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I just finished the story for this and im really underwhelmed. One cool part and no real difficult areas. I maybe had to restart a dungeon once or twice and never lost to any story bosses.
What happened to these games? Explorers of sky had everything, cool shit, hard shit, and some variety. This game was pretty disappointing
I got this game for Christmas and I'm quite happy with it. Is it as good as Sky? No. I mean, honestly, all this game had to do was be better than GTI and it definitely succeeded at that. I mean, PSMD actually had a reasonable length story while you could beat GTI in one sitting and I find the "catch 'em all" element far more entertaining than.... Whatever the hell you had in GTI, building Paradise or whatever?
However, one criticism I really don't get is people complaining about the low difficulty of this game relative to the old PMD games. I did a full play-through of Blue Rescue Team before getting this game (the first games were the only ones in the series I hadn't played) and had to give everyone 10 additional levels and fish for an Ice Beam TM for Absol just to beat Rayquaza. In Sky, it was the same shit vs. Primal Dialga, but instead including Dig fishing for both myself & my partner. The way I see it, the old PMD games just suddenly difficulty spiked you at the final boss on the grounds of being underleveled and honestly, these games having actual postgames are all that makes up for the lost points due to the suddenly difficulty spike. While PSMD barely has a postgame (I mean I think catching 'em all is a fun addition but I don't think it qualifies as a postgame) it for once didn't suddenly difficulty spike you at the final boss, which gives it some bonus points in my eyes considering Pokemon games have had a tendency to be particularly egregious examples of the difficulty spike trope.
39 floors, no items, only one person, no money. You can't cheese it with Djinn's Bottle. It's the ultimate test of the game, only missing the trademark 99 floor challenge.
Unless someone has since found out and I haven't seen it, Primals might actually be boss-only, as dumb as it sounds. I've tried a variety of things but Awakening Emera doesn't activate Primals, giving them the respective Rain's Blessing or Sun's Blessing Emera doesn't do it, and none of the special looplets appear to activate them either. I've seen no record of people successfully using them and when I asked Serebii awhile back he said that apparently nobody had been able to make it happen before either. I don't understand why they wouldn't be available for us to use since that they are in the game but given nobody else seems to have found out how to do it...yeah.
Do you remember if the Primals showed their portraits when defeated? I recall just seeing regular Groudon / Kyogre, so it's completely possible that they were meant to be boss only in the first place. I'm also surprised there's no randomized forme selection like Giratina and Kyurem or choosing ala Genesect. Unless someone can dig into the game code and see if there's a specific trigger other than boss, it's staying that way, which is saddening given how even their abilities are fully coded.
At least they're in the game. It's different for Arceus, who was at least -planned- to have multiple formes given Judgement's description, but that was left in a beta stage of the game.
@ above posters
Regarding the difficulty... Low difficulty? I've found most people have said the opposite. Past PMD games had you spamming the standard A attack in most dungeons, your item supply was more limited because you didn't have to use them often, bosses could be broken with stuff like Hunger Seeds, and if you ever got your hands on him, Kecleon.
This game necessitates that you use items, carefully manage them, and don't rush through dungeons because any attack can kill you really quickly. Sure, you have super partners early game (like the Mence), but that doesn't make it particularly easy when you go trek Magma Chamber or Destiny Tower. I'm someone who didn't use stat boosts in the game until the very end (4 dungeons left), and up until that point, I found myself slowly planning how I would tackle a floor, specific Pokemon, and what Emeras I could use. I found it to be a challenge and an enjoyable one at that.
That said, there's things that break the game. For one, stat boosts basically nullify any challenge if you grind Gold Bars and spam Mega Donuts. You can give these to a Sunkern and have Energy Ball OHKO something like Heatran due to the way stats work in this game. Emeras are very damn useful and something like Ally Reviver makes dungeons a cinch. And, imo, Satiated Looplet is by far one of the most overpowered items in a PMD game to date. Absolutely no hunger decrease except for Hunger Traps? Ability to use Ghosts to trespass dungeons, no penalty for using moves... it's great.
39 floors, no items, only one person, no money. You can't cheese it with Djinn's Bottle. It's the ultimate test of the game, only missing the trademark 99 floor challenge.
Do you remember if the Primals showed their portraits when defeated? I recall just seeing regular Groudon / Kyogre, so it's completely possible that they were meant to be boss only in the first place. I'm also surprised there's no randomized forme selection like Giratina and Kyurem or choosing ala Genesect. Unless someone can dig into the game code and see if there's a specific trigger other than boss, it's staying that way, which is saddening given how even their abilities are fully coded.
At least they're in the game. It's different for Arceus, who was at least -planned- to have multiple formes given Judgement's description, but that was left in a beta stage of the game.
