god, where do I even start with Gates to Infinity. this was a game that I associate a lot with my late sophomore year of high school, and probably the only reason I made it out of there alive. I have a lot of mixed feelings about this game despite liking it, and it's kind of sad that this game came out in the height of Pokemon Black and White hate that really didn't help its standing
so let's start off with the big elephant in the room - most of the gameplay mechanic changes from Explorers are kind of ass outside of, say stuff like the Team Attack. it's very stripped down, and for seasoned players, you'd expect the game to be easier, right? wrong! this game is more than happy to throw you Pokemon with Incinerate/Bug Bite/Pluck, and with the game being as short and story-focused as it is, you hardly get much breathing room to stock up on items without resorting to Companion Mode for item farming. which means it's not unheard of to run out of Oran Berries and Reviver Seeds without hitting the final boss because of how many Crustle ate through your inventory. it was always going to be tough to beat Explorers in terms of postgame, but it's depressing that they didn't really try to outside of hoping that you'll expand Paradise and maybe buy a dungeon DLC for $3 each (seriously, whose idea was this??)
this game's story and characters are great, though. maybe not enough to get through the middling 30 hour gameplay, but characters like Hydreigon, Emolga, and Virizion will stick out in my headspace for a very long time. the themes of hope and despair are great, and this game does a good job of beating you down with some surprisingly nihilist thinking in the game before building you back up with hope. on some occasions it can be as good if not better than Explorers in terms of storytelling (and imo, its more minor characters are far more memorable here than they were in Explorers). the music was pretty great too
that being said, I suggest watching a playthrough of this game if you're really interested in it. if this game ever gets a remake that puts it more up to speed, I'd suggest playing that. but I can't recommend playing through this game in good conscience when games like Explorers, Super, and Rescue Team DX are more mechanically sound
so let's start off with the big elephant in the room - most of the gameplay mechanic changes from Explorers are kind of ass outside of, say stuff like the Team Attack. it's very stripped down, and for seasoned players, you'd expect the game to be easier, right? wrong! this game is more than happy to throw you Pokemon with Incinerate/Bug Bite/Pluck, and with the game being as short and story-focused as it is, you hardly get much breathing room to stock up on items without resorting to Companion Mode for item farming. which means it's not unheard of to run out of Oran Berries and Reviver Seeds without hitting the final boss because of how many Crustle ate through your inventory. it was always going to be tough to beat Explorers in terms of postgame, but it's depressing that they didn't really try to outside of hoping that you'll expand Paradise and maybe buy a dungeon DLC for $3 each (seriously, whose idea was this??)
this game's story and characters are great, though. maybe not enough to get through the middling 30 hour gameplay, but characters like Hydreigon, Emolga, and Virizion will stick out in my headspace for a very long time. the themes of hope and despair are great, and this game does a good job of beating you down with some surprisingly nihilist thinking in the game before building you back up with hope. on some occasions it can be as good if not better than Explorers in terms of storytelling (and imo, its more minor characters are far more memorable here than they were in Explorers). the music was pretty great too
that being said, I suggest watching a playthrough of this game if you're really interested in it. if this game ever gets a remake that puts it more up to speed, I'd suggest playing that. but I can't recommend playing through this game in good conscience when games like Explorers, Super, and Rescue Team DX are more mechanically sound