#Late starter is late Dx

[bombmate]

@streetwisetemptress

Dr Jamison Fawkens Junkenstein entered the bar covering his mouth to hide a yawn. Although he didn't have many patients in StoryBrook. He stayed up late into the afternoon studying for is research. As soon as he closed the office he went straight to the Rabbit Hole. Having a few drinks at night was always good for his body.

Besides the environment and company he was always lively. That place was one of the few entertainments he had in that peaceful city.

"Evening Miss Esme. Much confusion already or is everything quiet tonight?"

[hervygervy]

I’ve got a little, lighthearted rant but it feels wrong to post a rant that relates to a piece of media without including an image… so here’s a meme related to the walls of text under the cut below. Enjoy.

Well… now that I’ve finished up the Blueberry Pokédex for the Indigo Disk and participated in some of the current online events for Scarlet/Violet, I’ve been thinking. Pokémon spin-offs are kind of in a weird place, aren’t they?

Lately spin-offs have amounted to free to play mobile games. Like Pokémon Cafe Remix. Or Pokémon Masters. Sheesh they won’t shut up about those two in Pokémon Presents. We also had stuff like Pokémon Quest which died like instantly. Or Pokémon Unite which is still going strong, it seems. Heck, I was REALLY into Unite for its first year.

But like there used to be a whole slew of spin-offs before the mobile era. Especially during the Wii and DS’s lifespan. The Ranger games, the Poképark games, the game of all time that is Pokémon Dash, the underrated gem that is Pokémon Conquest, and most importantly, the Mystery Dungeon series.

So I wrote out this big rant because to be frank, I’ve been wishing for a new Mystery Dungeon game for years now. I’ve played every game in the series minus those Japan only Wii Ware games. I waited for that seventh generation installment of PMD to come and we got a remake of the first game instead. Don’t get me wrong, I love Rescue Team DX. But as I thought about it more, I realized it was rather odd that I wished for a new installment so much, considering I’m mixed on the vast majority of the franchise. I won’t go into detail on that front since I’m sure the internet doesn’t want to hear my terrible opinions. Regardless, I’ve learned that my favorite parts of these games are those postgame dungeons where you crawl through unforgiving 50+ floors only to be pitted against a souped up legendary at the very end, rather than the main game itself.

Despite my weird thoughts of the series, I kinda want to go back to what spin-offs used to be. Just a bunch of weird games with Pokémon slapped on it. Less of the basic mobile titles. I keep hope with the existence of New Pokémon Snap. Man do I love that game. Spent an embarrassing amount of hours on it. More importantly, I want to return to Mystery Dungeon. There are three whole generations a new title would have to catch up on. So many possibilities for locations or characters for a new narrative, and of course it would have to have the largest roster of starters for the player because I said so and that would be funny. On that note, perhaps I only devised this rant because I want to play as Popplio while wandering the randomized dungeons.

[andie-cake]

HELLO lately I've been looking into getting into Pokemon Mystery Dungeon and I wanted to know what games you'd recommend. Specifically games for the Nintendo Switch and 3DS. I know you like PMD and you're a generally cool person, so I figured you'd be the perfect person to ask!

indi!!!! yes, you've come to the right place, and i will do my best!!

okay, so first of all i'd like to say that all but a very select few pre-3ds pmd games are on ds, so you should be able to play those if you so desire. but i'll only go into those if you ask.

but anyway, there's two 3ds pmd games, and one switch pmd. gates to infinity and super mystery dungeon on 3ds, and rescue team dx on switch. the 3d era of pmd tends to be a bit controversial among fans, but i personally do not hate any of them. i have problems with some of them, but i generally enjoy all 3 of the post-ds era games. putting these under a cut bc man this post got long.

gates to infinity is famously known as one of, if not the easiest game in the series. it overhauls or removes a few staple pmd features, like removing the hunger mechanic barring a few post-game dungeons i think, replacing iq skills with team skills, removing the traditional personality quiz at the beginning of the game that decides which pokémon you play as (on top of having a very limited starter mon pool, only 5), and only letting you take one mission at a time. there are some other gameplay changes that makes gates divisive, but those are the big ones that come to mind. i'm a weirdo who for the most part doesn't mind these changes, but i can see why they'd be off-putting to some. i personally find gates to be very relaxing to play!

