Throughout Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX, you’ll come across items that can boost different stats for Pokemon. Gummis are somewhat different. Not only do they boost a random stat for a Pokemon but can also potentially bestow Rare qualities. Gummis can also be used to replace an existing Rare Quality in a Pokemon.

Gummis come in two varieties – Rainbow Gummis and DX Gummis with the latter guaranteeing a Rare Quality for a Pokemon. You obtain Gummis from completing jobs or from Treasure Boxes that enemies drop in dungeons. Keep an eye out for areas that shine and have icons of a Treasure Box with an arrow – the Pokemon in these areas will have an increased chance to drop boxes.

In other to use a Gummi, head to the Rescue Team Camp with your Pokemon of choice. Simply select the Pokemon, then select “Eat a Gummi” and choose which Gummi to eat. If a new Rare Quality is chosen, you can opt to use it or keep the previous one.

How to Unlock Rescue Team Camps

Rescue Team Camps are unlocked through story missions and by paying Wigglytuff. Along with allowing you to fully recruit a Pokemon, they also let Pokemon eat Gummis, Vitamins and Seeds. The camps also let you favourite different Pokemon and modify their nicknames.

Here are all the Rescue Team Camps that can be unlocked along with their requirements. Note that a number won’t be available until after you finish the main story since they require revisiting and defeating certain Legendary Pokemon.

• Wild Plains – Available from the start
• Jungle – Unlock for 500
• Poison Swamp – Unlock for 7000
• Safari – Unlock for 600
• Withering Desert – Unlock for 900
• Ravaged Field – Unlock for 700
• Scorched Plains – Unlock for 700
• Crater – Unlock for 5000
• Echo Cave – Unlock for 2700
• Boulder Cave – Unlock for 700
• Frigid Cavern – Unlock for 800
• Tadpole Pond – Unlock for 900
• Turtleshell Pond – Unlock for 6000
• Rub-a-Dub River – Unlock for 3000
• Sky-Blue Plains – Available from the start
• Power Plant – Available from the start
• Stump Forest – Available from the start
• Beau Plains – Unlock for 2700
• Thunder Crag – Unlock for 600
• Mt. Discipline – Unlock for 700
• Deepsea Current – Recruit Lugia
• Rainbow Peak – Recruit Ho-Oh
• Healing Forest – Recruit Celebi
• Southern Island – Recruit Latios & Latias
• Seafloor Cave – Recruit Kyogre
• Volcanic Pit – Recruit Groudon
• Stratos Lookout – Recruit Rayquaza
• Enclosed Island – Recruit Deoxys
• Mt. Green – Unlock for 700
• Mt. Cleft – Unlock for 700
• Flyaway Forest – Unlock for 500
• Secretive Forest – Unlock for 900
• Vibrant Forest – Unlock for 800
• Mushroom Forest – Unlock for 800
• Overgrown Forest – Unlock for 700
• Gourd Swamp – Unlock for 9000
• Ice Floe Beach – Unlock for 6000
• Shallow Beach – Unlock for 9000
• Bountiful Sea – Unlock for 9000
• Serene Sea – Unlock for 9000
• Treasure Sea – Unlock for 9000
• Deepsea Floor – Unlock for 9000
• Decrepit Lab – Unlock for 6000
• Waterfall Lake – Unlock for 9000
• Evolution Forest – Unlock for 9000
• Mystic Lake – Unlock for 2500
• Magnetic Quarry – Unlock for 700
• Dragon Cave – Unlock for 3000
• Aged Chamber A-N – Unlock for 9000
• Aged Chamber O-? – Unlock for 9000
• Ancient Relic – Unlock for 700
• Mt. Moonview – Unlock for 7000
• Darkness Ridge – Unlock for 800
• Legendary Island – Recruit Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres
• Cryptic Cave – Recruit Mewtwo
• Final Island – Unlock for 9000 after finishing the story
• Sacred Field – Recruit Raikou, Entei or Suicune

When you’re running around, battling with different teams in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX, it helps to have some extra Pokemon on your side. Instead of weakening and capturing Pokemon like the mainline titles, Rescue Team DX is about recruiting them. You can request almost any Pokemon fought in battles to come over to your side.

