Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky

 DS
User Score
9.0

Universal acclaim- based on 435 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 396 out of 435
  2. Mixed: 17 out of 435
  3. Negative: 22 out of 435
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  1. JetThePokeGuy
    Feb 21, 2021
    7
    I've got to be honest, I love no, ADORE Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky. The game is filled with interesting and compelling characters, with a surprisingly deep and open-ended story. While the story itself has a definitive ending, there are so many elements of the story that are still shrouded in mystery and hasn't been fully explored, this doesn't make the story bad but insteadI've got to be honest, I love no, ADORE Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky. The game is filled with interesting and compelling characters, with a surprisingly deep and open-ended story. While the story itself has a definitive ending, there are so many elements of the story that are still shrouded in mystery and hasn't been fully explored, this doesn't make the story bad but instead it leaves room for interpretations and theories to explain several plot holes or even explain parts of the story that were already explained thoroughly but can be connected with other parts of the story, making things so much more interesting. But the deep lore isn't the only reason the story is great, the story itself is just so well-written and so wonderful and really sad at certain points. However, this being a Pokemon game hurts more than it helps, as people are less likely to appreciate the story of a Pokemon game as unprofessional critics or people with a prejudice against Pokemon will simply dismiss the story as a basic story for kids. Of course, there are people who aren't so quick to judge, but they will most likely be turned off by the repetitive gameplay. Speaking of which, the gameplay can feel super repetitive and the dungeons being randomly generated can lead to ridiculous and irritating scenarios, dungeon floors can be insanely fast to go through or could take a millennia to traverse; not to mention, some enemies will randomly ambush you, while I'm fine with this, if one of your teammates get ambushed by an enemy, it's really annoying as every turn you move, the camera moves over to your teammate; but the game does require strategy and needs you to preserve max elixirs and restorative items and when to use items that can help you in boss battles, which is nice; oh, and one more thing, the A.I. of your teammates can be stupid at times which will could cost you a reviver seed and that's never fun. So, in conclusion, this game has a wonderful story with rich characters and deep lore, but is held back by it's repetitive gameplay and annoying quirks. If you are considering to play this game and you're a Pokemon fan, then you'll most likely like this game, it borrows a few features from the mainline series so it should feel a little familiar. If you're not a Pokemon fan, then this game might not be for you, however if you are interested then please don't dismiss this game right away, you might end up enjoying this game.… Expand
  2. Garde_Mystik
    Jun 3, 2023
    5
    Story is fine, music is spectacular, but the gameplay is complete garbage and the higher difficulty of this game forced me to cope with it. This game was more annoying than fun to play through as the sheer amount of RNG elements they had made mainline games look RNG-free and all you do is traverse through a repetitive cycle of dungeons hoping you don't get screwed over by odds. This can beStory is fine, music is spectacular, but the gameplay is complete garbage and the higher difficulty of this game forced me to cope with it. This game was more annoying than fun to play through as the sheer amount of RNG elements they had made mainline games look RNG-free and all you do is traverse through a repetitive cycle of dungeons hoping you don't get screwed over by odds. This can be made easier by grinding for items and chucking them around but it eventually feels scummy to do so, especially against bosses. I did not enjoy the Primal Dialga fight because it stomped me like 15 times over when I was itemless and I had to go though ~150 floors only to beat it by hoping the moves it used weren't Roar of Time, and I did not enjoy the Darkrai fight because I learned how items worked and used it to cheese Darkrai extremely hard, while the only alternative was either losing to Ominous Wind or hoping it would not use the move. These are just a few examples out of the whole and probably not even the worst of them, but all in all, this game caused me to dislike Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games as a whole and I completely agree with the critics.… Expand
  3. Yojimbo2015
    Jun 5, 2023
    5
    Another cutesy but simplistic arcade adventure featuring the Pokémon characters. And like most of them, it's quite pretty but pretty bland.

Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Most Discussed DS Game of 2009
3
#3 Most Shared DS Game of 2009

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
54

Mixed or average reviews - based on 26 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 26
  3. Negative: 9 out of 26
  1. Da Gameboyz
    60
    I just can't recommend Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky to anyone that has played the previous games in the series. It looks like a GBA game, and is chock full of lazy and somewhat dated gameplay.
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  2. Cheat Code Central
    60
    While Explorers of Sky would be a decent game if it were judged in a vacuum, when viewed alongside Explorers of Time / Darkness, there simply isn't enough unique, quality content to make it relevant. This is perhaps one of the worst values in gaming I've ever seen.
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  3. Gaming Age
    42
    The story isn't interesting enough to keep you involved, and the gameplay doesn't elevate past mashing attacks for combat. All together, it's a disappointing title, and not one that I suggest checking out.
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