Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon First Impressions

Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon is a game that I find very hard to pin down my thoughts on. Like, there’s so much I love and hate about this game that it’s not even funny. I feel this game did so much right and so much wrong at the same time. So, I suppose the best way to explain is to get right to it and explain exactly what I liked and didn’t like from the game.

And this will be spoiler free by the way. So you don’t have to worry about me spoiling the plot for you. I’ll make the spoiler plot impressions later.

Anyways, I said in a journal I made on Friday when I was still in the early-game that this game takes the PMD formula, throws it out the window onto a busy street, and watches it get run over by a truck. This remained throughout the game, only instead of a truck the formula was thrown under railroad tracks and ran over by a train.
The PMD formula is typically this, with a few variances here and there between games: Hero goes into the world; meets their partner; they go through a dungeon; they form a team; tutorial and worldbuilding stuff; (not counting Rescue Team) an expedition arc that gives a bit of foreshadowing and a character usually goes to for answers, only to find none; the part where the plot starts kicking in a bit more; a fugitives arc where the Hero and Partner are being hunted down, the game’s major revelations take place, and the true antagonist (or destructive force) is known; a small bit of reprieve (nothing more than a dungeon or two) for you to restock on items before; the final dungeon(s) where you go to save the world as the clock ticks down; the moment where the world is saved and the Hero has to leave; and the post-game.
Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon completely disregards this. On one hand, I really like this. It makes the plot that much more unpredictable for me and allows me not to accidently spoil myself based on past knowledge of how the games work. Heck, during the mid-to-late-game, I wasn’t really sure how close to the end of the game I was (I was actually convinced that the picture screen for the bosses you fight was lying and after the big revelation happened, more pictures would appear). On the other hand, well…
Because of how it deviates, the pacing of this game is…kinda bad to be honest.

This game’s pacing can best be described by the Pokémon Reggigigas. It stars out really slow and then the end-game goes really quick. For me though, I actually found the mid-to-late game before the major revelation to be the worst.
The early game is very slow, you don’t get to go on missions until around three-to-five hours in and even then the first two missions you go on aren’t randomized, but the writing and character interactions let me have a lot of fun in the early game. I found myself laughing at the Partner’s antics, the interactions between all the school children, and I just enjoyed it.
The late game, while way to fast and most of these revelations should have been spread a bit better, I still found gripping and I was on the edge of my seat while playing it. I played until midnight because I wanted to see what happens next.
But the mid-to-late game (hilariously enough, when the story finally starts branching out) annoys me so much. It’s essentially wild Swanna chase until the major revelation. I can’t say it could be cut out and the plot would remain the same, but very little of substance happens there aside from a moment of foreshadowing or two. Plus, how it opens up leads to some problems I’ll discuss later. I’m not quite sure what could have been done, maybe seep some more of the end-game stuff here and extend it a bit, but it could have been much better.

I’m also mixed on the ending too, but I’ll save that for my spoilers impressions.

I did like a lot of what the plot did though. PMD has so far continually improved on their Partner’s and this game is no exception. Heck, just like I feel with Gates, I can’t imagine this game with a different partner. Fennix the Fennekin is my partner for this game and during replays I’m not sure if I’ll be able to use anyone else but her. That and they are a very well-crafted character, and this is arguably their story anyways. So that definitely gets a pass.

And, like I said before, I like how it doesn’t use the previously established formula. There were some really good things in this plot. It’s also probably the funniest of all the PMD games by far. I just wish it was better paced.

Next, we should move on to the gameplay. And boy is this a mixed bag too.

First off, I am going to get out of the way my major complaint with the gameplay and the thing that annoys me the most about the game. How slow it is to level up both your Pokémon and your moves, and how nerfed these level ups are. Let me explain. In Rescue Team I’m generally comfortable beating the game at around level 30. Explorers and Gates at around 40. So what level was I when I beat this game? 25.
I’m not sure how underleveled I was (I don’t think I was that badly underleveled considering the post-game expects you to be around 30, and that’s probably after grinding a bit before making story progress (which I didn’t, because story progression after the ending or grinding? Which do you think would I choose?!)), but even if I was exactly what level the game expected me to be it doesn’t matter. Even if I had the stats, there is a large difference between level 25 and level 40. What is that? Moves. Lots and lots of moves.
I was lucky enough to be worried about what level I would be at the end early enough to get Thunderbolt and Flamethrower to my Hero and Partner through the Gold Bars I got. If I didn’t though, I can’t imagine how brutal the late game would have been. Thunderbolt, while inaccurate as all get out in this game, saved my backside during some of the bosses in the late game. Discharge would have been even better, since this game loves Wolfpack Bosses even more than Gates, but unfortunately I was level 25. Heck, if I didn’t get my partner Flamethrower, Ember would have been the strongest Fire-Type move she knew. Freaking Ember.
Also, the game doesn’t give you much of a chance to level-grind, unlike the other games where there was always at least one way to grind (Rescue Team and Explorer’s dojos, Gates Companion Mode). This game’s version of the Companion Mode lets you grind levels on other characters, but not your Hero or Partner. Why? I mean, sure, you can get items if you’re low, but I’d kinda like to get levels.

