There are a lot of good things and a lot of bad things about the newest addition to the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series. I know a lot of people generally don't like the mystery dungeon games, but I think they deserve a little attention. It's my favorite spin-off series from the main games. Maybe I'm just biased, but I'm going to breakdown the game by its good and bad aspects. (Warning: there may be some spoilers in the following content.)
One of the most obvious things to love about Super Mystery Dungeon is the graphics. The graphics definitely became more advanced with the introduction of Gates to Infinity, but Super Mystery Dungeon really defines what a good cut scene really is: especially in 3D.
Another nice thing about the game is the storyline. The creators made a new game, independent of Gates to Infinity, while making a reference to the Gates storyline. The final boss is very similar to the one from Gates to Infinity, and anyone who played Gates should remember why. Another interesting thing about Super Mystery Dungeon is that the game makes ties to the prior games in terms of characters, not just storyline. I haven't found all of the characters - I'm sure - but I've found Rampardos, Swanna, and Cinccino from Gates, and Skuntank and Corphish from Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky. There is certainly a sense of nostalgia about the old games while playing Super Mystery Dungeon.
There are also some new items that make the gameplay very unique in dungeons when compared to the other games. Looplets are a new type of hold item that have an allotted number of notches to fit emeras into. Emeras are items that only last the duration of an adventure and cannot be taken outside a dungeon. When fitted into a looplet, they give its holder additional skills that prove very useful in the dungeon. Some emeras can increase attack power, one locates the stairs for you and some even add effects to your moves, such as confusion and paralysis.
The manner in which you befriend Pokémon to join your team is different as well. Every member of the Exploration Society (which your character soon becomes a part of) is given an expedition gadget and a connection orb. The connection orb is the way you become acquainted with and befriend new Pokémon, simply by talking to them or even in a dungeon.
The main drawback of Super Mystery Dungeon (and Gates to Infinity) is that it seems to be made to appeal only to children. I'm almost 20 and it feels really weird to be playing this game where your character is a child. It isn't the classic "I'm a 20-year-old setting out to be a 10-year-old who is in all likelihood the mental age of 25" vibe like the main games. It's an "I'm a 20-year-old who is now a 7-year-old child and I don't know what I'm doing with my life." More-so than that, the constant comic relief and stylistic elements of some characters' personalities are clearly geared toward getting a laugh from a child. I miss the older games, when one of the best aspects was dialogue and not being a child.
Something else that could be improved about the game is that the missions appear far too frequently to complete all of them in a timely fashion. Once you become an official member of the Expedition Society, the missions are endless and you soon start to drown in them (especially since you can accept all of them at once with no limit placed on how many you can accept).
The storyline is full of clichés and nonsensical plot twists, which adds to the argument that it's appeal is geared mostly toward younger children. The plot twists seemingly come out of nowhere, which a child would welcome wholeheartedly: an adult would question all of the plot twists and whether they are necessary. Furthermore, your character doesn't disappear once the world has been saved, your partner does. It's revealed that your partner was Mew all along, and you've fought the final boss before. The plot twists really never end.
Despite all the bad, there are still enough good qualities of this game that I would definitely play it again. If you aren't a fan of the mystery dungeon games, you probably won't like it. But if you accept the game through the open-mindedness of a child, you'll probably appreciate the game just like I have.