but, imo, it might be tied with explorers of sky for my favorite story and cast of characters in the series. even if you don't end up vibing with the gameplay that much, it is absolutely worth playing for the story. also, the 3ds games have the best music imo, and in gates it'll hit you as soon as the first dungeon. ragged mountain my beloved. overall, i can give gates a cautious recommendation as your first pmd. it's a pretty easy game (tho it's not without challenge, there's a handful of dungeons that give me some shit later in the game) with a great story, but whether or not you enjoy the gameplay is fully up to you.

super mystery dungeon is, without a doubt, the hardest game in the series. i'll say right now that it's hard enough for me to not recommend it as your first pmd. one thing i didn't mention is that gates introduced the move leveling system, which means that your moves will gain experience the more you use them and they'll gain more power, pp, and accuracy as they level. in super, i swear the move accuracy was lowered compared to gates, so a word of advice? make smart use of items. this is the game that introduced the wand items, and they are basically mandatory for Not Dying. also, you get less experience from defeating enemies and because of the way this game's mission system works (which is prolly better explained by the game itself than i could do), you're not allowed to stop and level-grind before taking on the next story mission like in other pmds. in most pmd games, your level will be around the late 30's-early-to-mid 40's by the end of the main story. both times i've beaten super, i was around level 25. you'll need items.

super has a lot of stuff i like! move accuracy aside, i think the gameplay has been polished up a bit from gates, i like most of the characters (except vice principal watchog, who can go suck a lemon), and the music is once again god tier. also, it brings back the personality quiz at the beginning of the game, with the added bonus of letting you decline what the quiz assigns you and pick your player mon yourself without having to soft-reset the game. but it also does a lot of stuff that drives me absolutely bananas. i have quite a few gripes with this game's story, chief among them being the pacing. without spoiling anything, this game's plot takes forever to get going, and early on there are several occasions where you'll get out of a cutscene, walk like three steps, and then get thrown right into another cutscene. it can be a little irritating. i wouldn't say i hate the story overall, but i don't love it as much as gates' story. like i said, i don't recommend super as your first pmd. it's a good game, but it is tough. maybe play through a few other pmds before tackling this one.

rescue team dx is a switch remake of the original pmd games (red rescue team and blue rescue team), and if gates isn't the easiest in the series, it'd be this one. og rescue team, i think, is probably the second most difficult in the series behind super. rtdx is a bit more beginner friendly, and gameplay-wise, it is probably my favorite of the 3ds games. it polishes up what worked in gates and super, brings back/streamlines the more traditional mission style from og rescue team and explorers, and pairs it up with a spiffy new art style inspired by the promotional illustrations from og rescue team (some folks don't dig rtdx's graphics, but i think they're incredibly charming). also, just like og rescue team, rtdx only goes up to gen 3 in terms of mon availability, but mons who've gained evolutions since then can still evolve into their post gen 3 evos. so like, tangela can evolve into tangrowth, magneton can evolve into magnezone, and eevee can evolve into leafeon, glaceon, and sylveon. also the riolu line is there. (this game was released in 2020 tho, so no dudunsparce or farigiraf)

rtdx only really has two major weak points imo. one, the story is maintained from og rescue team with almost no changes, and rescue team's story is very much a "and then this happened" kinda plot, y'know? it's not egregiously bad, it's just an underwhelming plot with very few stand-out characters. second, the game has some minor frame-rate issues and a few notable bugs (main one that springs to mind is that if you change leaders a lot in the game's longer dungeons like buried relic or silver trench, the game will crash, but the game has a super generous autosave feature that kinda makes this a non-issue). overall, i think out of the 3d era of pmd, rtdx is the one i'd most recommend for a beginner! there's a free demo on the switch eshop that you can test out the game with, and i believe you can transfer your progress from the demo to the full game if you wanna keep the team you used in the demo! also, a few tips from someone whose beaten rtdx a few times!

first time the game lets you go to pokémon square, go south to the makuhita dojo and play through the "tricks of the trade" tutorials. it'll help you get more accustomed to the controls and mechanics, and you get some handy items!

you 100% don't have to follow this one, but be forewarned that all but the main story dungeons and bosses tend to be a bit tough for the grass type starter options. they come packing egg moves that help circumvent this a bit (chikorita in particular starts off with ancient power and can learn light screen later on, which is a godsend for the final boss), so it's not as bad as it was in og rescue team. buuuut unless you wanna give yourself an extra challenge, i wouldn't recommend starting off with a grass type on your first playthrough.

