Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon

Gameplay

Like its predecessor, Super Mystery Dungeon is a dungeon-crawling rogue-like role-playing game featuring 3D characters and environments. Players assume the role of one of 20 Pokémon (which include all 18 starting Pokémon from all six main series generations, along with Pikachu and Riolu), who are joined by a partner, also chosen out one of the same 20 Pokémon, who accompany them in their journey through procedurally-generated dungeons filled with enemies and traps as they help stop a major crisis and save the Pokémon world. The game features all 720 currently released Pokémon as of 2015.

Plot

One day, the player's starter wakes up by a waterfall with no memory of who they are. They then express shock at being a Pokémon after looking at his reflection, believing himself to be a human. They then gets chased by several Beheeyem. After encountering a friendly Nuzleaf, they run from the Beheeyem and ends up at Serene Village, where they end up staying at Nuzleaf's house. They then meet the partner outside. After going to school, learning new skills, and getting a rivalry with Pancham and Shelmet, they meet Ampharos, who claims to be known as the Dashing Wanderer. Meanwhile, three Lanturn and a Dewgong discover that the Big Boss of the Northern Seas, Wailord, has been turned to stone. After Ampharos runs off, the player and partner discover that Ampharos had dropped an item. After school, they bring it to Kecleon, the shopkeeper, who tells them that the item is a Connection Orb, an item showing the relationship between Pokémon that is usually carried by shopkeepers and Exploration Teams. The duo then asks Raticate and the partner's adopted father, Carracosta, about Ampharos, and it told that Ampharos was heading toward Poliwrath River, territory of three Poliwrath brothers. After fighting the Poliwrath and their lackey, Poliwag, the duo are assisted in taking out the last Poliwrath by Ampharos. After returning to the village, Ampharos invites the player and his partner to the Exploration Society. He gives them Junior Exploration Badges, Expedition Gadgets, and lets them keep his Connection Orb. The next day, the player and his partner begin their adventure with the Exploration Society. For their first mission, Ampharos sends them to rescue a Sylveon lost in Forboding Forest.

Development

In April 2015, editors of Famitsu DS+Wii magazine stated that a new Pokémon game would be revealed the following month, and that more details would come in a future issue. Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon was later officially announced by The Pokémon Company and Nintendo via a press release on May 21, confirming the game's release for late 2015 in Japan and North America, and early 2016 in Europe. Like previous entries in the Mystery Dungeon subseries, it is developed by Spike Chunsoft. Gameplay footage from the title was first showcased on a Nintendo Direct broadcast on May 31, 2015, along with a final Japanese release date.

Reception

The Japanese video game magazine Famitsu gave the game a score of 36/40 in their cross review, with the four individual reviewers all giving it a score of 9. It was the highest selling video game in Japan during its debut week, with 151,823 copies sold, and would go on to sell a total of approximately 295,598 copies in the region by the end of 2015. As of March 2016, it has sold approximately of 1.22 million copies worldwide.

Super Mystery Dungeon holds a score of 69/100 from the aggregate review website Metacritic, indicating mixed or average reviews. Reviewers praised the story and the overall feel of the game, but criticized the repetitive dialogue and the amount of time needed to sit through un-skippable cutscenes. Game Informer felt that the game was an improvement over previous entries in the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series, and had a "better, more focused sense of humor", but that it still had issues such as overly-simplistic combat and repetitive gameplay, declaring that it "pales in comparison to the core RPG installments." Mitch Vogel of Nintendo Life similarly found it to be "tedious", elaborating that "Repetition that's present in nearly every aspect makes for a game that can sometimes feel like a chore rather than a form of entertainment". However, the editor ultimately felt that it would be a game for players who don't mind "grinding" recurrent scenarios and battles, stating "if you have the perseverance to stick with it long enough, you'll find that it pays off in the long run." Destructoid called it a "solid entry in the Pokémon franchise," commending its "tons of customization options" and "huge roster of potential allies and moves".