@ above posters
Regarding the difficulty... Low difficulty? I've found most people have said the opposite. Past PMD games had you spamming the standard A attack in most dungeons, your item supply was more limited because you didn't have to use them often, bosses could be broken with stuff like Hunger Seeds, and if you ever got your hands on him, Kecleon.
This game necessitates that you use items, carefully manage them, and don't rush through dungeons because any attack can kill you really quickly. Sure, you have super partners early game (like the Mence), but that doesn't make it particularly easy when you go trek Magma Chamber or Destiny Tower. I'm someone who didn't use stat boosts in the game until the very end (4 dungeons left), and up until that point, I found myself slowly planning how I would tackle a floor, specific Pokemon, and what Emeras I could use. I found it to be a challenge and an enjoyable one at that.
That said, there's things that break the game. For one, stat boosts basically nullify any challenge if you grind Gold Bars and spam Mega Donuts. You can give these to a Sunkern and have Energy Ball OHKO something like Heatran due to the way stats work in this game. Emeras are very damn useful and something like Ally Reviver makes dungeons a cinch. And, imo, Satiated Looplet is by far one of the most overpowered items in a PMD game to date. Absolutely no hunger decrease except for Hunger Traps? Ability to use Ghosts to trespass dungeons, no penalty for using moves... it's great.
Can anybody give me a quick breakdown of emeras? Frankly I thought the game presented them terribly, I just brushed them off as some gimmick and swapped them with something else every time my bag got full. Beat the final boss without needing them, small ways into the postgame now and I didn't realize people used the, until I read this thread? What's good to use and why do you need them?
Close. Iirc you threw them at bosses and they could not move, and their attacks inflicted 1 HP worth of damage, essentially making boss battles incredibly easy. The small cons were basically the ability to miss a boss if thrown (though this could be circumvented by other stuff) and the difficulty in finding Hunger Seeds in the first place.
Can anybody give me a quick breakdown of emeras? Frankly I thought the game presented them terribly, I just brushed them off as some gimmick and swapped them with something else every time my bag got full. Beat the final boss without needing them, small ways into the postgame now and I didn't realize people used the, until I read this thread? What's good to use and why do you need them?
Emeras are basically necessary in later parts of the postgame if you don't want to get your ass handed to you. To equip them, you need Looplets. They serve 2 purposes:
1) As standalone items, you can use them to temporarily increase your base stats for an adventure, akin to the Oran Berry HP boost when you use it. Green Emeras raise HP, Yellow Emeras raise Attack, Red Emeras raise Defense, Light Blue Emeras raise Special Attack, Dark Blue Emeras raise Special Defense, Purple Emeras raise Speed, and the Rainbow Emera (aka Awakening) raises HP. You are going to use these if you don't have a Looplet at hand or you find repeats and you don't have to put them in the bag to utilize this effect so they don't even take up inventory space. Additionally, some Emeras stack when used, increasing their effect - the descriptions of each Emera tells you if it stacks or not.
2) Equipping them with Looplets. Looplets have slots for you to put Emeras in, ranging from 1 slot to 8 slots - Looplets with less slots can be increased with the Emera-Up Orb to attain the max number of slots at 8. Looplets have a variety of effects in dungeons that make your life easier, such as sharply raising your Attack stat (Wildfire Looplet), allowing you to gain EXP while walking (Joy Looplet), or never losing hunger (Satiated Looplet) - they effectively work like Scarves in the past games.
The Emeras you find scattered throughout dungeons are the ones you put in Looplets, right? The Pokemon that holds the Looplet gets the effects of the Emeras it has. There's a nice variety of effects when equipped and most are incredibly useful. Here's some of the best ones:
Ally Reviver - If the leader has it equipped, the partners you bring with you in your adventure will never use Reviver Seeds when they faint. You can effectively use your partners as meat shields while keeping Reviver Seeds for yourself in case of spread moves. Additionally, this is a big factor in large dungeons or boss battles where a single spread move can make your party waste Reviver Seeds in high quantities.
Trap Proof - You will never trigger traps with this equipped. The 2nd best Emera in the game if only because of the plethora of traps in dungeons stretching until the end of the postgame.
Barrage - When equipped, it allows attacks to strike more than once at the opponent, akin to Fury Swipes. With the way damage works in this game, it makes any move OHKO opposing Pokemon when the effect does happen, being very useful for spread moves or long ranged moves.
Awakening - the only rainbow Emera. This "awakens" the hidden potential of a Pokemon, triggering their Mega Evolution if they have one and it results in very heightened stats for anyone - you will probably OHKO everything you see with any move. There's a meter that gives you a select amount of moves for you to play with before you go "berserk". Going berserk makes the Pokemon with that Emera get controlled by the AI, forcing you to attack your own teammates (which can kill them easily) and even breaking down dungeon walls!
