Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX review

Spike Chunsoft brings the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series to the Nintendo Switch with Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX. Interestingly enough, the newest game in the series is a remaster of two games into one—Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team. 

In addition to updated visuals, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX includes new features in the series Nintendo Switch debut. If you are a Pokémon you’ll want to check this game out.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX Details

Platform(s): Nintendo Switch
Developer: Spike Chunsoft
Publisher(s): The Pokémon Company, Nintendo
Genre: Roguelike
Modes: Single-player
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)

Choosing your starter Pokémon

Similar to previous Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games, the game starts with a brief personality quiz. This quiz determines which Starter Pokémon you’ll play as, as well as your partner Pokémon that will stick with you for the whole journey. There’s a nice range of possible Starter Pokémon—16 in total, including favourites like Pikachu, Charmander, Meowth, and Eevee.

If you don’t like the Pokémon duo assigned to you, there is an option to choose whichever ones you’d like from the list. I opted to go with the Pokémon given to me, which was a Mudkip main, and a Charmander partner.

A journey into a world filled with Pokémon

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX begins much like other games in the series. You wake up in a strange and unfamiliar world, which just happens to be inhabited by Pokémon. Low and behold, you discover that you’ve been transformed into a Pokémon yourself!

It’s not long before the dangers of this new world rears its head in the form of Pokémon needing help. After a series of events, you and your partner—in my case Charmander—from a new rescue team to help other Pokémon. In addition, you set out to figure out how you ended up in this strange new world and how you can get back home.

If you’ve played previous games, the story is nothing new and pretty much identical to every other game. It’s nothing spectacular but it does give purpose to your adventures.

Core gameplay that sticks to its roots

Like previous entries in the series, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX‘s gameplay follows suit. Dungeons consists of several floors to work your way through, where your main goal is to find stairs to advance to the next level. However, it’s not all fun and games. Each floor contains hostile Pokémon to contend with, along with money, items, and other loot to aid in your journey.

Time passes very uniquely when dungeon exploring, in that each action you perform counts as a turn, with the game essentially being paused while you’re standing still. This allows you to take as much time as you need to plan your strategies, whether that’s picking the right combat move for the situation, flipping through your inventory for a particular item, or carefully planning your escape from battle.

If you are going to be successful, managing your resources efficiently is key. For example, if you didn’t pack enough food and end up going hungry—you’ll take damage as you scavenge for food. To satisfy your Pokémon’s hunger, you’ll need to consume apples, which means it’s critical to always have a few on hand at all times. Given that you have a limited inventory to hold apples, healing items, and other possessions, managing your resources efficiently is extremely important.

A watercolour painting in motion

Visually, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX looks like a watercolour painting in motion. Its unique stylized visuals along with colour palette add charm to the game that make it irresistibly cute. Furthermore, each dungeon has its own unique music theme that elegantly mixes some of the Gameboy Advance instrumental music with a new and updated soundtrack.

New features

While Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX shares a lot with previous games, it also has a few new features. One of the biggest changes is the ability to acquire Rare Qualities. These qualities give boosts to your entire group when a Pokemon with the Rare Quality is in your party. For example, the Funnel Fun quality greatly speeds up the rate at which HP restores naturally when your Pokémon are in a corridor.

One of my favourite new features is the auto mode in dungeons. Essentially, this allows the game to take over the exploring for you. By using auto mode, you won’t have to keep track of where you have been and where you need to go. It’s one less thing to worry about and allows you to focus on battle and resource management.

Mega Evolutions is another new feature in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX that makes it stand out from previous games. By using specific items on a Pokémon, they can Mega Evolve or become awakened, which give some really great stat bonuses. On the other hand, your foes can also Mega Evolve or become awakened—leading to some truly challenging battles.

Finally, if you choose, you can accept requests from other players to rescue them. This mode is accessed from the title screen or through Pelipper Post Office. Since some dungeons can be many levels, this mode is a life saver. If your friend saves you, you can then start from where you left off in the dungeon and vice versa.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX is a game fans and newcomers will both enjoy

While it is true that Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX doesn’t do a lot to innovate, it is fun to play. Not only that, it features beautiful stylized watercolour graphics and core gameplay that is easy to pick up and play. The game offers quite a bit of replayability with its randomized dungeons—you’ll never play the same one twice.

In the end, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX is a game experienced fans, and newcomers, can both get into and enjoy. Let me know in the comments section below if you plan on picking up Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX and who your favourite Pokémon is.

+ Exquisite graphics and sound
+ Deep combat system that is easy to master
+ New features enhance gameplay experience

– Gameplay can become repetitive at times
– Does little to nothing to innovate the series

OVERALL ASSESSMENT OF POKEMON MYSTERY DUNGEON: RESCUE TEAM DX

Gameplay: 3/5
Graphics: 4/5
Sound: 3/5
Lasting Appeal/Replayability: 4/5

Overall Rating 3.5/5 (70%)

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