and your team-mates now need to be taken into account. Post-credits dungeons also become slightly more interesting, as you need to watch out for concealed traps in many of the new dungeons and can start recruiting the big boss Pokémon into your ranks. Though there is no denying the fact that fighting is all you'll be doing in a dungeon, and most are likely to be put off by such repetitive play.

Even the way the game is presented is repetitive. The graphics certainly look good... by GBA standards, at least. Every Pokémon has a unique, well-detailed sprite and some nice little animations, and some of the overworld images and friend areas (places where your Pokémon hang out when not on missions) are very well-drawn, with a nice storybook-like quality to them. Dungeons themselves, however, look very samey, as there are no stand-out features to any of them; they are all basically the same forest/cave field with a pallet change each time. On a DS, while the game does look very sharp, it's too obvious that this is essentially ported from a GBA game, when you know the DS is capable of a lot more. While the music in the game isn't bad, the tunes are quite short and loop constantly, meaning they get very (you guessed it) repetitive.

The most intriguing idea here is the use of Wonder Mail. Each mission you accept has a code, and you can send and receive these codes to and from other players. Some of these missions unlock Pokémon exclusive to the other colour version, but the main use of Wonder Mail is to send out SOS codes if you die in a dungeon, which other players can input and then try to rescue you (which saves you from losing all of your items and money from dying). It's a nice idea, but it ends up becoming a necessity rather than an option, since you get punished so harshly for losing. Even worse is that this system highlights the absence of a multi-player mode, particularly one that makes use of Wi-Fi. Exploring dungeons with other human players would have helped to alleviate the repetitiveness slightly, but alas, this was not meant to be.

The Pokémon brand is no longer the marketing juggernaut it once was, and this will not convince anyone otherwise. This game is repetitive in the extreme, and does not seem to exist for any reason other than to fill space before Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. What's especially pointless is the fact that this game exists in two versions, both of which are near-identical and one of which exists on much older hardware. There is no good reason for two versions of this game, especially since the DS version has nothing extra that actually enhances the original GBA game.

This is certainly far from the worst Pokémon spin-off in existence (Pokémon Dash, anyone?), and it is possible to enjoy Pokémon Mystery Dungeon if you can stomach the repetitive play and are a fan of the series. However, for everyone else we advise caution when considering this game. The concept had a lot of potential, but we feel that far too much of this potential has gone unexplored.

Rating: 5 / 10

Words by Drew Middlemas