Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity

 3DS
User Score
6.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 188 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 79 out of 188
  2. Mixed: 61 out of 188
  3. Negative: 48 out of 188
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  1. Weesum
    May 23, 2015
    0
    Terrible, terrible, terrible game! This game was so bad for me, that I cry for the players that started with this! Start with any other Mystery Dungeon!

    First problem close to only pokemon from 5th gen, and you cant even get all of them! My favorite Pokemon is Victini, so when I found out that almost all Pokemon were 5th gen, I thought that Victini was a must as a recruitable character,    Terrible, terrible, terrible game! This game was so bad for me, that I cry for the players that started with this! Start with any other Mystery Dungeon!

    First problem close to only pokemon from 5th gen, and you cant even get all of them! My favorite Pokemon is Victini, so when I found out that almost all Pokemon were 5th gen, I thought that Victini was a must as a recruitable character, but it was reduced to shopkeeper only. A very big piece of advice, NEVER demote a legendary Pokemon to just a shopkeeper. It can break someones heart, like mine.

    The story is existent but seems more like it was made to say that the game had a story. It is not very well thought out, this is not saying that the previous stories were, but they at least established a connection with all of the characters. This game does not. I never felt anything for any of the characters throughout the entire story.

    Lastly my biggest complaint is the DLC. I chose Snivy as myself and Pikachu as my partner. Little did I know that after the game ended and I could evolve my Pokemon, that I would need to buy a DLC map to even have a chance to get a thunder stone. I tried for 5 days without one, using a website to find out theres a minigame that you can receive one in if you get the best prize. needless to say, my Pikachu never evolved...

    All in all, this game sucks. If you want to play Mystery Dungeon for the first time, I suggest Blue or Sky. Etrian Mystery Dungeon is also good, although not being pokemon themed. All three of those games are in my top 20 games, and are a lot better than this monstrosity. I'm praying that Super Mystery Dungeon can redeem the series.    … Expand
  2. Kyon55
    Sep 16, 2014
    1
    I hate this game. Absolutely despise it. Why? Because as a sequel, it falls on its face flat and is an embarrassment to the Mystery Dungeon series. When I played the first game, I loved it. Yes it had its flaws, and there were a few things that I wish they didn't do. The sequel Explorers of Sky/Darkness was twice the game Red/Blue was. Likable characters, Great character development, and aI hate this game. Absolutely despise it. Why? Because as a sequel, it falls on its face flat and is an embarrassment to the Mystery Dungeon series. When I played the first game, I loved it. Yes it had its flaws, and there were a few things that I wish they didn't do. The sequel Explorers of Sky/Darkness was twice the game Red/Blue was. Likable characters, Great character development, and a reason to love Grovyle for being one of the best allies you can ever get. Sky was even better, and the pinnacle of the series. They took Darkness and Sky, added a few things to it, and put in special episodes which was the cherry on top. I love Sky. I could go on and on about it, but thats not why I'm here. I'm here to give my thoughts on the abomination we know as Gates to Infinity.

    I bought it as it was one of my favorite series. I had high hopes for it, but in the end, all were gone.

    One.
    Character development was non existent. Your partner, and all of your other * ahem* "friends" had nothing to them. They never really changed or felt like you grew a bond to each other. Heck, at the times the game TRIED to make me feel sad when something happened with the main characters, i went "meh". simply because no one really developed a real character. I'll expand a bit more in point 3.

    Two.
    The game was unrealistic emotional wise. Let me give an example. Remember in Sky when you return from the future and tell everyone Dusknoir was evil? No one believed you at first. Why? Because everyone saw him as an idol and held him in high regards. Had it not been for Corphish pointing out how strange it was on how Dusknoir grabbed you, they still wouldn't have believed you. THAT is a realistic reaction. Uncertainty brews in your mind due to it sounding so farfetched; even from someone who you've come to know and trust. GTI throws that out the window and makes everyone change on the dot. Play it again. See what I mean when they don't even think about it. All it takes is one little thing, and BAM. Everyone instantly changes their mind right on the spot. I guarantee that you'll see my point.

    Three.
    The game was waaaaaayyyyy too rushed. Going back to point one, part of the problem with no character development was the fact that the game became too rushed. It forces you to progress through the game and get through it super fast. The previous 2 had done a good job of setting a good pace of game progress and character development. Why was it botched so badly in this game? There is NO excuse for this at all. You've done it correctly already, why change something that works?

