Introduction: Mystery Dungeon: Pokemon Battles and Adventure
There is something to be said regarding a video game that sets you in the realm of Pokémon, with eyes unclouded, as a citizen, and never a slave driver. It's a fascinating experience to view the realm from their viewpoint, which, typically, includes outlooks so positive, that it is practically enough to make your life feel insufficient in the process.
And also being a prosperous roguelike dungeon crawler, the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series never stops to supply that previously mentioned base level of amusement to fans of the franchise, while challenging them along the way with tricks and traps.
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity is the latest iteration, poised to be the first ever polygonal video game released outside of Japan, and the first ever 3DS entry. Yep, it's a lot more Pokémon Mystery Dungeon. A little bit simpler this time around.
Gates to Infinity is the first game in the franchise to occur in the Unova region -- or for people who aren't up to date on their Pokémon games, the areas showcased in Black/White 1 and 2.
It is also the first polygonal and 3D Pokémon Mystery Dungeon video game launched outside of Japan, and damn will it look good. If there's one group that regularly does right by the 3DS' 3D, its video games according to Nintendo properties and Gates to Infinity is a prime example. The colourful colors of Unova's pastel Pokémon genuinely shine on the 3DS, and the 3D effect completely needs to be kept at the full setting over the experience.
As the name suggests, the majority of the video game comes about in dungeons, where your Pokémon will move about randomly produced areas from a top-down viewpoint. The franchise itself plays out as a "roguelike," which is a kind of dungeon-crawling video game that operates much like a strategy RPG in lots of ways -- just without the permanent death aspect. Much like most roguelikes, almost always there is a feeling of "do I press on?" as you choose if you should go deeper into the dungeon to get more wares and experience, or get out while you still can.
Even though you cannot always see it unless you press a button, combat is grid-based like a technique RPG. Enemies stick to the grid pattern as well, and every single input, which includes movement, constitutes an action. So quite simply, if you proceed to obtain a better standpoint, that's an opportunity for an enemy or AI partner to fight or move as well -- for harder battles, everything must be precise.
As being a regular fan of' Pokémon game, you will find berries, PP up items (that recharge your abilities), and your usual suspect statistics (Hit Points, Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed).
I should say outright, this is the simplest Mystery Dungeon game I've ever played. To begin with, hunger is not an issue at all. Additionally you don't lose the farm for dying in a dungeon, items are streamlined, and IQ points for individual Pokémon are now team-based.
In past video games, you could stand it place in a dungeon to heal yourself, at the expense of "Hunger." If your Hunger was zero, your HP would begin to reduce until you ate food to bring it back up. It was a terrific way to regulate gamers from spamming particular tactics again and again, and force them to regulate which items they desired to take to each dungeon, thinking about item space was restricted.