Getting Darkrai's treasure, the Air Looplet, nullifies the effect.
Power Boost X and Power Boost Y - Boosts your attack power of moves when equipped alone, and increases accuracy as well when you have them both. Both of these are basically going to be best stat boosts you can find in a dungeon, and make a huge difference when knocking out 300 HP common enemies.
Better Odds - If you use a move with the Pokemon having this Emera, and said PP is an even number, the move will be guaranteed to hit and will result in a critical hit. Similar to Barrage, this deletes opponents pretty quickly.
Follow Through - Allows you to attack 2 tiles in front of you, which is very useful if you have a Pokemon that has direct attacking moves like Dragon Claw that only have a tile range.
Distance Dodge - Like the name says, it allows you to dodge moves from far away. A blessing when dealing with stray Hydro Pumps or Discharges. It's the most useful defensive Emera.
Type Bulldozer - Moves that are not very effective or the enemy is immune to get increased damage when used against them - Iron Head is doing a lot of damage to that Bronzong. Very useful when you have a Pokemon with a bad offensive move type-wise (like Bug or Grass) as it increases their damage output exponentially.
Big Ears and Clairvoyance - Both of these Emeras have similar effects, with Big Ears allowing you to see enemies in the dungeon floor and Clairvoyance letting you see items in the dungeon floor. The former allows you to plan your route ahead and avoid dangerous groups of enemies and the latter allows you to scout for more Emeras, Kecleon shops, and potential Monster Houses.
Stair Locator - Finds the stairs for you and shows it on the map. Dungeons with shitty layouts (like many narrow hallways and small rooms) become very easy with this Emera. If you find it, you're going to thank yourself for not spending 2 hours on something like Zygarde's dungeon.
There's many more that are really solid (such as inducing status effects like sleep or petrify when you attack or are attacked) and showcase their usefulness well. They are SPMD's most defining gimmick for good reason.
Do you remember if the Primals showed their portraits when defeated? I recall just seeing regular Groudon / Kyogre, so it's completely possible that they were meant to be boss only in the first place. I'm also surprised there's no randomized forme selection like Giratina and Kyurem or choosing ala Genesect. Unless someone can dig into the game code and see if there's a specific trigger other than boss, it's staying that way, which is saddening given how even their abilities are fully coded.
At least they're in the game. It's different for Arceus, who was at least -planned- to have multiple formes given Judgement's description, but that was left in a beta stage of the game.
I'm pretty sure they had their regular portraits (both Rayquaza and Mewtwo also had their regular portraits when defeated as well), though they definitely had the Primal portraits shown when in the little blurb that tells you what the Pokemon you're facing is.
For reference:
It's definitely disappointing at any rate, given we can use nearly everything else, form changes, Mega Evolutions and all.
Also yeah regarding Emeras, I actually ended up liking them more than the IQ system personally, surprisingly enough (if only slightly). While Explorers definitely stepped things up by adding more IQ skills and introducing IQ groups (which I loved), it was unnecessarily grindy. It also made it obnoxious if you ever wanted to bring out a new group of Pokemon to train up since you'd be stuck stuffing Gummis like no tomorrow every time, whereas at least move leveling here (which is arguably just as grindy) carries over to all Pokemon with said move. I actually love the IQ system too, but Emeras made things more like a traditional rogue-like by rewarding you for exploring a bit and not rushing the stairs every time while gradually powering yourself up and giving you a sense of direct progression each time you go through a dungeon. While some combinations are undoubtedly broken (Petrify Power + Barrage with room-hitting moves) and Ally Reviver makes even the most difficult bosses more manageable, the game still manages to maintain a higher degree of difficulty than past PMD games* that eats you alive if you're not careful. Definitely one of my favorite Mystery Dungeon gimmicks.
*On a side note, I actually found Etrian Mystery Dungeon, a MD game for a series notorious for brutalizing you at every corner and making you regret every poor decision ever, to be somewhat comparable in difficulty to this game. In fairness EMD is way easier than regular Etrian Odyssey but I definitely wouldn't make this comparison for past PMD games, even if dungeons like Sky Tower and Temporal Tower can be awful the first time around.
That is the only massive difficulty spike you'll encounter in the main story so don't worry about any more of that lol
I just finished something really cool. Earlier today I decided to tackle Destiny Tower with just my fave mon, Chandelure, and finished it. Motivated I decided to tackle Sacred Ruins once more. This happened:
Couldn't set a world record sadly, but it's the closest to it. 3 floors away from completing the hardest dungeon in the game with the lowest level possible. Got OHKOed by a Claydol Psybeam, and sadly no Reviver Seeds found. I'm not bummed about this as I expected to die on like floor 10 but here it is lol. This is a challenge I can absolutely set my eyes on to complete so it adds to the replay value =]
It adds to the game's main premise - you and your partner are only kids, so you have "adults" looking after you when you go into dungeons. Right now in the game, you're definitely going to need them if you want to tackle dungeons in other continents besides Water Continent. It's not as lopsided as it looks due to a lot of story quests restricting their use anyways.