    And four.
    The music sucks balls. Compared to the previous two, the OST is terrible and its terrible without even comparing it to the other two. The first two had a really good soundtrack that I still go back and listen to on occasions. I've heard every track. There is not a single one I liked, cared for, or would even bother not touch again. Not. ONE.
    Well... what a mouthful. This game fails horribly at doing something its predecessors had done well in the past. One thing that really annoys me is how much potential the game had. The story line itself was changed, and honestly had it been done right, I would say this would be the next best Mystery Dungeon game. The premise of what I saw was really good and had a real good setup. Problem is, they botched it and botched it reeeeeeal hard. I lost interest in playing this game and had gone back to two other games in the midst of this and beat them. I only beat this game for the sake of beating it. I haven't touched it since. With the potential to be a good game, it had a couple other things I DID like. The multiplayer mission thing was a fantastic idea, and I did enjoy playing it with a friend. Sadly, that's the best part of the game. The other is the ability to get a building that lets you change the music of a dungeon. The ONLY reason to get this is because they used the best tracks from the past games, which was a good bit. But that is it. It fails as a good game, sequel, and ruins all hopes for replay ability. The ONLY reason it gets a 1 is because the multiplayer, the large potential the story had, and extra music. Which loses points because you still have to buy in a DLC. I am only keeping this game to say I have every Mystery Dungeon game. Honestly though, I'd prefer it if I could forget its existence. Like Paper Mario Sticker Star.    … Expand
  3. Salamence1
    Mar 14, 2016
    0
    I know this review is 3 years late but oh well. I am a BIG BIG BIG Pokemon fan. And i love the mystery dungeon series. But i really liked explores of sky. so when Nintendo announced mystery dungeon for the 3ds i was excited. I brought the game, completed it and then realised that it fails in every single aspect of the game. It's boring, too easy, tedious, repetitive and just downrightI know this review is 3 years late but oh well. I am a BIG BIG BIG Pokemon fan. And i love the mystery dungeon series. But i really liked explores of sky. so when Nintendo announced mystery dungeon for the 3ds i was excited. I brought the game, completed it and then realised that it fails in every single aspect of the game. It's boring, too easy, tedious, repetitive and just downright disapointing. There were only 5 pokemon to choose from instead of nearly 20 and it was short, all of the dungeons felt the same and it never at one point inTrested me. But the thing that i hate the most is that the final pokemon battle you have even isn't against a real pokemon and it uses fake pokemon moves as well. Take it from me unless you want about 5 hours of the same boring thing happening over and over do not buy this game!… Expand
  4. MRTOMOWATO
    Jan 11, 2014
    3
    This game is poor .
    Pros
    Good use of 3D
    Good interaction
    Cons
    Exactly the same storyline as it's predecessors .
    Way too much talking
    Repetitive
    If Your A Pokémon Fan go back to your gameboys and play Pokémon when it was actually good .
  5. Squirtle456
    May 7, 2013
    4
    My family has been playing Pokemon games from the very start. In fact we still own just about every game and duplicates of many. I like the Mystery Dungeon series. This game should not have been classified as a Mystery Dungeon it should have been classified as a beginning READER. I like to play video games on my 3DS, DS Lite, SP, GBA, and GBC but this "game" is more story and lessMy family has been playing Pokemon games from the very start. In fact we still own just about every game and duplicates of many. I like the Mystery Dungeon series. This game should not have been classified as a Mystery Dungeon it should have been classified as a beginning READER. I like to play video games on my 3DS, DS Lite, SP, GBA, and GBC but this "game" is more story and less game. It took me 1/2 an hour to get through one text section (I wasn't even reading just pressing the A button) and it doesn't allow you to go into Dungeons if you have an objective to fulfill (which is more story that you need to get through) Hopefully I will finish the game before I run out of patience pressing my A button.… Expand
  6. ikereview
    Dec 24, 2014
    0
    this is one of the worst games ever they could not wait for x/y to release and put those pokemon in its a very rushed game worst graphics and the story is cliche
  7. StormCloud
    Dec 24, 2014
    3
    This game darn near ruined Mystery Dungeon for me. Yeah the graphics were great and the music was nice but the flaws were near endless. For starters, postgame. Red/Blue rescue team: Game finish. List of more things to do. Time Darkness and Sky: Game finish: FRIGGIN OCEAN OF POSTGAME. Gates to Infinity: Game Finish. Build Shops. Yaaaaaay.... And what's with the pokemon evolving mid dungeon?This game darn near ruined Mystery Dungeon for me. Yeah the graphics were great and the music was nice but the flaws were near endless. For starters, postgame. Red/Blue rescue team: Game finish. List of more things to do. Time Darkness and Sky: Game finish: FRIGGIN OCEAN OF POSTGAME. Gates to Infinity: Game Finish. Build Shops. Yaaaaaay.... And what's with the pokemon evolving mid dungeon? How the **** does that work? There not defeating anyone, they just evolve when they see you. The ****. I also thought I'd never said this but i missed the hunger aspect. Without it the game lost a lot of challenge. The lack of starters irritated me too, before you could 16 different pokemon and you got chosen from personality. Now you choose from 5. Big slap in the face there. The legendary hunt has been severely downgraded, you can find 8. There are others but you can't recruit them, though i did like multiple tile size and attacks. Adds to the scary power. Ultimately it took mystery dungeon's legacy and just spat on it. I hope nintendo will fix this.… Expand
  8. Timelordian
    Sep 23, 2015
    3
    This game is almost middle of the road for me. While the 3d aspect is a nice step up, and creating your own shops is a novel idea for the series, its faults just pull it back down so much farther. While most complain about the text speed (which is horrendously slow), my big complaint is how childish and naive the characters act. With the exception of a select few characters, most of theThis game is almost middle of the road for me. While the 3d aspect is a nice step up, and creating your own shops is a novel idea for the series, its faults just pull it back down so much farther. While most complain about the text speed (which is horrendously slow), my big complaint is how childish and naive the characters act. With the exception of a select few characters, most of the motivations and actions taken by the characters seem so foolhardy and silly.

