Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX

If you're on the fence about Mystery Dungeon, don't be - let this bundle of cuteness be your gateway into the world of grids, numbers, and menus. I've been in love with them for well over a decade at this point, and if there's any game that I could use to sell someone on them, this would be it.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX will be one of Nintendo's most niche titles of 2020. With that being said, I fall squarely into the Venn diagram that makes the target demographic for this game, so I loved every second of it. As a fan of Pokémon, Mystery Dungeon roguelikes, and whimsical, light-hearted, and wholesome art styles, Rescue Team DX clicked with me on every level.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX is a top-notch example of what Mystery Dungeon games are capable of. Once you pick it up, it's hard to put it down and with dozens of hours of challenging fun; it's definitely worth adding to your game library.

All told, even with the quirky middling difficulty making this one hard to write home about, I still think Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX is a fun game to play through. The postgame can be somewhat monotonous, but the main story keeps things going. Seriously, the plot is simple, but the dialogue between all of these Pokémon makes for a great experience. The mix of mature themes — life and death, protection and abandonment — with the childlike wonder of all things Pokémon keep the mind focused on the purpose of the quest, even when the quest itself is a heavy strain (or a simple frolic) for some players. If you’ve yet to try Mystery Dungeon games but want a better understanding, this might be a great starting place! If you’ve played other Pokémon Mystery Dungeon entries and appreciated their balance of challenge and storytelling, you’re likely to enjoy this remake of the one that started it all.

I'm reticent to recommend this experience to anyone who hasn't already explored a few other Mystery Dungeons in the past. [Issue #46 – May/June 2020, p. 64]

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX is a difficult game to recommend. That’s not to say it’s bad by any stretch of the imagination — it’s an excellent game, just like its predecessors on the GBA and DS — but Mystery Dungeon games tend to be incredibly hit and miss. You either love the genre or you hate it. If you love it, there’s a lot of joy to be had here, especially if you played Red or Blue Rescue Team. If you don’t love it, there’s not a lot here that makes it worth playing, short of it being a cute little game about adorable Pokémon. More than anything though, Rescue Team DX is a textbook example of both what to do and what not to do in a remake, in a balancing act that lands more often than it falls.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon’s atmosphere is faithful to the series, and your favorite critters are as cute as ever. The visuals will remind you of the picture books from your childhood, creating a sweet and lovely experience. While gameplay-wise there may be few new surprises, this remake is a great entry point in the spinoff series for anyone.

A great dungeon crawler with unforgettable characters. If only all the game mechanics could have been updated to suit the present instead of the past.

No matter when you are reading this review, Rescue Team DX is a title that you cannot miss in your Nintendo Switch library. Any fan of Pokemon, or even those who love strategy RPGs, can enter this beautiful world, a complex and patient game that makes us experts in one dungeon at a time.

Is it still repetitive and dated in some ways? Yes. Is it still charming, addictive, and fun? Heck yes. And with the new art style and improved soundtrack, this game, while not the best Pokemon game out there, still shines.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX is a delightful update to a classic, and just the kick in the pants the series needed. It’s a return to what made the spinoff so beloved in the first place, from the emotional story to the difficult resource management and boss fights. With a gorgeous watercolor art style, the world of Pokémon has never looked better.

Whether playing for the first time or revisiting once again, Rescue Team DX delivers an amazing adventure that doesn’t end after the story has been beaten. The difficulty is right in the perfect spot that’s satisfying to overcome challenges, while being random and wild enough at times that some help might be needed. The art style and music making it worth hunkering down in one area to admire the surroundings, while each new area offers brand new surroundings to never get bored of. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX is on par with if not superior to the original in many ways, and offers the perfect kind of journey for players looking for the latest adventure in the world of Pokémon.

Still the same dungeon-crawling RPG comfort food I remember from the DS version. However, the added systems change its core audience to include players of all ages, which make it the perfect entry point to the genre. Every moment of gameplay is met with a reward and the present game loop creates a substantial reason to return to dungeons countless times, across dozens of missions. While the remake doesn’t do too much in terms of changing the core formula of what the series is, there’s enough here to warrant an additional playthrough.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX is a stunning remake of the original Rescue Team games which ceaselessly captures their magic and emotion. While some fan-favourite gameplay elements have been lost, and the game feels much more forgiving than it arguably should be, it is faithful to the source material and is a nostalgic return to the humble beginnings of Pokémon's longest-running spinoff series. Worth picking up for both returning and new adventurers alike.