I do sorta dislike the emphasis on not using your starter though. Like in Sky (because everything has to be a comparison to the one glorious achievement) there were plenty of reasons to do it: they already have IQ and good levels, evolved forms are actually good, some of the starters are actually good for level 1 dungeons. Now the emphasis is more on building connections, but it kinda detracts from weak little Riolu and Froakie even after they saved the world. It's not just a "Sky did this and I like it more", I feel like the detraction from starters is something bad and Sky was just an example of them not doing it despite ez legendaries available for use.
Then again, level 50 Mence is fucking sweet.
Hey Adamant Zoroark ! I got this game for Christmas too! I recently beat the main story and an important part of the epilogue (Trying to not spoil things). I love how I got Machamp as a reward for Bronze rank, and I'm currently spending my postgame gathering connections and money and stuff. I haven't recruited much legendaries yet. But yeah, I'll keep you guys posted when stuff happens!
I got this game shortly after release and I loved it. While the RNG did feel as bad as Thracia 776, it actually turns out that Speed affects accuracy in this game
Been playing this on and off since I got it back when it came out in US and currently at Ace Rank. Just beat Dragon Gate challenge despite being really ill-prepared, but the music was fun. Contemplating on at least trying to get the max rank possible, but that may be awhile given my pace.
Why does Nintendo constantly put DS games on the Wii-U virtual console and not on the 3DS where I can play this game mobile like you were able to do before damn.
Why does Nintendo constantly put DS games on the Wii-U virtual console and not on the 3DS where I can play this game mobile like you were able to do before damn.
If I remember correctly, it has to do with something about how the 3DS handles emulation for GBA. I don't know the exact technical workings, but GBA emulation on the 3DS is difficult for them. Sounds like a bunch of horse, but I'm no rocket scientist so who knows how it works.
As for DS.... you can already play regular DS games on the 3DS. Why bother putting the effort to emulate them for the VC when you can just get a cart and stick it in? Besides for the few DS games that are expensive, there's no real point.
When the GBA Ambassador games came out, they used the DS mode's backwards compatibility. So sleep mode didn't work, meaning no StreetPass among other things.
When the GBA Ambassador games came out, they used the DS mode's backwards compatibility. So sleep mode didn't work, meaning no StreetPass among other things.
I don't care about that man, I just want the actual games. I'm not going to buy a Mystery Dungeon game on the Wii-U because I never sit down/at my home while playing Mystery Dungeon. :(
I don't care about that man, I just want the actual games. I'm not going to buy a Mystery Dungeon game on the Wii-U because I never sit down/at my home while playing Mystery Dungeon. :(
Just download an emulator on your phone or on your computer and play it there while possibly speeding up some moments via Fast Forward.
I've done it a bunch of times for various games, which is why I'm sort of wondering the point in buying it on the Wii U virtual play, cause it's free and easier to play on with a CPU cause of the save slots and fast forward.
You know, I looked through nearly all of this forum and I don't know if I may have missed anyone talk about it but...
Fighting Mewtwo is a living hell. It kinda gave me horrible flashbacks to the days of trying to catch the fucker in RB, but somehow this battle ended up being much worse than I could imagine not just because it knows Recover (which was a stupid decision to give it that), but the mere fact that they decided to allow it to Mega-Evolve and get all its HP back...
This was before I knew about the Shedinja and Sableye/Spiritomb cheese, btw.
You know, I looked through nearly all of this forum and I don't know if I may have missed anyone talk about it but...
Fighting Mewtwo is a living hell. It kinda gave me horrible flashbacks to the days of trying to catch the fucker in RB, but somehow this battle ended up being much worse than I could imagine not just because it knows Recover (which was a stupid decision to give it that), but the mere fact that they decided to allow it to Mega-Evolve and get all its HP back...
This was before I knew about the Shedinja and Sableye/Spiritomb cheese, btw.
We talked about it but it's prob lost in the myriad of posts / points.
If you don't want to specifically wall it with those two mons (who can't prevent Recover), just use Heal Block to prevent it from healing or use a Ban Seed (either by throwing it at Mewtwo after it uses Recover once or you yourself using Recover and eating the seed). Iirc they persist after the mega evo.
Otherwise you really have to suck it up and waste Recover PP which is just a losing battle lol.