    While I realize some of the pokemon are meant to be children in age, so many of the adults even act downright stupid. I look back at characters like Dusknoir or Grovyle of the previous entries into the series. Heck, even the most childish adult in the previous games was Wigglytuff, and he/she at least had sense hiding behind the child-like behaviors.

    Technically speaking, the features that Gates to Infinity adds give me hope for the next entry into the series. I look at this as being a rushed out demo of what the next game (Super Mystery Dungeon) should be, but instead it became a full game. If you haven't bought this game, don't, wait for the next one and play Explorers of Sky in the mean time.    … Expand
  9. rpindar
    Sep 25, 2015
    2
    I am a massive fan of the Pokémon Games, particularly the Mystery Dungeon games, but this one disappointed me.
    The Mystery Dungeon games had become known for their fantastic stories as well as the Gameplay, but this just rehashes the dynamics of the first games with a couple of insignificant changes - hardly worthy of topping The Guild from the last set of games.
    The graphic update is    I am a massive fan of the Pokémon Games, particularly the Mystery Dungeon games, but this one disappointed me.
    The Mystery Dungeon games had become known for their fantastic stories as well as the Gameplay, but this just rehashes the dynamics of the first games with a couple of insignificant changes - hardly worthy of topping The Guild from the last set of games.

    The graphic update is good, but it seems like that was all that was really on the game makers' minds. The story is predictable, your partner has very little character development, I ended up finding it a lot harder to connect with these characters as the other NPCs than I have done in previous games.

    It's much easier than previous games as well - I completed the whole thing in about 2 days with very little trouble.    … Expand
  10. Rikoyasha
    May 4, 2016
    1
    easily the worst Pokemon MD game of the series it added a few good thing things BUT it got rid of more that the games before it had. 3d models does not suit the game well the story is bad and doesn't feel like a MD the the previous games and the game after it being Super. As far as i'm concern this game doesn't exist.

    Helpful: -all team exp -move upgrades Inconvenience: -default    easily the worst Pokemon MD game of the series it added a few good thing things BUT it got rid of more that the games before it had. 3d models does not suit the game well the story is bad and doesn't feel like a MD the the previous games and the game after it being Super. As far as i'm concern this game doesn't exist.

    Helpful:
    -all team exp
    -move upgrades

    Inconvenience:
    -default hit does only 5 damage
    -can't do more than 1 quest
    -every is smaller(can only see like 3 squares ahead while previous games you can see twice as far)
    -can't go into town when accepted a quest
    (and im sure im missing more haven't played that awful game in a few years)    … Expand
  11. alataya
    Nov 21, 2015
    4
    How this managed to get a better score than Explorers of Sky is beyond me, the critics are all either payed or plain idiots for something like what we have here to get a better score. Always look at the user reviews, as it seems they knew what really is going on.

