well im on a streak of perfect ratings,but this childhood game of mine truly deserves it
info:my pc was a totodile named johnny and my partner was a munchlax named pikachu (because of his parents,disgusting addicts,poor kid) in a team named animal collective (all the letters didnt fit so i put something like anmlcltiv).
i completed the game in 55 hours and completed all the campaign and the special chapters
gameplay 7,5-8/10
dungeon crawling with a pint of pokemon,it refined the mechanics of the previous pmd in the advance and it add life improvements,and it is pretty fun,sure it could be kind of trash to have this whole big anime fight preparation just so the fight can be two crunches and one zen headbutt,but i think is fun,especially the non boss encounters,like if you are underleved it can be a lil bit of a challenge the later stages and it is fun,i think,nothing complex or flashy,but is well made.
graphics/aesthetics 8,25/10
cool pixel graphics,it has charm,it especially shines when the two screens are put together to make a view,for example a sunset,it is beautifull,i also like the look of the models,the little animations they make,and just the overall vibe is really enjoyable
sound 10/10
first of all the soundtrack is absolutely massive is like 3 and a half hours long and every single song is of good quality and has a distinctive feeling to it,they all have their own certain emotion and it makes for every song remind you of your journey in the game,it makes you boop and it represents well the characters or situations that they are in and also it comes always in the perfect time,like it could be complete silence and the song will play at the perfect time
the ost sounds so good, easily one of my favorite ost ever
one small thing i want to point out on the sound effects department is the little noise the characters make,when they are suprised,curious,etc,it gives them more life and are it is an amazing detail.
ost tier list:
https://tiermaker.com/list/pokemon/pokmon-mystery-dungeon-explorers-of-sky-ost-15351825/3541386
story/characters/writing 8,5-9/10
i feel like i have to judge the game writing acknowledging that it was made for children and judging under that light,even if the story is truly great even outside that
the main point on the writing of the game is to leave the player (kid most likely) with good advice and morals,in every single story of the game there is always a moral at the end to leaves us with advice to be a better person,and the game is no coward of themes like existentialism
and to be honest this is kinda like the perfect game for like 9-14 age kids,there this pint of innocence of it all,sure for people older than the demographic the jokes most of the time arent great,but they are so innofensive jokes that it just kind of cute.
every scene feels like cartoon show or an anime,it is structured that way so that when you read the text boxes you imagine the voices of the characters and your imagination serves to fill the gaps.
for example when johhny and pikachu fighted groudon i imagined them preparing to fight this "beast" and while that is about to start it cuts to the guild running and talking about how op groudon is,then cutting back to johnny and pikachu ready for the fight,feels just like an animated show
the characters are my favorite part of the story section,they all have their own distinct personality,even you the pc,and it makes a wonderful job implementing personality into the pc without leaving to much that blank slate,instead of treating the blank slate pc as a piece of cardboard this game gives him a personality but gives you space to imagine how would your character be
the other characters are for the most part are really great,not all completely devolped,but they are all charming and have their own distinct personality,and just the cast of the game is really colorfull,if it that makes any sense
Character tier list : https://tiermaker.com/list/pokemon/pok%C3%A9mon-mystery-dungeon-explorers-of-sky-characters-ranking-11950/3540544
Chapter tier list:
https://tiermaker.com/list/pokemon/pokemon-mystery-dungeon-explorers-of-sky-chapter-ranking-419873/3540615
Side content 8,5-9/10
just with the five special episodes it already has amazing content,add to that all the post game content (that i refuse to do because of the implications on the story),the mission to up rank of your team and you get a lot of things of quality to do.
replayability 7-7,5/10
even though there isnt much reason to replay the game,it makes you pick up on details on the story and play with new group of characters,with new names,powers and models.
ending 10/10
ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER
im ignoring the post credit scenes on the endings and special chapter 5,because the only reason they are there is because of the post game content that should have been put in the middle of the game instead and because the game is for all ages put a happy endings even though its bittersweet ending is perfectly fine and it would undermine the message of the game,and its so short im not acknowledging it just like i did on fft
after saying that,the ending,wow,just wow,well resolve of the characters development,a good message and just bittersweet and sad af
SPOILER AGAIN just in case
i cried during johnny (totodile)goodbye,johnny knowing he was going to die and not knowing how to tell pikachu (munchlax) the gut wrenching news,johnny was about to break down from the pressure and sadness during the trip to the rainbow stoneship having a grim look on his face the whole trip.
eventually the light from johnny body starts elevating and starts killing him and he cant hide anymore the fact of his doom,in his last moments he told to the most important person in his life (at least after his amensia),pikachu, to be strong and after he is gone not to be sad (depression,maybe) and to live and be strong by himself, not to rely on others to be strong,pikachu in tears tell johnny that please what he is saying is not true and that he isnt going to die,that he is going to live and that please he will still be with him,johnny reasures his message and told pikachu his last request,to told what happen in hidden land,in temporal tower, so that it never happens again,finally he thanked pikachu for all the good laughs,adventures and good times that they had,and he told goodbye,fading until he is no longer there,johnny is dead.
