Line #9 YMMV/PokemonMysteryDungeon


1	This is the page for VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon subjectives.
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3	* ''[[YMMV/PokemonMysteryDungeonRescueTeam Red & Blue Rescue Team]]''
4	* ''[[YMMV/PokemonMysteryDungeonExplorers Explorers of Time, Darkness, & Sky]]''
5	* ''[[YMMV/PokemonMysteryDungeonGatesToInfinity Gates to Infinity]]''
6	* ''[[YMMV/PokemonSuperMysteryDungeon Super Mystery Dungeon]]''
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9
10	!!General:
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12	* AdaptationDisplacement: Many assume these games were the start of the ''Mystery Dungeon'' series. Others know that ''VideoGame/ShirenTheWanderer'' preceded them, with a [[NoExportForYou Japan-exclusive]] Super Famicom release, but ''Shiren'' wasn't the first one, either. That honor goes to ''Torneko no Daibōken: Fushigi no Dungeon'', a ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' spinoff starring [[VideoGame/DragonQuestIV Torneko Taloon]].
13	* AnnoyingVideoGameHelper: AI teammates often embrace this trope with both hands, especially with low IQ stats. Reviving an entire room of petrified enemies with an ill-timed Growl attack, for example.
14	* BrokenBase: The idea that the protagonist always has to be an amnesic human turned into a Pokémon, especially in the later games. Some felt that it allows more emotional investment especially at the end where ButNowIMustGo comes into effect and is a need for immersion and bonding between the protagonists, others felt that it became an overused plot device to shoehorn in humans when there isn't a need, considering that the PMD world essentially averts HumanFocusedAdaptation and give the Pokémon as a whole much needed CharacterFocus.
15	* CriticalDissonance: Of the critic-hated, player-loved kind. The story is generally agreed to be better than the supporting gameplay. [[ValuesDissonance Not the same case for Japanese critics though, at least ones from Famitsu]]. This was a given considering the fact that critics tend to loathe roguelikes.
16	* CultClassic: The entire series. Not as widely played as the main series games, but beloved with a devoted fanbase of their own. Particularly applies to ''Explorers''.
17	* DemonicSpiders:
18	** Pokémon with multi-hit moves in general. Octillery is probably the best individual example of the trope--it packs Bullet Seed, which hits multiple times ''from a distance'', among other things.
19	** Any enemy with moves that hit an entire room. Nidoqueen with Earth Power and Ledian with Silver Wind WILL make you tear your hair out. And god forbid you run into the dreaded Ominous Wind Drifloon or Drifblim...
20	** As well as any enemy that knows Perish Song. Unless you have a Heal Seed handy, you are pretty much done for if it hits you.
21	* DifficultySpike:
22	** Overall across the series, there's a very large difficulty spike once the story is completed, with an increase in floor layout complexity, the appearance of sticky items and new traps, and more powerful Pokémon. ''Rescue Team'' and ''Explorers'' also start giving advanced IQ skills to enemy Pokémon that render several powerful strategies ineffective.
23	** ''Explorers'' is pretty easy up until you [[spoiler:make your way to the Hidden Land and Temporal Tower]]. Afterwards, it can get [[NintendoHard downright cruel]]. Before that, we have Quicksand Pit, which can be cruel with constant sandstorms caused by Hippopotas and ''Tyranitar''. If you're playing as a Normal-type Pokémon, Dark Hill and its bevy of Ghost-types will be living hell.
24	** Sky Tower in ''Red/Blue Rescue Team'' can be pretty rough going, too. Stupid ghost-types and their dumb attacking through walls on earlier floors, Idiotic [[DemonicSpiders Aerodactyl]] and their moronic Supersonics and Agilities further up... and let's not get into the post-game dungeons.
25	*** In the ''Explorers'' games, escort missions are hard enough since the escort is usually massively weak. So imagine when you have to escort one of them through a 30+ lvl dungeon, facing Pokémon that can use Discharge or Silver Wind all the way from the other end of the screen every turn, or damaging weather that can wear down weak escort Pokémon... even worse is the fact that the player has no access to tactics/move commands for escorts. If the team leader steps on a Warp Trap and becomes separated from the escort... good luck.
26	** In ''Gates to Infinity'' [[spoiler:the spike starts with Glacier Palace's Eastern Spire, and it keeps on spiking upwards until you reach Kyurem.]]
27	* EnjoyTheStorySkipTheGame: Many people, even fans, believe the series' gameplay to be SoOkayItsAverage at best, but play the game solely for the story.
28	* EpilepticTrees: The [[https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Decrepit_Lab Decrepit Lab]] is solid evidence that there used to be humans in the world where ''Red/Blue Rescue Team'' takes place. The unanswered question is... what happened to them? Theories include:
29	** Human civilization suffered an extinctionary catastrophe thousands of years ago and the story of ''Red/Blue Rescue Team'' takes place in an "After Humanity" era where Pokémon have become capable of intelligent speech.