    Let me start saying this: I don't hate the game. It's enjoyable, but its mind-numbingly easy. I can enter with just the    How this managed to get a better score than Explorers of Sky is beyond me, the critics are all either payed or plain idiots for something like what we have here to get a better score. Always look at the user reviews, as it seems they knew what really is going on.

    Let me start saying this: I don't hate the game. It's enjoyable, but its mind-numbingly easy. I can enter with just the partner you choose in the beginning, reject all requests to join my team, and I'd still get by with barely a scratch on me. And let say this: I was a Snivy. I had 5 weaknesses and the last place is ice based. My partner was an Axew and yet I got through the last dungeon without any problem. In Time, I had to fight Primal Dialga around 3 or 4 times my first run and I was a Riolu with my partner a Charmander!! The easiness of the game is less than a normal mainstream pokemon game, at least with those games you can nuzlocke without exp share to make it more challenging.

    I don't think the story was too bad, but it didn't stick to me like it did in past games. I liked the bit with Hydreigon a lot, I recalled, and I really liked what they did with the final boss. That was interesting, but that was it really. It was really, really disappointing. It's been awhile since I've played this game (as I sold it back months ago), but I don't remember there being any small group antagonist like with past incarnations. I think I was pretty disappointed in that too, since that always made it a bit interesting. I'm fine with changing things up, but you really need to do it right.

    I think my favorite part of the game was the music; but, music can only improve a game so much. This shoudn't be rated higher than Explorers of Sky. All of these games are underrated, but this one is most certainly overrated. It just doesn't improve on anything at all, gets all the things great about PMD messed up in a mind-numbingly easy way.I hope the next game is better than this.    … Expand
  12. AkiMao
    Sep 14, 2016
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. As much it hurts to say but this PMD is just boring and the first Pokemon game which i didn't want to play. As nice its features are the story is just to boring and the characters act just to dull, your companion instant believes you that you'r actually a human. You just have the 5th gen pokemon and Pikachu as playable character and companion which you can choose, no, in this game you don't get questions and than a pokemon what fits you as character like in PMD1 and 2 and that's pretty boring .… Expand
  13. NemuiNeko
    May 8, 2017
    2
    Easily the weakest entry in the series. The story is shallow, and rarely feels engaging. Often you are forced to follow the pace of the game, being forced into story-elements that rarely are welcome. You are no longer able to do multiple jobs per dungeon, which makes the dungeon-crawler element even more of a grind than it already is. The addition of mini-games might seem endearing, butEasily the weakest entry in the series. The story is shallow, and rarely feels engaging. Often you are forced to follow the pace of the game, being forced into story-elements that rarely are welcome. You are no longer able to do multiple jobs per dungeon, which makes the dungeon-crawler element even more of a grind than it already is. The addition of mini-games might seem endearing, but only adds to your list of chores you have to perform, as these are neither fun or interesting. Additionally, the difficulty has been scaled down significantly and is clearly designed for a younger audience, rather than long time fans of the series or dungeon-crawlers. Giving credit where credit is due, the graphics have received an upgrade befitting the 3DS, and the colors are vivid and smooth. The game also has some much-desired features, such as being able to change leader mid-dungeon and having moves being hotkeyed for easy access. However, these features are heavily downplayed by the features that goes against the player, rather than help them. I wouldn't recommend this game to anyone but first-timers to dungeon-crawlers, who neither enjoys storyline or a challenge when playing.… Expand
  14. RustyDiamonds
    Nov 20, 2018
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity is the third entry in the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series. It was the first of the series to go 3D and, of course, be 3DS/2DS exclusive. Was it any good though?

    -------------------
    Difficulty:

    The difficulty in this game...was not even handled decently. You could argue and say that it is welcoming for new players, but the other games handle that just as well and way beyond. Most of the time, the AI is horrid and dumb, they must have forgotten to make it good. The dungeons aren't any better, especially with the crazy amounts of damage you can pull off. Play as Axew and you can roast the entire game without getting CLOSE to fainting. Stat boosts on levelling are way too overpowered compared to your watered down enemies.

    -----------------
    Graphics/Music:

    The graphics are fine. The models are nicely done for the Pokemon and buildings, the terrain is okay. This game really does have some great OST to it, the music might be the best part of this game. The only real graphical issue I take is the grainy sort of look it retains to itself.

    Unfortunately, the good graphics and great music are not accompanied by a stellar performance from the rest of the game.