pikachu is crying like an onion,screaming the name of his diseaded friend,but no amount of screaming would bring him back,pikachu couldnt stop crying the whole trip to the rainbow stoneship,and then he started to think about what johnny said,he said that pikachu needed continue living,to not get depresed for johhny passing,he needed to start be strong by himself stop to always rely on others to be confident and johnny request to told the tale of what happen in the hidden land to all the people he could,pikachu swear that he would accomplish all these goals,for johnny,and he did,pikachu came back to treasure town and told the tale about what happen to everyone he could find,in the guild,in the town,anywhere,he told first about what happen in the hidden land what where the reasons that started this situation in the first place,he told about the success on the temporal tower,and in the end he talked about the consequences of this,the heroic death´s of grovyle and johhny,and he told the people the way so that this event never happens again.
fast forward some months and pikachu is healthy,busy and alive,one day he decides to take a walk after a busy day of work,before that he talked with bidoof that said is weird to that right before it its dinner time,but pikachu did it anyway,he choose to walk to one of his favorite places,the beach,and right when it is sunseat and all the krabby´s blow bubbles all over the beach,pikachu looked at that beautifull familiar view that he had forgetten for some time because he was so busy,he was amazed by the view,later he got a little bit nostalgic,and was reminded of moments that he spend on this beach,and he remembered that his last experience on that beach with the bubbles floating was when he found johnny unconsioucs,he rememebered that was the place where their adventures start with johhny when those bullies took his relic he with johhny took it back and formed and exploration team and the rest is history,johnny,and then he remember more fund memories and adventures he had with johhny,and then more,and then more,and more,every time he got sadder remembering his diseased friend,until he eventually breaks down and starts screaming johnny name and crying desperatly,he sob and sob,could stop,he was all alone without no one to comfort him,then bidoof came to the beach because pikachu had been gone a long time in that beach and the dinner was ready,he found pikachu in his state and he come to comfort him,bidoof asks why pikachu is crying but he cant ends his sentence because of the sobs.
eventually we everyone,your mom, friends ,brother ,sister ,dad,they will die and you will have to continue without them,you have two ways to go either drown on a pool of your own sadness and dying there or mourining your loved ones but moving on with your life.
the correct choice there is moving on but its no easy thing,getting over a deceased close one,it will take time to heal and you will need support from other people,but it will eventually heal.
and that´s some heavy shit man
info:my pc was a totodile named johnny and my partner was a munchlax named pikachu (because of his parents,disgusting addicts,poor kid) in a team named animal collective (all the letters didnt fit so i put something like anmlcltiv).
i completed the game in 55 hours and completed all the campaign and the special chapters
gameplay 7,5-8/10
dungeon crawling with a pint of pokemon,it refined the mechanics of the previous pmd in the advance and it add life improvements,and it is pretty fun,sure it could be kind of trash to have this whole big anime fight preparation just so the fight can be two crunches and one zen headbutt,but i think is fun,especially the non boss encounters,like if you are underleved it can be a lil bit of a challenge the later stages and it is fun,i think,nothing complex or flashy,but is well made.
graphics/aesthetics 8,25/10
cool pixel graphics,it has charm,it especially shines when the two screens are put together to make a view,for example a sunset,it is beautifull,i also like the look of the models,the little animations they make,and just the overall vibe is really enjoyable
sound 10/10
first of all the soundtrack is absolutely massive is like 3 and a half hours long and every single song is of good quality and has a distinctive feeling to it,they all have their own certain emotion and it makes for every song remind you of your journey in the game,it makes you boop and it represents well the characters or situations that they are in and also it comes always in the perfect time,like it could be complete silence and the song will play at the perfect time
the ost sounds so good, easily one of my favorite ost ever
one small thing i want to point out on the sound effects department is the little noise the characters make,when they are suprised,curious,etc,it gives them more life and are it is an amazing detail.
ost tier list:
https://tiermaker.com/list/pokemon/pokmon-mystery-dungeon-explorers-of-sky-ost-15351825/3541386
story/characters/writing 8,5-9/10
i feel like i have to judge the game writing acknowledging that it was made for children and judging under that light,even if the story is truly great even outside that
the main point on the writing of the game is to leave the player (kid most likely) with good advice and morals,in every single story of the game there is always a moral at the end to leaves us with advice to be a better person,and the game is no coward of themes like existentialism
and to be honest this is kinda like the perfect game for like 9-14 age kids,there this pint of innocence of it all,sure for people older than the demographic the jokes most of the time arent great,but they are so innofensive jokes that it just kind of cute.
every scene feels like cartoon show or an anime,it is structured that way so that when you read the text boxes you imagine the voices of the characters and your imagination serves to fill the gaps.