[eyesofparoxysm-a]

↕ :[{  @stellamedii​  }]: ↕

The small feline looks down at the map they have sprawled in front of them. They were given a task by the Master but it seems that they were terrible at reading maps! Huffing a few times as they tap the parchment a few times. Should of given them clearer directions! 

[duckbuttsurvivor]

{ @kusunokihime​ liked for a short starter }

     There was no shortage of work to do, there never was in the world of shinobi. It wasn’t like he didn’t like helping others, no quite the opposite. Sasuke was surprised himself when he found saving lives was more fulfilling than he hoped for. 

     But the Uchiha was exhausted he couldn’t remember how many hours he’d been working he lost track a long while ago.  

[konjouki-archive]

@wulfriic || Starter call

❝   WATCH OUT, BUDDY!   ❞ Rin yelled as ran past a white hair stranger to the monster in front of then. With his sword out Rin quickly sliced the arm that the monster had extended toward the stranger. The half-demon turned back to look at the monster with a worried expression as he quickly noticed that the monster wasn’t one of the normal ones he’s encountered. ❝   What is that? Whatever it’s a monster right dude? I didn’t just slice up your pet or something   ❞ Rin asked as he hoped he was right in assuming it was a monster. Then again people have strange pets. Like spiders. 

[chendetroit]

"Officer Chen. Why are you looking through my desk?" His voice is like ice, cold. Lucifer seems to suddenly appear behind her, eyes seeming to dig into her back while he waits for an answer. -Lucifer, RK900

unprompted : @vexeddetective

   He was like a damn omen of death, exuding a presence well fit for his namesake while his voice cuts through the Officer’s concentration like a knife. She had only been... browsing. She had been grabbing the usual stack of files at his desk before curiosity got the better of her, wanting to see what other kind of things the new, untouchable android might keep around his station; oh how she wished it hadn’t. “Fucking hell-!” Tina jolts, heart slamming in her chest from the sudden apparition behind her, clutching over hir shirt like she could calm it down by force. “Don’t just- You can’t sneak up on people like that, fuck-” She’d already been tense, trying to get through her snooping before she was caught, so the fact that she had been and by Lucifer, with his icy tone and burning glare, had sent her nearly in the air like some skittish cat. 

   “I was just- Fowler wanted me to grab everyone’s finished reports....file ‘em.” She breathes like she’s a little winded, turning to look at the android with surprise but also an incredulous glare, like she was offended he had scared her. Tina doesn’t mention that she was snooping, too, just reaches over to grab the pile of papers she had collected and jabs, “Seriously they should’ve built you to come with a fucking bell.” 

[oaksongs]

@rawnderer liked for a starter.

“They say you’re the hunter around here,” Takumi eyed the boy in front of him up and down, taking note of his bow and an animal familiar. After joining Alfonse and the others at the Halidom to assist Prince Euden, he hadn’t exactly found his place yet within the castle. Though he had helped with pushing back the Dyrenell Empire, of course, he didn’t feel like it was enough. He was brought here for some purpose, and he intended to find out what that was--and he couldn’t just stay in someone else’s castle for free, of course.

Hunting for food was something he was exceptional at, though he didn’t know exactly how hunting worked in this new land of Alberia. Cleo had suggested he seek out a boy named Rawn to accompany him.

Takumi bowed in greeting and then crossed his arms. “My name is Takumi, and let’s just say I’m a hunter too. But I don’t really know any of the game around these parts, so I was wondering if you could help me?”

[uindomasutac]

@pichipurinsesu ♥ FOR A STARTER

“ Don’t you want to TRY on this dress instead? I made it myself. Fresh and minty. Trust me its very conformable for a princess~” 

[wayfiind-a-blog]

@heartsguide​ // starter call !

This... was not where she had meant to end up.