30	** Humans have permanently departed from the planet in a massive Space Exodus, leaving behind their infrastructure as the only evidence of their former presence.
31	** Humans still exist in the world but the location that the story of ''Red/Blue Rescue Team'' takes place is largely unknown and inaccessible to them. The Decrepit Lab is possibly evidence to a failed attempt at colonization or just a remote research station that met with disaster.
32	** Since Mewtwo was created by humans, he might be the only Pokémon in the series who has some knowledge and history about them. But it remains an unexplored PlotHole since no one bothers to ask and he never says anything about it.
33	* EscapistCharacter: The human-turned-Pokémon protagonist. What fan ''hasn't'' wanted to become a Pokémon? Saving the world doesn't hurt either.
34	* FanficFuel: The subseries' entire premise - a human transforming into a Pokémon and living in a world exclusively inhabited by Pokémon, befriending a Pokémon partner and going on heroic adventures together - is absolutely ripe for countless stories and has spawned dozens upon dozens of fan interpretations, scenarios and ROM hacks set in the world of ''Pokémon Mystery Dungeon''.
35	* {{Fanon}}: The protagonists' [[VagueAge speculated ages]] in human years:
36	** ''Rescue Team'': Late teens. (15-19)
37	** ''Explorers'': Mid teens. (13-18)
38	** ''Gates'': Early 20s. (20-25)
39	** ''Super'': Older child. (8-13)
40	*** ''Super'' has an unusual take on this, as while the age of their ''Pokémon'' form is speculated to be an older child, the intro heavily implies that the protagonist was older as a human and aged down.
41	* GameBreaker:
42	** Unlike the main ''Pokémon'' series, "movement speed" actually provides a Haste effect, giving the user multiple turns in a row. It wears off quickly, but a quickened Pokémon can inflict a ''lot'' of damage if they also know attacks capable of hitting an entire room. This goes double in Monster Houses, where an enemy Pokémon using "Agility" can increase ''all enemies'' to double/triple/quadruple turns.
43	** Multi-Hit attacks (Bullet Seed, Fury Swipes/Attack, Pin Missile). Due to the damage calculation in the ''Mystery Dungeon'' games being much different than the mainstream titles, these moves now hit as hard as most other attacks ''each individual hit''. Bullet Seed in earlier games, in particular, had the advantage in that, as it deals damage in a straight line, it could potentially KO multiple Pokémon in the same turn. This is made worse for the fact that the [[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Same-type_attack_bonus STAB bonus]] from the mainstream titles is also implemented in the Mystery Dungeon games, meaning with the right Pokémon (A Treecko with Bullet Seed and the Concentrator skill for instance), this can be quite lethal. ''Gates to Infinity'' onwards nerfed Multi-Hit moves so that they cannot knock out multiple Pokémon in the same turn, but those same games provide means to patch up their mediocre accuracy or increase their dangerous power even more.
44	** Silver Wind. Like in the main series games, it has a chance of increasing all of your stats. In these games, it also hits all enemies in a room, and it has a separate chance of boosting your stats ''for each enemy it hits'' in the same turn. Add the fact that the increased speed grants you extra turns to use it again if there are any enemies left, and it can snowball from there. [[https://clips.twitch.tv/AmazonianVictoriousDinosaurImGlitch This clip]] demonstrates how broken it can be when an ''[[EscortMission escort]]'' Venomoth uses it to utterly decimate a big swarm of enemies.
45	---> '''Wren:''' [[BodyguardingABadass Why did you need me to escort you again?]]
46	** Petrify or Foe-Seal Orbs render Monster Houses pretty much trivial: they freeze every enemy in the room until attacked, letting you mop them up one by one and gather the sweet loot. What's more, your A.I. team is smart enough not to attack any enemy under the effect, so you don't have to worry about them ruining it and dooming you.
47	** The X-Ray Specs mean that you'll never be surprised in dungeons where visibility is at a premium (essentially all the time mid-to-late game.) It tells you exactly where all the enemies and items are on the floor which drops massive hints as to what might be in there. A ton of treasure but no visible Pokémon? That's a monster house. A bunch of items with only a single enemy in the middle? That's an item shop. A yellow dot on the map when you and your partner are together? That's the Pokémon you need to rescue, deliver an item to, escort your guest to. This essentially blows side missions wide open and makes escort missions more bearable.
48	** Smeargle and its PowerCopying can trivialize any challenge in every game, [[EliteTweak if you can assemble the right moveset]]. Smeargle's NecessaryDrawback in the main series games has always been [[WeakButSkilled rather lackluster stats]], but these games only have a ''universal'' hard cap on stat boosts, meaning Smeargle can be just as strong as your average OlympusMons if you shove enough {{Rare Cand\|y}}ies down its throat.
49	* GatewaySeries: All things considered, these are probably some of the more easy and accessible {{Roguelike}}s of the genre. Being tied to a popular franchise also helps. These games are often responsible for getting people into the greater {{Roguelike}} genre.
