Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX is a Diablo-style game in the world of pokes - a review

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX is charming, magical and realized with great care for an interesting world. The problem is that the remake of the title from the Nintendo DS console is based on quite average source material, which has always remained in the shadow of the main Pokemon series.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon is a series of games produced in isolation from the main Pokemon scenes. The creators transfer the player to the body of one of the creatures (we choose which one), and then engage in a cheerful story straight from a fairy tale. Later, we form a team like in the classic jRPG game and fight in duels divided into rounds. All this in randomly generated undergrounds, which can always look different.

Choose a Pokemon . In Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX we can play as one of several creatures. Playable creatures include Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Charmander, Cyndaquil, Totodile, Chikorita, Treecko, Torchic, Mudkip, Pikachu, Eevee, Machop, Cubone, Psyduck, Meowth and Skitty. At the beginning of the game we perform a banal psychological test suggesting what we should become a pokemon. However, nothing prevents you from choosing your pet in a traditional way.

Like in Diablo, we must traverse several levels of dungeons to reach the goal.

The arrangement of corridors, opponents' positions, treasure locations - these are all random elements designed to differentiate each adventure. At its end we always have a specific goal: most often it is to help some lost pokemon who is unable to cope alone in the underground. In turn, it happens that the player becomes a member of the title rescue team: a group serving selfless help to other creatures. How do you meet a rescue team member? After the headscarf, of course!

An appropriate level of complexity was imposed on visiting dungeons. Traversing the underground exhausts the creature, which from time to time we have to feed something tasty. Each of the four attacks has its PP value - the equivalent of mana in the world of pokemon. Attacks can also be combined. Using the Link function, we glue sequences of punches costing just one turn. This, of course, superimposes pokemon types, additional effects, passive modifiers, effects from items and so on.

In practice, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX is not as simple as it looks. The title has several characteristics of hardcore dungeon crawlers. The Japanese love games with a strongly mathematical basis, possible to so-called min-masking: squeezing the maximum potential from their characters, skills and teams. It's no different in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX. The title hides the second bottom intended for a group of experienced enthusiasts.

The new perspective raises many funny and awkward questions.

The narrative punt of exit is the moment when we wake up as a human locked up in the body of a pokemon. We naturally get to know the world in which the creatures live, unable to return to our former self. As we talk to more and more pokemons, more and more questions arose in my head, and certain assumptions of the fictional world seemed more and more disturbing to me. I'm already explaining what's going on.

The fact that we can talk to other pokemons has many implications. Already the first mission is to save the BABY Pokemon Butterfree, which is Caterpie larva. Honestly? Up to this point I have not wondered if pokemons can live in a parent-child relationship. I remember the fairy tale like a fog, but I do not remember that the family threads were strongly explored there. After all, we are talking about an animation in which a mother sends a 10-year-old boy into the world to duel with the help of fancy animals.

What about pokemon family ties? When we catch a creature as a trainer, do we tear it away from its loving mother? Trapped in Charmander's body, I talked to many pokemons and started thinking about (too) many issues. Can creatures fall in love if they have unique characters? Can they feel enslaved? What does life inside a pokeball look like? Do people eat pokemon? Do all pokemons hatch from eggs? The act of procreation resembles what we know from the animal kingdom? Questions, questions, questions.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon strongly humanizes creatures, which causes quite awkward implications. Maybe the kids don't look at it that way though. May they not look. The game poses more difficult questions than we get answers. However, the mere fact of changing the trainer's perspective to the one belonging to the pokemon is undoubtedly one of the biggest advantages of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX. The opportunity to explore the world through the eyes of Charmander, Psyduck or Squirtle refreshes.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX infects another dung syndrome.

The gameplay in this series perfectly coincides with the portable Switch profile. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX is great on the train or bus. The title is suitable for 15- and 30-minute sessions during which we go through two or three procedural generated undergrounds. Because of this light, accessible form, I used Rescue Team DX more often in public transport than Pokemon Sword. If Pokemon Mystery Dungeon debuted on smartphones and tablets, it would be material for a big hit.

Do not think, however, that this means that Rescue Team DX beats the latest installment of the main Pokemon series. These are completely different games with a completely different gameplay model. Simply where you don't have the time or conditions to delve into history, the Mystery Dungeon narrative and cut-scene movies will be a great alternative. Which does not mean that if you decide to buy, you have to choose these Pokemon. Quite the opposite - I recommend buying them only to die-hard fans of creatures.

The graphic design is very pleasing to the eye. The gameplay perfectly matches the mobile character of the Switch. The level of complexity is well balanced. Despite this, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX will never enter the pantheon of the latest Nintendo games. It will not stand in a row with Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey or Luigi's Mansion 3. All because the remake - although solid and created with love - is based on a merely correct game. Manufacturers carved as much as they could, but instead of granite they had such clay. It is rare for an average game remake to be a masterpiece.

However, you have to give the creators that they introduced interesting news to Pokemon Mystery Dungeon.

Thanks to automatic registration (they were not in the title from 2005) the player does not have to worry about lost progress. Even if the Switch has discharged in the backpack, and we have forgotten about it for a month, our adventure will continue where we finished it. Also new is the automatic system, during which our avatar explores the underground himself - a great option for veterans doing cleaning patrols, e.g. to obtain utility items.

An impressive novelty are the Mega-Evolutions, the lack of which until now I can't get over in Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield. A huge simplification is the automatic selection of the best, most effective attack in the palette using the B button. Thanks to this, even players without knowledge of Pokemon types will be able to handle Mystery Dungeon above average well.

Game veterans from DS will be shocked by the information that in addition to three permanent team members the player can lead an additional five creatures encountered inside a randomly generated underground. In total, this gives a team of eight. Nothing can stop such an army. Total overkill! The initial missions are simply too simple. Real fun only starts from categories B and A.

After 30 hours with Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX, I think ...

You should give it a hold. We are dealing with a good game, but only in small doses. The highly repetitive structure of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon makes Rescue Team DX definitely not one of the first titles you should get on Switch. First familiarize yourself with the classics of this console, then give the chance to the latest Pokemons of the main series, and then think about a turn-based adventure in the underground.

My problem with Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX is that this title is not worth the full price. Nintendo sells it like a brand new game. And although this policy usually seems justified, because we get excellent titles, this time it is a bit different. The cutlet was barely correct, wanting for it the equivalent of a master beef steak. You don't do that. That's not right.

The biggest advantages:

• Graphic embellishment with pastels and paints
• A refreshing perspective of playing as a human in the body of a pokemon
• Great for train and bus
• Mega Evolutions <3

The biggest disadvantages:

• This game should not be sold at full price
• The mass of facilities slightly destroys the game's balance
• Very repeatable gameplay
• Small number of locations / biomes
• Underground exploration looks archaic
• Tired with longer marathons

I love Switch, I love Nintendo and I like Pokemons, but even I can see that something is jarring in this offer. I recommend waiting for the first promotions and discounts.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX is a Diablo-style game in the world of pokes - a review