Whether or not you're an old-school Mystery Dungeon aficionado or a total newcomer to the long-derelict spin-off series doesn't necessarily matter: Mystery Dungeon on Switch improves upon the originals with some valuable quality-of-life tweaks, making it a worthwhile play regardless of your familiarity with the series. It features a distinct combat system that provides an intriguing alternative to the mainline Pokemon formula with tile-based strategizing, humanizes the Pokemon you've fallen in love with over the years, tells a riveting and emotional story that will make you view the franchise in a totally different light, and does so with a stylish suite of visuals and music.

Let’s cut the 'Karp. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX is a delight that franchise fans will love, beautifully remastered for the Nintendo Switch. The gameplay might be repetitive, but it features a tale that will tug on your heartstrings and leave you feeling warm and fuzzy. So give the demo a try to see if you want to Ponyta up the cash, but it'll be well worth it as you watch the cute little wiggles, live through the heart-warming story, and savour the goregous watercolours that feels like you have your own Smeargle jamming your eyes full of art.

It may see us return to an adventure that many will have first set out on nearly 15 years ago, but Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX is yet another remake with the right approach. Modernised for a new generation and a worthwhile upgrade for those setting up their Rescue Team Base for a second time, it offers an enjoyable team-bonding adventure for those looking for a different pocket monster experience on the plucky portable home console.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX is a good remake which successfully updates the same old formula with charming visuals, QoL adjustments and some new content.

Pokémon Mistery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX brings back the dungeon-crawler, roguelike type of gameplay of this series, with a new and charming presentation and lost of improvements, although some of the biggest problems of the original game remains. If you've didn't play the original, this a great chance to do it.

Though still imperfect, Mystery Dungeon more than makes up for its stumblings through one of the most sweet-hearted stories in the Pokemon franchise, backed by a solid dungeoneering system and a gorgeous aesthetic. If all Pokemon games were as forward-thinking and adventurous as this one, who knows what the franchise could be by now?

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX is going to end up surprising a lot of people. Once you get past the initial few hours, it becomes clear why the series has sustained such a fan-base over a long period of time. Although it has its share of annoying faults, the entertaining story, the huge amount of content to complete, and the fun, simplistic gameplay makes it a great choice for Pokemon fans and dungeon-crawler fans alike.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX is exactly what it should be: a true, solid remake to the GBA/DS classics. It’s been refreshed by a charming art style, animations and overall feeling and controls, but one might want a slightly more ambitious approach to endgame, controls and extras.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX brings new life to the original games, confirming it as a good entry point into the world of dungeon crawlers for a generation of young adventurers.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX is a good remake that arrives perfectly adapted to Nintendo Switch, redesigning its UI and improving some mechanics. It offers a visual change that feels great. If you liked the original game, you will love this remake, and if you didn't have the opportunity to play it, now is a good time to do it.

Fine to fill time or bring existing pokemon fans to other styles of games, but not for much more.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red/Blue Rescue Team was an amazing game, stuffed full of content to keep the player going for hundreds of hours that kept many kids entertained for many a car trip. With Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX, Nintendo throws a fresh coat of paint on it and streamlines some of the menu searching. Nintendo was able to put a great title on the Nintendo Switch and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX helps bring longtime fans, who had felt isolated and betrayed by previous Pokemon titles to hit the Switch thus far, back to the console. Hopefully the Pokemon Company can keep moving in this right direction.

An addictive dungeon crawler with typical Pokémon charm, but which takes some time to unfold.

We hope this is a new beginning for Mystery Dungeon: a stylistic starting point on which to build future titles, which will have to add some more playful variation to the mix to be able to speak to a wider audience, in addition to the limited circle of fans who obviously they won't let them get away.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX has far exceeded our expectations. The series is coming back, but reimagining itself to adopt some mechanics and quality of life details than improve significantly the experience overall. Despite its flaws, a mediocre IA and some limitations, such as no coop online, sounds like a lost opportunity that we hope we will see in a future brand new entry. In the meantime, this is probably the best entry since Explorers; and that is very good news.