"What the Heck!?! I'm a Pikachu!"

The Pokemon franchise was built on the RPG where you go around, earn badges, beat the evil team, and try to catch 'em all. Sure there was a few spin-off games, but none of them had any story or depth. Then, as the world waited for Diamond and Pearl, there came Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team and Red Rescue Team, for the DS and GBA respectively. While neither of these games were up to the standards of the main games, they represented a new approach for the franchise. Rather than being a trainer trying to be the best, now you are the Pokemon.

Now we have Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness. How are these games? Let's break the aspects of the game down into a few simple categories:

Story

One nice aspect about this game is that you take a test at the beginning to find the Pokemon that best suits your personality. For me, that turned out to be Pikachu. But it depends on how you answer the questions. Then you choose who your partner will be. The only restrictions are that it cannot be one of the three Normal Pokemon you could turn into (Skitty, Meowth, and Munchlax), nor can it be the same type as you. Now it's off to the main storyline...

Here's the basic idea of the story. You are a human who finds yourself turned into a Pokemon. You meet your partner and, after a small tussle with some bullies, you two form an exploration team. You complete missions and attempt to save the world, as well as trying to figure out who you are and how you became a Pokemon. Now this may sound bland and all, but it really is not. It is actually a well-written and complex plot. These games have the best main storyline out of any of the Pokemon games ever made. Yes I just said. Just when you think you may have something figured out, something else will come up and completely change your mind. I can almost guarantee that by the end of the main storyline you will be attached to you and your partner Pokemon, which makes the ending all the more so sad.

Grade: 10/10

Gameplay

One of the best (and at the same time annoying) features of the game is the randomized dungeons. It is great that every time you enter a dungeon the whole layout is different. Sometimes, you start in the room with the stairway to the next floor right away. Other times, it will take you forever to find the exit. One of the most frustrating things is looking around for the exit and discovering that it was in the room next to the one you started out in. But hey, that's all just part of the game.

While in the dungeons, you will encounter wild Pokemon. Unfortunately, one of the aspects of the game that is clunky is the fighting system. It is still all turn based and sometimes using your attacks means going through a series of menus and stuff. While this does slow down fighting, it is much better than having to do multi-button combos like those fighting games you have on the big systems.

After a certain point in the game you can recruit Pokemon for your team. The best part about it: you can recruit Pokemon even if your party in the dungeon is full. Now you don't have to worry about cutting loose another team member.

There are also a huge number of dungeons that are available to do missions in, ranging from the simple Beach Cave to the ultimate challenge better known as Zero Isle. It is truly a way to test yourself and your team.

Grade: 8/10

Graphics

While this game is on the Nintendo DS, PMD: Explorers of Time/Darkness still fails to fully utilize the graphic capabilities of the system. There are a number of beautifully done cut scenes, but they are unfortunately few and far between.

Grade: 6/10

Music

Wow. That's all I can say about the music in this game. There are so many different pieces that were composed for this game. Many of the dungeons have their own unique background music, a much needed improvement over the repetitive music heard in many of these games. But what really gets to you is the music in the cut scenes. All of them are perfect for what the scene depicts. It is all very well composed. Kudos to Hideki Sakamoto, Ken-ichi Saito, Keisuke Ito, Arata Iiyoshi, and Ryoma Nakamura, the composers of the music for these games.

Grade: 10/10

Overall grade (grade not average): 9/10

This game is probably one of the best Pokemon games ever made. A great storyline and great music provides a good time for Pokemon fans of any age. I highly recommend this game for those diehard Pokemon fans looking to play something different or for someone who has a DS but never played a Pokemon game before.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/16/08

Game Release: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness (US, 04/20/08)