Finished the plot of Pokemon: Super Mystery Dungeon yesterday.
I'm putting my thoughts under tags because they contain spoilers. If you've finished the game, I'd really like to read your thoughts on the game.
! I'm glad we're able to do the personality test again and choose between 20 starters.
! The introduction: many fans complained about the slow start of the game, where you're a student in a Pokemon school. I think it was a good way to teach basics to new and young players, and I didn't find it that repetitive/boring. Since the beginning of the franchise, there have been side quests that you have to accomplish for the plot to move on. It allows you to gain level, to learn the basics, to loot items, etc. >> to get familiar with the game.
! I think the idea itself of the "Pokemon school" is what is regrettable here. We are kid Pokemon. Thus, the main characters' reactions are childish. I think the creators wanted to reach a younger audience (?), but they managed to do that just fine with "Explorers of time/darkness". The partners' dream of being an explorer is good, but is completely ruined by her young age. She's not even 10 yet, I believe, yet she can explore dungeons filled of deadly creatures just fine. It just doesn't sound right to me.
! Also, what I disliked was the way we get to fight bosses. We literally had to fight the three first ones based on a misunderstanding. "Hey, you're trying to steal my treasure, right? Die!". These boss fights aren't interesting and you feel sad when you see they fill up the "boss blocs" in the principal menu and you only have like, 5 left to beat. Drowzee was the second boss you fight in Explorers of time and he really was an evil guy to defeat. The Koffing/Zubat duo (well trio with the other bad guy) was recurrent, and you had this feeling of frustration when they repeatedly messed up your plans along the story.
! The intro was at least mysterious and set a good plot, with Rayquaza and Deoxys' words ("something is wrong with this planet"), but…
! The story: … only got me hooked up when you discover Loliloville and Latios/Latias being petrified. You then learn that there's "someone" capable of turning them into stone, and that he sends open letters to his future victims. Then you're like "wow, this guy can beat legendary Pokemon, he must be hecka strong!"... well no, let down, it's the "black matter" formed by the hatred of the Pokemon that instantly turns you to stone when you touch it.
What is the motive of the final villain? To destroy the world. That is it. Alright, in T/D/S explorers, Darkrai was pretty much the same, but heck, at least Dusknoir was interesting!
! Speaking of Dusknoir, let's compare him to his equivalent, Nuzleaf. Both seem nice, but then turn out evil. When Dusknoir just appeared to be a bad guy and took you into the future to execute you, Nuzleaf's "mastermind" revelation was so ridiculous it pissed me off. Alright, I was surprised, they got me on that. But when you just think about it, it's so poorly executed!
! Nuzleaf explains his plan; he learned you were a human and used you to destroy a crystal barrier protecting a lake, only to take that water so that nobody can heal petrified Pokemon anymore. When he finds you, you still have memory of your human life, but then he attacks you with Beheeyems and you lose your memory. He then "saves" you and you become friends.
Okay that is really not that bad, but it could have been done better. Nuzleaf could have been so more interesting if only he wasn't manipulated from the start by the "dark matter", and then actually "say sorry" and like, everybody accepts that.
! By the way I don't know if I understood it wrong or if it's an error, but later in the story, it is said that your partner (a.k.a. Mew... I'm coming back to that in a little moment) erased your memory. So why does Nuzleaf say that you still have your memory when you came into the Pokemon world?
! Okay now is the time for the traditional plot twist discussion. In every Mystery Dungeon games (I think), there have been plot twists. Bad characters actually not being bad characters, good guys being bad guys, insignificant treasures being really important (>> the "friendship scarf" was a good plot element, have to admit), etc.
! I've talked about the way the bad guys are terrible, since they're actually good people manipulated by a higher authority (the "higher authority" being an abstract figure, and I don't really like those to be the bad guys but hey, the message behind it was good, and the way your partner dealt with it was quite emotional ("I forgive you, for we form one.">> that was strong!)), now what about the partner?
! Turns out he and you both fought against the black matter once but you lost, only being able to defeat it "for a moment", before it'd come back, so you decide to travel to the future. I believe Mew turned into a little girl to have this innocence that would defeat the evil the black matter incarnates, but isn't Mew like already, really innocent? The creator of all things? How come she'd have to rely on destiny to achieve her plans? This gave poor mastermind vibes. "I knew we would meet and destroy the black matter". Seriously, what if you lost your two "friendship scarfs"? What if Entei and the others had decided to think differently? You'd be stuck in the dark dimension for ever. I didn't really like all this fate stuff.
! Eventually your partner recovers her true memories and tells you everything. I liked the way she was sitting on hill, quietly, calmly. It opposed to her past-self. But I didn't like how she left and why you had to stay. It just messed up everything in my brain and I'm not quite sure I've understood everything.
! What is regrettable too is that you get attached to a character, and then the character is revealed to be someone else. It's not that cool little girl that isn't scared of anything anymore. It's like if all the character development fell into the trash.
! I'll conclude. This story was better than "Gates to infinity", but compared to the two first ones, it wasn't good enough. They could have kept the same idea, but done it better. Who cares if it's a bit longer to finish? Who cares if it's more difficult? I'd really like this franchise to be "Mystery Dungeon" again.
This also means more exploration (we only had like… one "exploration" mission in the game? And it wasn't half as cool as the "Groudon" and the "Mist" plot).
! The music: is cool. That's all I have to say about it. Nothing I'll really remember (like "Temporal tower" or "I don't want to say goodbye"), but not unpleasant. It gets you in the mood.
! Graphics: as good as can be and needs to be.
! The game play (game mechanics): is what really stands out. They kept the old mechanics, but made them even better, introduced cool objects (wands, emeracts)… I'd even say the game mechanics are the best this (excellent) franchise has known.
(probably forgotten a few things, I may add stuff later on)
The game wasn't bad, yet still fare from the first ones. If you're a fan of the franchise but hated Gates to Infinity and decided to not buy Super Mystery Dungeon, I think you should.
EDIT –
The after game is excellent. The map is huge and there are many dungeons and side-quests to accomplish. I'm sure I'll need an extra 50hours to complete the game in its entirety (it took me 20 hours to complete the main plot)