50	* GoddamnedBats:
51	** Pretty much anything that can inflict Poison status, attack from a distance (most Water-type attacks have ranged capability), or from within walls (the Ghost types).
52	** Doom Seeds: You better pray that an enemy 'mon doesn't throw these at you...
53	** Spinarak, a mon that can cause the aforementioned poison along with a slow, causing it to go twice as much as you.
54	* HePannedItNowHeSucks:
55	** The fans were not happy about some review scores, particularly the 3/10 Game Informer gave ''Blue Rescue Team''.
56	** Of particular note is IGN's 4.9 rating of ''Explorers of Sky'', even lower than their score of ''Explorers of Time/Darkness''. It's certainly not helped by Explorers of Sky being seen as the best installment in the series by many PMD fans.
57	** As a whole, the Mystery Dungeon games are never well received by IGN and never putted above a 6/10. And they let everyone know that IGN just doesn't like the core structure for its 'repetition' and 'grindy nature'. When that was the point for any RPG or Rougelike.
58	* LowTierLetdown: Pretty much ''any'' EscortMission you do will include this. You can't assign tactics to them if they get separated, and in ''Red/Blue Rescue Team'' the escorted Pokémon was almost always at Level 1, making it easy for enemy Pokémon to KO them. To put it nicely, these are the guys who tend to waste all your Heal Seeds and Reviver Seeds for doing annoyingly stupid things like wandering off and walking into lava/fire. ''Explorers'' was just a little bit nicer in the levels department, but your clients are still under-leveled.
59	* MemeticMutation: Don't say "Stun Seed" backwards [[labelnote:Explanation]]"Stun Seed" backwards is "Dees Nuts" which sounds like "Deez Nuts", making it a popular [[WhatsAHenway pun trap]].[[/labelnote]]
60	* MorePopularSpinoff: While not for the ''Pokémon'' franchise itself, ''PMD'' is definitely the most well-known series in the ''Mystery Dungeon'' franchise, to the point many are unaware the ''Mystery Dungeon'' franchise even includes games like ''VideoGame/ChocobosDungeon'' and/or ''VideoGame/ShirenTheWanderer'', the game that started the franchise in the first place.
61	* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound: The jingle that plays when you recruit a new team member. Especially if it's a legendary Pokémon.
62	* NintendoHard: Especially the bonus dungeons, some of which totally empty your inventory and level you down to 1. It's because of this that Purity Forest and Zero Isle South are many players' favorite dungeons.
63	* OlderThanTheyThink: Shiny Pokémon and evolving mid-dungeon are features that were introduced in ''Adventure Squad''. Since they're Japan-exclusive titles, most people don't know this.
64	* PopularWithFurries: While ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' already has a good following in the UsefulNotes/FurryFandom, this series receives heavy attention from it due to focusing on the viewpoint of the Pokémon themselves. The main characters being humans transformed into Pokémon also makes it popular with furries who enjoy the concept of transformation, or who [[SailorEarth appreciate the easy way to insert their original characters into the plot]].
65	* SequelDifficultyDrop: Relative to the rest of the ''Mystery Dungeon'' franchise. The ''Pokémon'' games are considerably easier than most typical ''Mystery Dungeon''s, as common mechanics like LevelDrain are not in effect, being knocked out is less punishing and the OnSiteProcurement aspect is downplayed by the ability to carry a full inventory with you. The series' most difficult dungeons are usually just giving players a taste of what a typical ''Mystery Dungeon'' game plays like.
66	* SequelDifficultySpike: In a variety of ways, but notably with regard to [[RandomEncounters Monster Houses]]: The first Monster Houses in the ''Rescue Team'' games would be seen in late-game dungeons like Uproar Forest or the Magma Cavern, but in the ''Explorers'' games they can occur as early as Amp Plains halfway through the StoryArc. ''Explorers of Sky'' spikes even earlier than ''Time/Darkness'' thanks to the special episodes and the change of bosses at Amp Plains.
67	* TheyChangedItNowItSucks:
68	** ''Adventure Squads'' has taken flack for being LighterAndSofter than ''Rescue Team'' and ''Explorers'', particularly as that included having a [[ExcusePlot much lighter plot]].
69	** ''Gates to Infinity'' has also been hit with this since the Japanese demo was first released. For details, see its entry below.
70	* ToughActToFollow: ''Gates to Infinity'' is having a very hard time following the ''Explorers'' games, mostly for "not having a deep enough plot", and the fact that there is a lot less post-credits content compared to the other two games.
71	* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: Some fans feel that ''Mystery Dungeon'' spinoff series tried too hard to be DarkerAndEdgier without adding aspects of [[{{Gorn}} explicit violence]], [[ObligatorySwearing swear words]] and other adult things in order to appeal to young players.
72	%%* TheWoobie: The Partner in every ending.

Context YMMV / PokemonMysteryDungeon