Oh, and remember how I mentioned how Thunderbolt is inaccurate as all get out? Yeah, well that’s every move. I found myself missing way too much in this game, and there were times where I was low on health, would have been able to knock out an opponent and let my natural healing heal me up so I didn’t waste items, but miss and end up knocked out. I like reliability in my moves, game.
Gates might have had similar accuracy in their moves, since I seem to remember that, but Gates move level up system quickly made accuracy a non-issue. In Gates, your moves level up pretty fast, especially if you have multiple Pokémon working on it, and the level ups were usually rather good. In Super your moves level up much more slowly and I never found the level-ups that substantial.  

I know why this is like that too. People found Gates too easy, so they made this game harder. Yeah…I wasn’t one of those people. Generally, since PMD games are generally story driven and games I want to replay a lot, I like to have the main game be easy enough to complete unless I want to do a self-imposed challenge (no grinding, no reviver seeds, things of that nature). That way I can smoothly get through the game.

Honestly, I’d like one of two things to happen. Either patch the game so that the Companion Mode of this game actually levels up the Hero and Partner as well (and maybe make moves power up easier as well), or make one or two DLC maps that make for some easy EXP and Move leveling up. That way, they’re there, but those that want to play through the game normally can easily do so.

As for something positive though, I do like the Alliance Attack. Granted, I haven’t been using it as strategically as possible, but the possibilities are there and enjoyable to think about. It’s pretty much the Linked moves system from Rescue Team and Explorers only better. Screech and two physical moves, a way to get some healing if you need some, a way to get your party over towards what you’re fighting against, and so on. I…will admit I still prefer the Team Attack from Gates over it, but that’s beside the point and I will admit this is a better system.

Looplets and Emeras are another mixed bag for me. I don’t specifically mind the Looplets taking over the normal items, as they’re functionally the same minus a few added perks, and I kinda like how the Emeras can sometimes give you great abilities and they were really helpful to me in the dungeons and boss fights. Problem is, I don’t really like the randomness of the Emeras you get. Sometimes I can get really lucky in dungeons and get the Emeras I want (Barrage, Lullaby and/or Dizzy Stare, Intimidator) sometimes I’m unlucky enough to find several Status Guard Emeras in a row. Granted, you can use them to temporarily boost your stats (Guard Emeras are essentially HP fodder for me), but it’s still annoying when you know you’ve got a boss fight soon and you can’t get good Emeras.

Speaking of boss fights, you can no longer save in Waypoints. Granted, a progress device allows you to save anywhere in the dungeon and probably replay from there should you Save Scum, but that doesn’t exactly help if you don’t know what the final floor is. I didn’t lose to any bosses, thankfully, but this is still rather annoying. (I was lucky once, though, and had a progress device spawn right next to the stairs of the last floor before a boss. It was fun.)
And another annoying thing is the fact that you can’t use your permanent stat boosting items outside of dungeons. So if you want to pump up on stat boosters, you’re going to have to use one of your limited days to boost yourself up. Joy.
Another annoyance is how Kecleon doesn’t sell TMs or HMs (and TMs and HMs are back to limited uses for whatever reason). So any TM you want outside of the limited Gold Bar TMs you’re going to have to hope you get from a Connection Orb mission. Speaking of which…

And the Connection Orb, oh boy. I like how it makes it easier to recruit all the Pokémon and it can be utilized for some callbacks. I hate how you will only sometimes get prizes for doing them. I like that the prizes are usually substantial. I hate how the prizes don’t include money. I hate how it’s limited. I like how you don’t need to do all of them to rank up. I hate how much you do have to do to rank up. Speaking of which, I hate how inventory space is tied to ranking up. I like the other rewards for ranking up. I like how you can actually go on multiple missions at once. I really like how Escort Missions are handled so much better now and they’re not a chore to do. Should I go on?
While I will admit there are some good things about it…the notice board in other games is still vastly superior and I much prefer it. It was an interesting idea, but one that needs massive tweaking.

But did I mention Escort Missions are no longer a chore? If your client dies, you’re not immediately kicked out of the dungeon. They’re just warped away and on the ground. You just have to either revive them or move on without them and be unable to do their mission. Story missions with guests to your team do this too. Took them long enough, but I’m glad to see it.

The AI is also vastly smarter as well in this game. Like, they’re actually competent. They strike for Super Effective and avoid moves that aren’t effective. They even acknowledge range and, if they have the ability, they will move away from the opponent and snipe them from afar. I really like seeing this.

I also liked the soundtrack. Granted, there are a few things I feel it’s missing (a remix of the Partner’s theme during a certain moment would have been very nice sound designers), but I liked the overall quality. There are even a few remakes of old songs in there. I can’t and won’t really comment on much more though, since I haven’t unlocked all the songs yet and I kinda want to replay the game again before commenting on the soundtrack. I did that with Gates and it gave me a new appreciation for the soundtrack.

All in all, I did enjoy my time with this game. I really did. Despite my negativity on some of the things, I had fun. And I’m sure replaying the game will be a bit easier, since I know what to expect now and that when it gives me triple EXP I should grind like hell no questions asked. Heck, I might be more positive about it after the replay. I was with Gates. But the game has some very big flaws in it. I’m not going to put it anywhere compared to the three games until I’ve spent a bit more time with it, but I see that this game has its flaws and I hope to see some of the gameplay ones be addressed in either DLC or a patch.