The Friend Bow becomes indispensable in this regard as it increases the recruitment chance of a Pokemon by 10 percent. In Rescue Team DX, it also helps in getting Shiny Pokemon over to your side. You can acquire the Friend Bow by beating the story and traveling to Mt. Faraway. It’s a huge 60 floor dungeon where the Legendary Ho-Oh resides at the top but the Friend Bow can be found on the 30^th floor. Leave the dungeon after acquiring it – fainting will result in the item being lost.

You can also find the Friend Bow inside of the Joyous Tower. Look for a Kecleon Shop on each floor and you can purchase it for 5000 Pokedollars. The only catch is that the Kecleon Shop’s spawning is random so you might have to wander around for a bit. Once again, leave the dungeon after acquiring the Friend Bow and profit.

Legendary Pokemon make up a big part of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX’s story. However, you can’t recruit any of them until the story has been completed. Once that’s done, you can return to each Legendary and defeat them again. They’ll be automatically recruited, with one major exception but we’ll get into that.

The Legendary Pokemon and their locations are as follows:

• Zapdos – Located on Mt. Thunder, weak to Ground-type attacks.
• Moltres – Located on Mt. Blaze, weak to Water-type attacks.
• Articuno – Located on Mt. Freeze, weak to Fire-type attacks.
• Groundon – Located in the Magma Cavern. Water-type Pokemon are king here but Groundon can still be dangerous. Keep enough healing items and Revive All Orbs to survive.
• Rayquaza – Located in Sky Tower, Rayquaza’s main damage dealing ability is Hyper Beam. This can be easily avoided with a Dodge All Orb.
• Kyogre – Located in the Stormy Sea, Kyogre is weak to Electric-type and Grass-type Pokemon.
• Regirock, Regice and Registeel – Defeat Kyogre and learn about the Buried Relic location. Head there to battle Regirock on floor 15, followed by Regice on floor 25 and Registeel on floor 35. Each possesses Clear Body as an ability so don’t waste time debuffing them.
• Latios and Latias: Defeat Kyogre and the Buried Relic deungeon. Once you partake in the Kecleon Shop robbery quest, you’ll come across Latios. Defeat it and then head to Pitfall Valley to rescue Latias. Both Pokemon will join your team afterwards.
• Entei – Complete the Buried Relic and Great Canyon dungeons. Go to Pokemon Square and give Spinda a Clear Wing to unlock Fiery Field. This is where Entei is located so bring some Water-type Pokemon to defeat him.
• Raikou: After defeating Entei, the Lightning Field will open and lead to Raikou. Ground-type Pokemon will excel in this fight.
• Suicune: Defeating Raikou unlocks Northwind Field where Suicune resides. It’s weak to Electric-type and Grass-type Pokemon.
• Celebi – Recruiting Latios and Latias after the main story will open up the Purity Dungeon. It’s 99 floors but upon reaching the end, you’ll meet Celebi. Talk to it and it will join your team.
• Ho-Oh – First, you must defeat Entei, Raikou and Suicune to unlock Mt. Faraway. Ho-Oh resides at the top and is pretty powerful. Bring level 50 Electric-type, Water-type and Rock-type Pokemon to take him down.
• Jirachi – Unlock the Mt. Moonview camp first for 7,000 CP. Travel to Solar Cave to befriend Latias and Latios, then go to the pond to speak to Whiscash and Medicham. Keep talking to them until Ekans makes an appearance. Accept the rescue request and the Wish Cave opens. Once you rescue Medicham on the 20^th floor, you’ll receive a Wish Stone. Return to the cave later and reach the 99^th floor to fight Jirachi.
• Lugia – After recruiting Zapdos, Articuno and Moltres, you’ll also need to have recruited Latias and Latios. Head over to the Silver Trench after being informed of a disturbance. You’ll need to clear 99 floors to face Lugia.
• Deoxys – Once you’ve recruited Lugia, the Meteor Cave will become available. You’ll need to defeat different shadows of Deoxys and once the real version is found, head to the 20^th floor to fight him. Dark-type Pokemon work best here.
• Mewtwo – After defeating Ho-Oh, the Western Cave is unlocked. MewTwo is at the end of this 20-floor dungeon and will join you upon being defeated.
• Mew – After finishing the story, unlock the Final Island for 9,000 CP. Defeat Kyogre in Stormy Sea and you’ll receive news about a Buried Relic. Speak to Shifty and Lombre in Pokemon Square, then head to the location of the relic. You need to defeat Regirock on floor 15, Regice on floor 25 and Registeel on floor 35. This will give a Music Box item which can then be used to summon Mew. He’ll appear between the 36^th and 99^th floors and it’s not a guaranteed recruitment so keep the Friend Bow handy

