Pokemon Mystery Dungeon

[Kenryoku_Maxis]

Ok, I'm putting the cart in my DS right now. I'll be reporting soon...

[MuMu]

I got the GBA one. Must say, I haven't got too far but it seems to be a mix of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance but with real time and Pokemons. It even has the "Common Missions" and "Special Mission you need to do to advance with the Story" system.

[Random Ninja]

I can't believe that not only are they still making Pokemon games, but that they're going outside the normal system, and that people are still actually BUYING them.

....

...so how is it?

[Kenryoku_Maxis]

I can't believe that not only are they still making Pokemon games, but that they're going outside the normal system, and that people are still actually BUYING them.

....

...so how is it?

Free-movement system
No random encounters
You are a Pokemon
Pokemon talk
Chess type setup where you have to time moves based on direction and proximity to other Pokemon
Pokemon can use a basic attack and the 4 set moves they know
Walking respotes HP and can be used strategically to avoid hostile Pokemon
Can use 'parties' of 4 Pokemon at a time to defend and attack in unison


And this is all just in the first half our...

Needless to say, this game has done 50% of what I've been asking the Pokemon series to do since GBA came out. I....I am just in love. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to warp through this until I find my Vulpix and Lapras.

[Random Ninja]

Chess style? So...are we talking FFT style? (Although with only four characters instead of six) And when you say four, do you mean in the immediate party? Or you can only have four entirely?

If this plays like FFT, I might actually have to pick it up.

[Kenryoku_Maxis]

Chess style? So...are we talking FFT style? (Although with only four characters instead of six) And when you say four, do you mean in the immediate party? Or you can only have four entirely?

If this plays like FFT, I might actually have to pick it up.

Chess Style as in every time you move, the 'rogue' Pokemon move right after, taking turns like moving Pawns on a chess board. And when you stand next to the Pokemon you attack, then they attack until one or the other faints.

And the movement is a lot faster than you think since you can just keep moving and the computer will match your movement speed.

[Random Ninja]

Oh. So you don't have real control over the battle encounters themselves? You can't like...attack one guy with two characters? Or run away mid duel?

[Kenryoku_Maxis]

Oh. So you don't have real control over the battle encounters themselves? You can't like...attack one guy with two characters? Or run away mid duel?

Uh...you are the Pokemon. And you control whatever it does. And you can run away or fight.

Not like StarCraft with you giving orders. This is like Chess.

[Random Ninja]

So, wait...this sounds like FFT. Or have you never played FFT?

[PyrosNine]

This is a warning sponsored by the "OHMYFREAKINGDARVITASSHATZOMG!" initiative.

Do not, under any circumstances, turn on your beloved Mystery Dungeon DS game, with GBA game in the GBA slot OTHER than Pokemon Mystery dungeon.

If you were to say, put your beloved Final Fantasy Tactics into said Gba slot, and then put Pokemon Mystery dungeon into the DS slot, then turn on your DS and play the DS game, all the save data on your Tactics game would either be corrupted or deleted.

This is a big glitch of the pokemon game created by the DS-GBA connection feature, and it has been reported by nintendo. No fix will be given, as prevention is rather easy. Just don't play Blue ( I think that's the DS version) with any game in the Gba slot other than Red.

Kay? Got it?

Because there's always a chance someone won't know, and hate themselves and the world forever!

[Kenryoku_Maxis]

Well..thanks for the warning. However, when I booted the game up, I had Pokemon Emerald, which had ALL my good Pokemon from playing Sapphire/Leaf/Emerald (350+ hours) on it. And the save file seems ok (just turned on the game, no corrupt file and I could load the save).

But thanks for the warning and I'm taking out my GBA cart now.

So, wait...this sounds like FFT. Or have you never played FFT?

I have played FFTactics and I'm not saying its like FFTactics because I don't feel it is. Its not like Fire Emblem, Tactics Ogre or any other SRPG either. Its semi-turn based, not full on.

[Random Ninja]

...well...I guess I'll have to play someone else's before I try it.

...maybe I can find a place that rents 'em.

[Axl]

On the note of PMD, I was lurkin' it up at the PMD GameFAQS boards the other day and was confused to see a barrage of topics containing the phrase "Rescue Needed." So people can help each other out in case people die in a dungeoun? That is the coolest thing! Building community! :D

[Kenryoku_Maxis]

Yup. I think its going to become a nissesity later in the game when you get some uber rare accessory or a bunch of food items you need to survive a 100 lvl dungeon and you don't want to lose them at a respawn.

Personally, I find it easier to just restart from the last save since you save after every mission....

[Ravenlock]

What this is, for those of you trying to wonder if it's like FFT or like Pokemon or what the heck is going on, is Nethack-lite. Seriously, this is a roguelike game with a Pokemon skin.

You take missions that send you into partially randomized dungeons (enemies are always the same in each dungeon, but layouts are random and probably item drops), and then movement and combat takes place exactly as it does in a roguelike - you take a step or make an attack, then everyone else (your NPC pal, all enemies, etc) takes a step or makes an attack. You can move/attack in the standard 8 directions, and everything happens on an invisible horizontal/vertical grid.

Seriously, if you want to know how it plays the best advice I can give you is to go download Nethack (http://www.nethack.org) for free, and play it a bit. Obviously this game is a LOT less complicated, but the basic ideas are the same except you have a secondary Pokemon instead of a pet. Personally, I'm a big fan of that type of gameplay, but it's NOT like anything you've played in the Pokemon series before. Apparently the "Mystery Dungeon" series, however, is generally like this - this is just the first one to come out in the states.

[Kroze Gamegod]

Apparently the "Mystery Dungeon" series, however, is generally like this - this is just the first one to come out in the states.

Actually, there is one other Mystery Dungeon game to come out in the US...
It was the one based on the Fat Merchant dude from Dragon Quest IV (Dragon Warrior IV for all you non-purists out there). It came out for the original Playstation...
In america, it didn't have the Mystery Dungeon name though since many people have never heard of the series before...
There was also a game made by Konami that was pretty much a Mystery Dungeon clone that was also released in the US..
It was called Azure Dreams for the Playstation...
I actually found Azure Dreams pretty fun for some odd reason....

[PyrosNine]

There was also Chocobo's mysterious dungeon. Ya know, by Square. Same premise and everything, except you played as Chocobo and Mog.

[VioletArrows]

I'm thinking about getting red since my roommate has blue, and I haven't had a pokemon game since Silver (and it sucked). But I kind of want to wait for Diamond and Pearl.

[Ravenlock]

Hunh. Okay, so there were some other Americanized Mystery Dungeon games. My bad. I amend my statement: this is the first Mystery Dungeon game to come out on a Nintendo system here in the states. I think that covers it. ;)

Regardless, yeah, it's a roguelike dungeon crawl.