This month is going to be a shorter one than usual for the Game Club. September's game was Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team, chosen by Matt. Almost all of us were busy in September, so we only have one review for this month's game.
Let's get to it!
Of all the Pokémon spinoff games that have come out over the years (and boy are there quite a few) this one is probably my favorite.
Kicking off the game with a personality quiz to determine which Pokémon you assume the role as was an incredibly fun way to start out. In this run I ended up with Charmander as my player character, and I chose Mudkip as my partner. Once you have your "starter" you wake up and surprise! You are a Pokémon living in a quite literal Pokémon world. The Pokémon all verbally communicate and have their own communities and culture. Not to mention their own mythos as you learn while progressing through the game.
This was a major game changer to the franchise for me when I first picked this game up many years ago. The game itself is pretty simple for the most part. There are numerous dungeons to explore through and three generations of Pokémon available to recruit into your team. The story of the game itself was pretty high tier as well for the time (as far as Pokemon games go). Hell, at one point there is a literal lynch mob trying to kill you and chasing you across the continent. Whoever thought that was going to happen in a Pokémon game of all things?
The game can be pretty unforgiving at times, making the rewind feature on NSO (Nintendo Switch Online) kind of necessary if you just want to get through to the end of the game. Speaking of the end of the game - there is a metric shit-ton of post game content (easily 200 hours worth) which was practically unheard of back in the days of Gameboy.
All throughout your time with this game you'll hear an incredibly laid back, whimsical soundtrack accompanying you along the way. While I have my fond memories of the game, I can understand the barrier of entry is somewhat rough if you're coming at it as an adult in your 30s. The worst part, in my opinion, being the length of the tutorial, which isn't very respectful of the player's time.
If it's a game you are interested in checking out, I would recommend hitting up the remake "Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX" instead, as there are numerous quality of life improvements that make the game far more easy to get into and enjoy while kicking your feet up.
I'd probably give it 7 out of 10 if I'm being fair, but my personal biases make me like it more than fairness allows.
~ Matt