How to Evolve Pokemon

Evolving Pokemon involves taking them to Whiscash Pond and visiting the Luminous Cave. Only one Pokemon can enter at a time – interact with the cave and if you have the items necessary, they can be evolved. If you don’t have the necessary items, the cave will tell you what’s needed. Some examples include the Lunar Ribbon to evolve Eevee into Lumbreon, Thunder Stone for Pikachu to Raichu, Beauty Scard for Feebas to Milotic and so on. The Luminous Cave only opens up once the story is finished so keep that in mind.

Given the global situation surrounding the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, it’s not surprising that physical sals of video games have been hurting, and that’s been exactly the case in the UK during the week ending March 14 (via GamesIndustry).

Team Ninja’s Soulslike action-RPG Nioh 2 has debuted on top of charts, but its boxed sales are 63 per cent lower than the physical sales of Nioh when it debuted in February 2017. Another major new release last week was Ori and the Will of the Wisps, which debuted in 13th place. It’s worth noting, however, that given the game’s availability on Xbox Game Pass on both PC and Xbox One, it’s likely performed significantly better on the digital front.

My Hero One’s Justice 2 was another new release last week, and it debuted in sixteenth place. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX, which topped charts on its debut last week, is now in third place, with sales falling 53 per cent. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is in an second place, and actually saw an increase in boxed sales, which rose by 108 per cent week-on-week.

You can check out the full top 10 below.

1. Nioh 2
2. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
3. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX
4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
5. FIFA 20
6. Grand Theft Auto 5
7. The Division 2
8. Luigi’s Mansion 3
9. Minecraft (Switch)
10. Mario & Sonic At the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020

If you’ve never played the original Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games, the fact that Rescue Team DX’s biggest strength lies in its story will probably come as a shock to you. Story, after all, is not exactly high on the list of things Pokemon games are known for. And yet Mystery Dungeon’s narrative is bursting personality and charm. You play as a human trapped in a Pokemon’s body, who finds themselves in a world inhabited only by Pokemon. This world is also being wracked by mysterious natural disasters, that are not only putting a whole lot of innocent Pokemon in harm’s way, but also kicking others into a frenzy. Your goal, then, is twofold- to find out just how and why you’ve suddenly woken up as a Pokemon, and to save the world and the Pokemon in it from these natural disasters.

"While the visual design and narrative strengths of Rescue Team DX deserve praise, how much mileage you get out of the whole game will depend on how long you can tolerate its frustratingly repetitive gameplay loop."

In terms of the actual story developments, Rescue Team DX is… not the best. It takes a lot of weird turns, and it doesn’t explain some of its most basic premises nearly as well as it should. But all of that ends up mattering very little, because the real stars of the show here are, appropriately enough, the Pokemon themselves. Throughout the game’s story, you’ll meet all manner of Pokemon, representing multiple generations of the franchise, and each of them adds immensely to the game’s narrative. Each Pokemon has a unique personality and smartly written dialog, and the relationships and friendships that develop between these creatures are the heart of the story. Rescue Team DX’s story is all about the friendships you form with these whimsical monsters, and it is utterly heart-warming.

