Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team (Nintendo DS) Reader Review

To be a Pokemon.
What would you be? What would you say? What would you do?
Well, my friends, you can answer these very questions and more when you play Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team.

For a spectacular start, you start by answering questions that ultimately determine your pokemon species (I found there are twelve you can be). I had no idea I was a Pikachu! The description gives a quite seemingly accurate answer to personality type as well-- for just a few questions. You get to choose any of the starters as a partner as well to accompany you on your adventures.
I was completely and utterly foolish to think this game was very routine during its first few hours (I mean it has very entertaining story, but it's all a bunch of small-fry cutesy stuff). I was convinced that with it's happy-go-lucky music and bright colors, this was just going to be one of those games that you pick up to play if you feel like doing a little rescue mission. I was so very wrong. Having played this game so far for about 14 hours, I think it's safe to say that its feeling of adventure is comparable to that of Chrono Trigger's. For those who don't like getting stories spoiled, I'm keeping my lips sealed regarding further details

Graphics
The whole game itself is rich full of color. The art is definitely worth a mention. It was eye candy for me. The only problem I see, however, is how awkward the sprites are at times. They seem to not fit the soft lines in the surroundings and character art for speech.
The backgrounds are possibly the best art in the game. With its wonderful skills of illusion, it feels as though perspective changes, even though the sprites are exactly the same. The scenery is very nicely varied as well; it's a pleasure to travel and visit your pokemon friends.

Sound
The music touches emotion at times, and is well made. It goes from bouncy and upbeat, to ghostly and cold, to serious, to even interesting world beats. I love how there is different music for just about anything-- not like 90-95% of RPGs out there that have about 3 songs for like, 20 locations, (lol). I think the one song that will ever seem repetitive is the music you "wake up to" every morning. Hah! It's even playing in my head as I type. But that's really a very small con, in my honest opinion.

Gameplay
Okay. Now for the juicy stuff.
BATTLES - I gotta say, I was under the impression that the battles were gonna look like the ones in the GBA Pokemon games, but that must have been a rumor, because it's actually pretty different!
First thing you may notice is the very limited space for your inventory. This already clues us in to how tactical this game is going to be! Also, like in all the regular pokemon games, each pokemon can only have four moves to use. But not to worry! This isn't the only way you have to battle. You actually also have a "regular attack," which works by simply pressing A in front of your opponent. By the way, if you haven't figured it out yet, battles do NOT take you to a seperate battle screen/scene! Anyway, back to attacking methods. There are also certain items you can use to throw at the opponent at a distance, to give you that edge before they even get to you!
The attacks pokemon learn seem to stay true to the levels and what they learn in the regular games. However, since the battling mechanics are so fascinatingly different, the way several (if not most) attacks work have changed to fit it (along with the number of times one may use certain moves).
What I thought was weird at first about the battling system is that it's still somehow all turn-based fighting. You move one space, your opponent moves, too; You use an item, and your opponent does something more (depending on where it is, of course. So there's no need to worry about something chompin' you up when you're just standing around in the dungeon.
There's many more aspects to explore in battling still-- Things like IQ, Hunger (Belly), linking moves together, and recruiting new members (which is strangely random).

This game is definitely worth a try if you like good stories, exhilirating (yet sometimes brain-poundingly frustrating) battles (you'll know what I mean when you're like level twenty with a level four recruit trying to fight on its own), and pleasing art, to boot!

And who doesn't love saving a cute little caterpie from some mean ol' pokemon?