    ---------------
    Narrative:

    The narrative on this game is actually pretty decent and enjoyable. I personally enjoy that they took a pretty dark route with this game, building a world that also follows said narrative fairly well. The ending is the classic, 'your character goes back to the human world' scene which transitions into you playing as your chosen partner. This leads you into a post-game dungeon that fails to impress with difficulty., unfortunately. Overall, the narrative is better than some other things in this game.

    Not to say the narrative is as great as the other PMD games preceding it, but it is alright.

    -----------------
    The Worst Parts:

    First of all, the Pokemon availability is just....bad. Only 144 out of over 500 are available to you, most of them being Gen V. This takes out the fun of finding hundreds of different partners to recruit for your journey, which was thankfully rectified by a later release. There were not nearly enough recruitable Pokemon, and legendaries like Victini were only there to tease you as shopkeepers.

    You have only 5 Pokemon to choose from to play as, and the personality quiz, one of the most fun things about PMD games, was absent. I was disappointed upon opening the game to find such a limited choice, as a long-time fan of PMD.

    While the narrative itself is good, the length is not that great, even when playing casually. WIth an annoying lack of post-game content, you probably won't even play this game for 100 hours. Which is pretty sad.

    Let's talk about random stuff. As fans will know, PMD games have randomly-generated dungeons, adding the "Mystery" part. However, this game, unfortunately, is very watered down in that matter. There are pretty obviously a pre-determined set of possibilities for each dungeon, so you will quickly memorize each layout, which is quite unfortunate.

    Lastly for this section, evolution. One of the worst things about this part of the game is that to evolve Pikachu if you chose him(you CANNOT choose gender, unfortunately) you must get past a DLC PAYWALL. THat's right, you need to pay to evolve your Pokemon in a game you already spent 40$ on. Don't use Pikachu.

    -----------------

    I will not deduct points from this game for being text-heavy. I enjoy those sorts of things, and while they may not be everybody's taste, it shows WORK was put into writing the game. Even if it is not always good dialogue, it still serves a purpose.

    -------------
    Conclusion

    PMD: Gates to Infinity is lacklustre. Most of it feels lazily put together in an attempt to make something appealing for newcomers, neglecting the long-time fans and thus degrading itself horrendously. The narrative and OST are what sort of saving this release. Sort of because the narrative is not stellar, whereas the music is great. Just give us the music, Nintendo. This game is not worth $40 for PMD fans. Maybe a newbie who has never played it before, but the lack of compelling gameplay may drive them off.    … Expand
  15. Rare289
    Dec 10, 2019
    3
    God, I can't believe I'm rating a Pokemon game this low, but I have to. I've played all the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games and this is by far the most boring and terrible of them all. For one, they tried way to hard to incorporate 3d "gimics" to this game. Another thing, they got rid of the ability to do multiple requests at once, making collecting the necessary items you need a big hassleGod, I can't believe I'm rating a Pokemon game this low, but I have to. I've played all the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games and this is by far the most boring and terrible of them all. For one, they tried way to hard to incorporate 3d "gimics" to this game. Another thing, they got rid of the ability to do multiple requests at once, making collecting the necessary items you need a big hassle and annoying to the point where the story will keep reminding you its there so that you'll choose to continue rather than farm the items you really need. The story itself it alright, but is much more childish and toned down compared to the last entries in the mystery dungeon series. Not to mention, it takes too long to actually get to the interesting parts. And the map designs, dear lord, they are horrible. There are only like 3 different map designs, so it makes the game way too easy once you figure it out. If you are wanting to get a Pokemon spin off game, don't get this. Just don't. Any of the other Pokemon mystery dungeon games, Pokemon ranger games, or even Pokemon conquest will be more enjoyable than this disaster.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

51
#51 Best 3DS Game of 2013
13
#13 Most Discussed 3DS Game of 2013
16
#16 Most Shared 3DS Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
59

Mixed or average reviews - based on 46 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 46
  2. Mixed: 28 out of 46
  3. Negative: 9 out of 46
  1. GamingXP
    Sep 16, 2013
    71
    Building the paradise up is so motivating, that you beat the dungeons over and over again, even though they are repetitive.
    Read full review
  2. The Digital Fix
    Jun 10, 2013
    50
    Unless you must play every Pokemon title you’re probably better off simply waiting for the release of X and Y later in the year.
    Read full review
  3. XGN
    Jun 9, 2013
    65
    If you like to read your way through a game this is something for you. If you don't this could be an agonising adventure. It is a cute game to keep you busy till Pokémon X and Y come into view.
    Read full review
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