Equally as charming as the story are the visuals. While Red Rescue Team (on the GBA) and Blue Rescue Team (on the DS) sported a sprite-based pixel art style similar to the third generation of mainline Pokemon titles, the Switch remake has completely reworked the visual design, instead going for a hand-draw oil painting aesthetic that looks strikingly Ghibli-esque. Every bit of the game is beautiful to behold, and contributes to the game’s overall charm heavily- nearly as much as the characters inhabiting the story themselves.

Sadly, almost no other aspect of Rescue Team DX is as solid as the story and the visuals. Combat is the meat of the game, and though it’s a notable refinement over the original games, it’s not nearly enough to stave off the repetitiveness that characterizes the bulk of the game. In true Pokemon fashion, combat encounters are turn-based, but applied here to grid-based arenas. Every action – movement, using items, unleashing attacks – uses up a turn, and each Pokemon can use one of four moves – also similar to the main series. Other core mechanics, like type matchups and status effects, have also been retained.

"Rescue Team DX’s story is all about the friendships you form with these whimsical monsters, and it is utterly heart-warming."

The biggest issue is that the vast majority of battles aren’t nearly challenging enough to keep you engaged for long. Since each dungeon you enter is themed around something specific, you’ll have a pretty good idea before heading in of what Pokemon types you’ll be coming up against, which means a party composed of Pokemon with type advantages will make every battle a repetitive exercise in “press A for victory”. The boss fights are slightly more challenging, and as such, relatively more engaging, but even these can often be quite frustrating, since enemies don’t show health bars.

That isn’t much of an issue with regular enemies, but you never know how far away you are from landing a killing blow on a boss, which means you don’t know how wasteful (or not) it will be to use a healing item during a boss fight. It’s a baffling omission- you’d think having a health bar is something a Pokemon game, of all things, would think of before all else. It was a strange design choice in the original games, and it’s stranger still in the remake, because the developers have essentially ignored fifteen years of feedback here.

Dungeon design also suffers from major issues. Given that it’s a roguelike, Rescue Team DX’s dungeons are randomly generated- but even so, they all feel too similar. Other than the aesthetic differences in each dungeon, they all feel like lazy rehashes of each other- they’re all essentially a series of boxes connected by corridors. There’s nothing interesting about them, and the fact that some of the later dungeons tend to be quite long makes them that much harder to get through. There’s also no permadeath, by the way, in spite of the fact that this is a roguelike, which adds to the game’s general lack of challenge even further.

"Other than the aesthetic differences in each dungeon, they all feel like lazy rehashes of each other- they’re all essentially a series of boxes connected by corridors."

The repetitive nature of the combat and dungeons is exacerbated by the fact that there isn’t much else to do outside of this. The entire game – other than some minor side activities that are little more than distractions – tasks you repeatedly with quests and side quests that all see you heading into dungeons and engaging in one battle after another, and unfortunately, there just wasn’t enough to the game’s core mechanics to keep me interested in any of it for too long. There’s a dojo you can head into to grind and gain some extra XP, but that, too is all about combat. It also places time restrictions on you, which is a strange restriction to place in a turn-based game.

If you were a fan of the original Mystery Dungeon games and/or are purely interested in this one for its visual style and the appeal of its charming characters and story, I can recommend this game to you, albeit with some reservations. However, in spite of enjoying those parts of the experience in particular, I found that they weren’t good enough to carry the whole game by themselves, especially since the meat and potatoes here – the combat and dungeon crawling – are so repetitive and monotonous. It’s a real shame, too, because I want Pokemon to step out of its comfort zone and try new things. I just wish it did it better.

This game was reviewed on the Nintendo Switch.

