Pokemon Mystery Dungeon DX [Demo] Thoughts and Impressions

[Commander]

Commander: The DLC for SwSh looks pretty good I might consider getting it when it goes on sale...

 

Also Commander: The remake of the Mystery Dungeon came looks meh, but how about I give it a go

 

Also, also Commander: March 6th can't come soon enough. Fuck SwSh, this is where my heart is at

 

I have never seen a demo make me go 180 that quickly. I'm literally so sad the demo only goes up until right before Mt. Steel. Like have you ever fallen in love with a game and you have forgotten how much you enjoyed it as it has been too many years when something comes along just to bring it all flooding back like a river? That is this game for me that will always hold a place in my heart. I forgot how much I adored this game and an hour long demo was all I needed to remember. But shoving nostalgia out of the way: this game is actually really good so I'll just break my thoughts down and be brief for the few of you who haven't played the original. I highly recommend going for this one instead.

 

The game starts off with the classic personality quiz. It just feels right being forced to play a certain Pokemon. Last time I got Bulbasaur, but this time I got a Mudkip. And last time I picked Pikachu as a partner, but this time I decided to go with Torchic. I humored myself and asked my little sister what to name the Partner and team so we have Khloe of Team Fireflies...suddenly I'm thinking of Kiseki, but now's not the time. So the story is more or less the same, but let me just talk about the graphics right now as I was "meh" first experiencing it but I have to say that it absolutely is beautiful when you start noticing the tiny details such as shadows being dotted lines. They also made the game more expressive than even Super Mystery Dungeon which so many tiny little things just were absolutely beautiful. I'm literally so mad I can't play this game right now because it is just an improved visual experience from the original material. 

 

Now as for the main story itself, I'm not expecting anything different. The story so far was more or less cut and dry what the original one was give or take some very small alterations. There's no secret surprise and the trailer didn't really show much but a few additional pieces of content we may get for the postgame. I do have a lot of hopes, but the original story was good and I really just want to see what visual changes they do on this adventure. It does look like friend areas are coming back and it only has the original 386 like before (maybe a few new ones as well) so I wouldn't expect some massive expansion.

 

Gameplay wise...where do I begin? Well something I noticed at the end is that you can change the protag and partner as well as team names from the save menu which is nice. I noticed a few bells and whistles that came later in the series such as wands. We also may be getting traps a bit earlier since you can see them in the Makuhita training tutorials (you get some really, really nice items going through them). Music is also top notch but going on a more powerful console that's expected. There also is a warp to the bulliten board now...because they could. Anyways, there's three very, very big changes they put into this game. The first is that you can see enemies and items on the map. That will save so much time and being forced to carry a certain item so I say good change. The next is that you can swap leaders by pushing a single button. So I was playing a bit as Torchic. The last one is that there's no weak attack move so you're forced to use PP, however, you can do it to skip a turn without wasting PP. I'm indifferent to that last one as Ethers and Elixirs probably will be needed more. Oh yeah, the Makuhita Dojo changed where it is a timer in a dungeon you can't die to grind like crazy for a single mon. Again, not sure how I feel about that given I only got to play an hour.

 

When I first heard this game announced, I kind of wasn't intending on getting it at all as I played over a 100 hours in the original and collected everything. There was a part of me years ago who yearned to replay this. Picking up and playing this demo made that wish not only come true but like reliving the whole thing over again. I love this game and I only played it for an hour. I haven't had that feeling for a Pokemon game since Black and White 2 came out many, many years ago. And yes, I am getting this game and playing it right away. And I am begging Spike Chunsoft to remake the Explorers of the Sky in this Style. I will pay extra to get that game. I never knew I wanted a remake of Rescue Team, but I will wait impatiently for the next two months. I do recommend trying the demo if you haven't already (even if I'm a bit peeved you can't grind reviver seeds in it).

[SilentEevee]

Gonna be completely honest, I wasn't even aware a new PMD was coming out, but I'm so excited to hear! I got addicted to the series a while back, but was under the impression that they'd stopped making them, given that it'd been a while since the last entry in the series. Seriously hyped right now, thanks for the alert! Cheers!

[Dreamy]

I said this in a status, but even though I don't own a switch, I'm so happy that this exists. The first two mystery dungeon games are some of the biggest ones of my childhood and switch remasters of them have been something I've imagined for a while in "what would I do if I was the Pokemon company director" daydreams. From what I've seen they look absolutely gorgeous, with both the storybook aspect of the 3D, and the dialogue portraits filled with a ton of personality. The mechanical improvements look great and while it could be really awesome to see slight tweaks to story things (stuff like Primal Groudon / Mega Rayquaza bosses), it'll be absolutely fine if it's identical to the original. I'm even excited for little things like seeing all the Friend Areas in the new graphics, because a lot of them had really cool designs.  

 

Now, maybe this is a bit hasty, but say it with me;
EXPLORERS! EXPLORERS! EXPLORERS!

[SilentEevee]

1 minute ago, DreamblitzX said:

I said this in a status, but even though I don't own a switch, I'm so happy that this exists. The first two mystery dungeon games are some of the biggest ones of my childhood and switch remasters of them have been something I've imagined for a while in "what would I do if I was the Pokemon company director" daydreams. From what I've seen they look absolutely gorgeous, with both the storybook aspect of the 3D, and the dialogue portraits filled with a ton of personality. The mechanical improvements look great and It could be really awesome to see slight tweaks to story things (stuff like Primal Groudon / Mega Rayquaza bosses), It'll be absolutely fine if it's identical to the original. I'm even excited for little things like seeing all the Friend Areas in the new graphics, because a lot of them had really cool designs.  

 

Now, maybe this is a bit hasty, but say it with me;
EXPLORERS! EXPLORERS! EXPLORERS!

The only thing that would be even better than the originals would be a remastering of the sequels! Sky is the best PMD game by far, hands down. Hopefully they'll do the same next year, if there's a market for it still. Or maybe they'll go the route of creating an entirely new story, that's fine too. As long as it's high quality, like most PMD games are, I honestly couldn't care, I just want more of the series.

[nam23]

What  i like is that: nobody asked.Sure pmd fans wanted the series to continue in some fashion(i was thinking super mytery dungeon was the last swan song of the series) but i never expected them do a remake(although in hindight it makes sense since its a game that only requires polish to be modern).

The times mission in makuhita dojo is a nice change of pace in a turn by turn rpg, but having tried it on early levels it sounds a bit broken(i was able to get 6 levels in one session, and you get like 4 ticke in the demo) so i hope they balance it out a bit in the final version-i don't want to forbid anybody to grind, especially since its as its core an all age game but just not make it so strong breezing through early dungeons is an afterthought.

The artstyle grossed me out a bit at first, but it also mesh well in cutscenes.

 

[doombotmecha]

I don't have a switch but I'm loving all the secondary content from streamers and youtubers. Seems like all the big poketubers have forgotten how much PMD's personality tests like to roast the player.