Still, I reckon most Pokemon fans will - or at least should - agree with the fact that Mystery Dungeon’s stories are just… better. Related: Justice For Erika: Pokemon's Most Underrated Gym Leader Pokemon is the most successful entertainment franchise of all time, so Nintendo clearly knows what it’s up to. Without going from Town A to Town B to Town C, how are you supposed to slowly build a decent team and take down the Elite Four in a climactic final showdown? I mean, there are rom hacks out there that prove a more conventionally open RPG structure works remarkably well in the mainline games, but whatever. I’m not dissing the core games, mind - it’s just that the narratives are remarkably linear by necessity.

12 years on, I’m still not quite sure why it hasn’t been remade - I reckon it needs a Switch port more so than Diamond & Pearl.Ī few weeks ago, I wrote about how Mystery Dungeon proves that Pokemon is capable of telling compelling stories. Originally launched in 2009, it’s the definitive edition of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness, serving as the typical third generational instalment usually seen in the mainline series. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky is an outstanding Pokemon game.