THE GOOD:A clear step up from the previous two Pokemon Mystery Dungeon (henceforth PMD) games, Red and Blue Rescue Team. Many of the more qualms I personally had with the previous PMD games have been remedied, and some things I hadn't personally thought of were added.
It's a Pokemon game with a plot. Yes, that's right, a Pokemon game with a plot. Okay, I'll be honest, it's not up there with the likes of J.R.R Tolkien and David Eddings, but it's definitely a marked improvement from the usual "Be the most awesome trainer ever, and stop these guys while you're at it". The twists, for the most part, were also well pulled off and I didn't expect them, apart from one which was far too drawn from the previous PMD 1 (As I shall henceforth refer to Red and Blue Rescue Team).
Recruitment is far easier than in PMD 1. Those abominable Friend Areas are gone, and you can now recruit Pokemon even when your party is full. (They are sent straight back to the Guild with the Explorer Badge) However, on that note, a fair amount of the main story is spent unable to recruit Pokemon, and for the most part it is only doable on side missions.
More Pokemon. Admittedly, this is only a good point if, like me, you liked a fair amount of the new Sinnoh Pokemon, and for the rest of you it just means yet more to catch.
A generally longer and harder game. At points, it might be hard to the point of frustration, but the main story at least is far longer than the story in PMD 1. It is also more of a story, but I won't dwell on that now. More of the elements only seen in post-story PMD 1 have managed to creep into the main PMD 2 (As I shall refer to Explorers of Time/Darkness) storyline.
Ever changing dungeons. Even going through the same dungeon ten times in a row, while very tedious, granted, still feels vaguely fresh (though there is always something much better to do than just plough through one dungeon ten times).
There is always a sidequest to do if you get bored of the over-arching story or simply need to get a few levels before moving onto the next dungeon. Some sidequests may also reward you with Pokemon eggs, or even the Pokemon asking for help will join the ever-growing team.
More storage space. Oh, god, more storage space, the one thing I was praying for above all else when I heard that this game had been announced. It is still limited, granted, and the bigger Treasure Bags only come as you progress through the game, but it's much better than well prepared attempts on the post-game dungeons meaning only a few treasures.
Greater variety in missions. The standard rescue, escort and item fetch missions from PMD 1 are back, but the Outlaw hunting missions are much more fun, relying instead on just reaching one floor of a dungeon and defeating a particularly strong Pokemon, as opposed to further hunting, which may also fail in this game (You may get a message that a target Pokemon could not be found when entering a destination floor).
THE BAD:
It's still a paired Pokemon game, and there is frighteningly little to distinguish the two games. Sorry Nintendo, not all of us have the money to spend on what is basically the same game twice.
The plot has it's bad points. The final "twist" is a rehash of PMD 1's ending, and I would like to stress that PMD 1 did that one much better. Also, the cutscenes just can't be skipped. Which is a shame, since you could just talk to the partner and double-check what you were supposed to do next instead of wasting good time that could be used on dungeon crawling. Also, while on the subject of the partner, I would like to say that s/he has some of the world's worst dialogue, only just scraping in above bad fan-fiction.
Even with the speed up to maximum, it is still a bit on the slow side. It's not slower than PMD 1, but it's not faster either. The story also takes a while to get going, forcing you to rely on side missions to pass time in many instances.
Hard to the point of frustration at times. The final story dungeon in particular is incredibly frustrating, and made me at least want to throttle a certain cybernetic duck. Remember who the main market of Pokemon games are now (or at least, who we are so constantly told are the main market, I still maintain that it's not completely for small children). Hint: It's not the gamer who started with Red and Blue back in the day, it's the one who is half the previous person's age, if that. If I struggled, I'm sure the "target audience" is going to have a hard time with most of the game.
Sidequests are not really optional. A fair part of the game is just doing the side missions to pass the time, and there will be times where you need to abandon the plot and just take some extra missions to give a reason to go level up some more. You could avoid them, but... why bother? It's a way of earning money and items, and with multiple jobs in one dungeon, probably more than you got while going through said dungeon.
An annoyingly large amount of the story is just the hero and the partner, with MAYBE plot relevant characters you have no control over. Thankfully, they can hold their own, and two are even far more powerful than you will be by the time you have them with you- one is also with you for the majority of the story missions from when you first have him with you. However, I would like to be able to have my fresh recruits gaining exp with me, and I always seemed to be a few levels above them.
There is still only one save file. I like to be able to try a new way of going through a game without destroying all of my current progress. Okay, it's a flaw in nearly all of the Pokemon games (Only Battle Revolution has multiple save files, to my knowledge), but I'd like to think we were past games with one save file. Apparently, Pokemon isn't, and I'm certain that the idea is to make you buy the second game just for a second save file, which as far as I'm concerned is a waste of £30/$30.
SUMMARY:
Summary: Should you get it?
Honestly? If you're still an avid Pokemon fan, you've probably got it. The rest of the world, though, it honestly depends on your tastes in gaming. It is a decent challenge, there is a reasonable plot, and is quite a good little dungeon crawler. If you can get past the fact that it's all comprised of Pokemon, it's a good game that will take a while to get everything done in. However, the game is very Pokemon-centric, so be warned if you just want an old-school dungeon crawler, and be warned that the game is very slow to pick up and get the momentum going. All in all, though, it's a good time-passer and an admirable effort by Chunsoft. Overall? A 75%. A good game with admittedly noticeable flaws, but they don't detract from the game too much. Just make sure you only buy one version, since there are only really small differences, and be prepared to put a fair bit of time in to get the most out of it.
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