for example when johhny and pikachu fighted groudon i imagined them preparing to fight this "beast" and while that is about to start it cuts to the guild running and talking about how op groudon is,then cutting back to johnny and pikachu ready for the fight,feels just like an animated show
the characters are my favorite part of the story section,they all have their own distinct personality,even you the pc,and it makes a wonderful job implementing personality into the pc without leaving to much that blank slate,instead of treating the blank slate pc as a piece of cardboard this game gives him a personality but gives you space to imagine how would your character be
the other characters are for the most part are really great,not all completely devolped,but they are all charming and have their own distinct personality,and just the cast of the game is really colorfull,if it that makes any sense
Character tier list : https://tiermaker.com/list/pokemon/pok%C3%A9mon-mystery-dungeon-explorers-of-sky-characters-ranking-11950/3540544
Chapter tier list:
https://tiermaker.com/list/pokemon/pokemon-mystery-dungeon-explorers-of-sky-chapter-ranking-419873/3540615
Side content 8,5-9/10
just with the five special episodes it already has amazing content,add to that all the post game content (that i refuse to do because of the implications on the story),the mission to up rank of your team and you get a lot of things of quality to do.
replayability 7-7,5/10
even though there isnt much reason to replay the game,it makes you pick up on details on the story and play with new group of characters,with new names,powers and models.
ending 10/10
ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER
im ignoring the post credit scenes on the endings and special chapter 5,because the only reason they are there is because of the post game content that should have been put in the middle of the game instead and because the game is for all ages put a happy endings even though its bittersweet ending is perfectly fine and it would undermine the message of the game,and its so short im not acknowledging it just like i did on fft
after saying that,the ending,wow,just wow,well resolve of the characters development,a good message and just bittersweet and sad af
SPOILER AGAIN just in case
i cried during johnny (totodile)goodbye,johnny knowing he was going to die and not knowing how to tell pikachu (munchlax) the gut wrenching news,johnny was about to break down from the pressure and sadness during the trip to the rainbow stoneship having a grim look on his face the whole trip.
eventually the light from johnny body starts elevating and starts killing him and he cant hide anymore the fact of his doom,in his last moments he told to the most important person in his life (at least after his amensia),pikachu, to be strong and after he is gone not to be sad (depression,maybe) and to live and be strong by himself, not to rely on others to be strong,pikachu in tears tell johnny that please what he is saying is not true and that he isnt going to die,that he is going to live and that please he will still be with him,johnny reasures his message and told pikachu his last request,to told what happen in hidden land,in temporal tower, so that it never happens again,finally he thanked pikachu for all the good laughs,adventures and good times that they had,and he told goodbye,fading until he is no longer there,johnny is dead.
pikachu is crying like an onion,screaming the name of his diseaded friend,but no amount of screaming would bring him back,pikachu couldnt stop crying the whole trip to the rainbow stoneship,and then he started to think about what johnny said,he said that pikachu needed continue living,to not get depresed for johhny passing,he needed to start be strong by himself stop to always rely on others to be confident and johnny request to told the tale of what happen in the hidden land to all the people he could,pikachu swear that he would accomplish all these goals,for johnny,and he did,pikachu came back to treasure town and told the tale about what happen to everyone he could find,in the guild,in the town,anywhere,he told first about what happen in the hidden land what where the reasons that started this situation in the first place,he told about the success on the temporal tower,and in the end he talked about the consequences of this,the heroic death´s of grovyle and johhny,and he told the people the way so that this event never happens again.
fast forward some months and pikachu is healthy,busy and alive,one day he decides to take a walk after a busy day of work,before that he talked with bidoof that said is weird to that right before it its dinner time,but pikachu did it anyway,he choose to walk to one of his favorite places,the beach,and right when it is sunseat and all the krabby´s blow bubbles all over the beach,pikachu looked at that beautifull familiar view that he had forgetten for some time because he was so busy,he was amazed by the view,later he got a little bit nostalgic,and was reminded of moments that he spend on this beach,and he remembered that his last experience on that beach with the bubbles floating was when he found johnny unconsioucs,he rememebered that was the place where their adventures start with johhny when those bullies took his relic he with johhny took it back and formed and exploration team and the rest is history,johnny,and then he remember more fund memories and adventures he had with johhny,and then more,and then more,and more,every time he got sadder remembering his diseased friend,until he eventually breaks down and starts screaming johnny name and crying desperatly,he sob and sob,could stop,he was all alone without no one to comfort him,then bidoof came to the beach because pikachu had been gone a long time in that beach and the dinner was ready,he found pikachu in his state and he come to comfort him,bidoof asks why pikachu is crying but he cant ends his sentence because of the sobs.
eventually we everyone,your mom, friends ,brother ,sister ,dad,they will die and you will have to continue without them,you have two ways to go either drown on a pool of your own sadness and dying there or mourining your loved ones but moving on with your life.
the correct choice there is moving on but its no easy thing,getting over a deceased close one,it will take time to heal and you will need support from other people,but it will eventually heal.
and that´s some heavy shit man