Looking around, Aqua took a moment to admire the seemingly peaceful town she found herself in. Certainly seemed like a pleasant enough hub world. But how had she ended up here ? It was a question with no answer she would have to ponder later, she reasoned. Whatever the method, she must have ended up here for a reason. Even so, being utterly lost was disconcerting...

Just her luck it was then that she spotted another young woman not far off who seemed to bear a great deal less confusion as she moved through the town. Crossing the cobbled streets in her direction, Aqua offered a friendly wave as she approached.

“ Excuse me ? ” She stopped a polite distance away. “ I'm sorry but I think I may be a bit lost. I don’t suppose you could give me some directions ? ”

[kanewhelan]

Sloppy || Kane&Ben

@lone-wolfben​​​

He had been careless. Overcame by the affect of the storm, Kane had allowed the wolf in him to take over and acted as it please. The taste and smell of dried blood was so pungent that he knew it will take hours for him to get rid of. He was slowly walking, staggering even, when his body bumped against a nearby trunk. He could hear the water fall as he slid down, teeth gritting at the discomfort on his back. He threw a glance back, noting only the rips near the top before leaning back. There was some hazy recollections of the fights, mostly with the supers but there were the worthless humans with the silver blade that did a bit of damage. 

Too careless of him.

Frowning at the lingering taste in his mouth, he spit to the side, eyes looking down to find blood caking the insides of his nails. With a growl, he ripped the already half torn tie away from his neck, tossing it to the side before closing his eyes. It wasn’t too long before he caught the smell of something else in the midst of the metallic scent and he reached out, grabbing the person close before opening his eyes. “What are ye doin’?” 

[onceinkedstained-blog]

@penandpitchfork

After having been sent by Joey to look for Bendy 10 minutes ago, the animator was growing a bit tired of his search as he had come up empty-handed wherever he had looked. And he looked everywhere except one place..

“Bendy, if yer gettin’ into those moon pies again...”

Grumbles the animator, making his way into the break room, looking around for the little demon.

[the-elder-beato]

explorers of sky is 98% perfect by itself but lately i’ve been brainstorming some improvements that a rescue team DX-type remake could add to the experience, feel free to add more

Spinda’s cafe rework that incorporates rainbow and DX gummis from DX

The above is with the assumption that a potential explorers remake would include the sky-exclusive content but you never know, so yknow hopefully spinda’s cafe, the special episodes, and shaymin village make it in

No genderlocked starters or partners, retention of gender neutral pronouns for the player and partner from sky

A reminder about any unfinished missions left on the floor when stepping on the stairs to the next floor

Shortcut system between sharpedo bluff and the crossroads similar to the diglett holes in DX

Being able to take more than 8 missions at a time

Aegis cave rework to make it less frustrating and tedious, especially on repeat visits to recruit the Regis

Whoever composed the remixed OST for DX absolutely needs to come back for an explorers remake because goddamn they knew what they were doing

Similar team-building structure from DX where you can compose and save teams at will

Similar accessibility to team member’s stats/ability to feed gummis and stat up drinks in one large menu/ability to rename team members at any time

Ability to change the active leader in a dungeon, preferably during the story mode like in DX

Evolution stones like in DX to simplify the evolution process for pokemon that would otherwise need items to evolve

EXP gain for all team members even if they are not currently being played

Auto-opening of treasure chests at the end of dungeons to help reduce clutter. This would pretty much leave Xatu’s shop useless but like.. is that really a big loss lmao

Species-exclusive items from the treasure chests stay with the caveat of having a separate storage area for them with croagunk to reduce kangaskhan storage clutter

Very odd that this was retained in DX, but would prefer the ability to send back recruited members to the guild at will like in the original explorers titles

The last few of these are personal wishes that will probably not come to pass but regardless: no 3D models for the Pokemon, it would be amazing if we could retain the pixel art with dynamic lighting and a cool style ala Octopath Traveler

Non-Unity engine to increase optimization and maintain a consistent fps

Ability to decorate Sharpedo Bluff in some manner in the post game, kind of like secret base decorating from hoenn and sinnoh

And lastly, this one is entirely for my dear completionist friend: some kind of stamp in the Pokemon recruit list if they manage to complete destiny tower

[quartings]

For the first time in over 4 years, I'm not heartbroken at Pokemon.

