Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX is a turn-based RPG in which we travel through the vast underworld of a fantastic world controlling a team made up entirely of pokemons. The game is a complete remake of the games Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Blue Rescue Team and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team, which were released on Game Boy Advanced and Nintendo DS consoles.

Just like the original and its many sequels, the production uses the formula and gameplay model of the Japanese Mystery Dungeon series, which was born in 1993. The Japanese studio Chunsoft (currently part of Spike Chunsoft) is consistently responsible for creating games under its sign. Mystery Dungeon brand, apart from its ardent jRPG fans, is not very well known to Western players. So far, its most recognizable representatives outside of Japan remain titles that are licensed by other popular series such as Etrian Mystery Dungeon and Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon.

Plot

The story presented in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX combines elements presented in both versions of the originals. The main character of the game wakes up one day to find that he has become a pokemon (the players decide on his genre at the beginning of the adventure). Suffering from amnesia and unable to recall any details from his previous life, he decides to to look around the neighborhood in search of answers to painful questions. The main character quickly realizes that the world of pokemons has been devastated by numerous and mysterious disasters. To help its inhabitants and find a way home, he and his new friends decide to create a rescue team to support all the creatures.

Mechanics

The three-dimensional world of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX is shown in an isometric view. The gameplay is mainly about performing the tasks assigned to us by other pokemons. Sometimes we get them directly from the creatures we meet along the way, or we receive them through notice boards or we learn about them from letters. At the beginning of the adventure, we only control our main pokemon, but with time other creatures join us, from which we make a team of brave rescuers, taking into account their statistics and available attacks.

The most important part of the game is the exploration of grid-divided fields, randomly generated dungeons, forests, and other colorful locations where we find the goals of our missions. Players move and fight against opponents in turn-based mode. It is worth noting that pokemons and enemies make their moves at the same time. This means that when we move from one field to another, the same action can also be performed by opponents.

As in other Mystery Dungeon games, by defeating opponents, our pokemons gain new levels and experience points, thus gaining new attacks, but they are reset when you move to the main base. Time spent in the dungeons also limits the hunger rate. If we don't find food, the pokemons will gradually lose life points, and will be forced to retreat.

Technical aspects

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX offers an extremely pleasant audiovisual setting. Thanks to the use of graphic filters and cel-shading techniques, the game resembles moving images made in watercolor.