People are 100% allowed to hate things though- I'm not gonna call anyone "entitled" for being mad about how condescending Gamefreak has been to children recently, or selling SwSh with half the content for 50% more money. But as for my thoughts on the games themselves...

Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl

The chibi style is a bit much but I don't hate it. I just hope they fix up the lighting a little bit. After all the stress I was having about how'd they'd adapt Sinnoh's grid maps, HMs, and even the DS bottom screen, I'm actually happy to see what is essentially a remaster as opposed to a Gamefreak-mandated remake.

But the most important question remains: Why should I play this instead of Platinum, one of the best Pokemon games ever?

I feel like people don't talk enough about how amazing of a remake Mystery Dungeon DX was- QOL updates, more dungeons, and cross-gen evolutions. Unlike what Gamefreak did with ORAS, Chunsoft took the original games and added more good things without removing other good things.

So I hope ILCA knows how important it is to have the Platinum dex expansion, boss teams, and BATTLE FRONTIER!!

Legends: Arceus

Wow. They finally figured out how to make a Switch game! Between this and Crown Tundra, I have a lot more confidence in how Gen 9 is gonna look and play now- especially since they're not doing annual releases anymore! I'm so glad they're outsourcing remakes to other studios so they can have more time and freedom to make newer, bolder projects! *Cries* I'm so happy we're back to 4-year gens...

I'm gonna paraphrase Shofu and say- the garbage framerate doesn't matter for now, don't worry. We don't even know if Ancient Sinnoh is gonna be Wild Area bland or Expansion Pass pretty!

The starter choice is kinda funky- unless they have snazzy new forms, I'm probably gonna ditch them for a Sinnoh starter the earliest chance I get, sorry. I love them all design-wise, but Cyndaquil is the only one I didn't feel was underpowered when using them in the past.

Most importantly- There's no box art for this game yet- we could very well get a new Arceus form! Especially since Mewtwo, Groudon, Kyogre, Rayquaza, Zygarde, Necrozma, and most of the Galar Legends have beaten its stat total. And even if it's still regular Arceus on the boxart, it could still have a secret form, like Necrozma, Zacian, and Zamazenta.

It'll also be awesome to see if this is the exact moment we see Regigigas get bound and sealed in Snowpoint temple!

Extra thoughts:

But yeah! I think it could be really cool to get a fully-polished Gen 9 debut game with an expansion pass, have an outsourced Black and White remake, and then a sparkling-clear BW premake or B3W3!

I think the manga arc for Sinnoh remakes will be called Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, but they'll mostly cover Arceus Legends content, be it through flashbacks or time travel.

I wonder if we'll get a big spinoff game to satisfy the late 2022 release slot!

[chenyounot-moved]

↨ - [ you choose the muse ]

Personal starters!

↨ - for my muse to goof off with your muse 

She groans in pain as her back hits the mat for the umpteenth time, choosing to remain spread out across it as she feels sorry for herself. “Remind me again why I thought it was a good idea to start this? I wish I’d gone first now.” Tina winges, staring up at the blonde.

The officer had decided she wanted to spend more time with the RK1000, learn about a few things that interested her. So when Caine suggested sparring with her, Tina took the opportunity eagerly. But as she lay there, sweating and bruised, she was beginning to have her doubts on her brilliant idea. 

“Damn… combat… protocols..” She grumbles as she pushes herself up into a seating position, before rising back into a defensive stance. “You having fun throwing me around?” She offers sarcastically, an easy smile playing on her lips. 

@replicantdeviancy

[chendetroit]

200 word prompts : @nxwrxcrxit

“I’m so confused. I don’t know what’s happening right now.”

   “I’m... Darling, I’m asking you out.” Tina deadpans, a worried look passing across her features as she starts to realise that maybe she had read things wrong between them. The two officers had been good friends for a while and it was no surprise to anyone in the precinct that Tina was more than attracted to the man...except for maybe Darling himself, which was currently blowing her mind. “You can just say no, it’s no big deal. I’m not going to force you or anything.” She tries a laugh, giving him the option to back out that she decided he was clearly looking for.