The charts for boxed video game sales in the UK for the week ending March 7 are in (via GamesIndustry), and Nintendo and Spike Chunsoft’s Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX – a remake of the first games in the subseries that launched for the GBA and DS in 2006 – has debuted in pole position. In comparison, Red Rescue Team (GBA) and Blue Rescue Team (DS) debuted at No. 14 and No. 34 respectively back when they released. Meanwhile, the last Mystery Dungeon title – the 3DS’ Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon – debuted at No. 9 in 2016.

Two Point Hospital, which debuted in second place last week, has fallen down to the sixth spot, seeing a 69 per cent week-on-week drop. In second place is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, followed by perennial performers Grand Theft Auto 5 and FIFA 20. Meanwhile, The Division 2 – which has been enjoying something of a resurgence of late, thanks in part to the release of its new expansion – takes the fifth spot.

You can check out the full top 10 for the week ending March 7 below.

1. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX
2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
3. Grand Theft Auto 5
4. FIFA 20
5. The Division 2
6. Two Point Hospital
7. Minecraft (Switch)
8. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
9. Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy
10. Luigi’s Mansion 3

Granblue Fantasy: Versus

Cygames’ Granblue Fantasy: Versus has already made waves in Japan and Asia with digital sales and shipments crossing 150,000 units. It’s out on March 3^rd for PS4 in North America, offering a stellar aesthetic and solid fighting mechanics with characters from the mobile RPG. All in all, even with concerns over its netcode, Granblue Fantasy: Versus should be a good diversion especially with its side-scrolling RPG Mode.

Overhauled Visuals

First and foremost, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX is a remake of the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team, which premiered on the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS respectively. The visuals have been completely redone, embracing a water color-like aesthetic with detailed animations and fully 3D visuals. The rosters of both original titles have also been combined.

Story and Choosing a Starter

The story focuses on the player character who’s been turned into a Pokemon and lost their memories. Along with journeying to remember their past, the player will team up with other Pokemon to help deal with rescuing Pokemon affected by recent natural disasters. Many screenshots and trailers show Pikachu as the player character but you can actually take a personality quiz to determine your Pokemon. There are nine questions to answer and you’ll be assigned one out of sixteen potential choices.

Your Pokemon’s nature is also determined from these choices, which can lead to some interesting combinations, but you’re also free to just choose your starter directly. Next, choose your partner Pokemon – which can’t be the same as yours – and away you go. Rescue Team DX allows for renaming the player character, partner Pokemon and other team members from the main menu, if you so desire.

Gameplay

As noted above, natural disasters are occurring everywhere. There are various Rescue Teams that have sprouted up among different Pokemon and you’ll quickly join the cause. Seek out different jobs, either through mail or via the bulletin board, and you’ll get tasks like delivering packages, venturing into dungeons to save Pokemon and escort missions. The dungeons have random layouts which change with each job, adding to some unpredictability.

Combat

Combat is turn-based, much like other Mystery Dungeon titles, but for mainline Pokemon players, it’s a pretty different routine. Battles take place on the dungeon map instead of a separate screen and you can take up to 8 teammates into a single dungeon, up from three in the original releases. Basic attacks are gone but you can now hit the A button to use your best attack on an enemy to speed things along.

Rescue Yourself

If you or your partner faints in a dungeon, then the job is failed. However, it’s possible to rescue yourself using another team of Pokemon. Alternatively, you can put in requests for other players to rescue you and vice versa. Don’t worry about other teammates – if they’re felled in battle, they’ll simply return to base.

Autosave and Auto Mode

Another feature that some might appreciate is Auto Mode. While traversing a dungeon, press the L button and your team will automatically move forward until entering a battle. You can turn Auto Mode on and off as you please. There’s also Auto Save, thus ensuring that you don’t need to manually save all the time (though manual save is still available as an option).

Recruiting Pokemon

To build a team, you’ll need to recruit different Pokemon. This can be done via Rescue Team Camps which either unlock through completing different missions or paying for access from the Wigglytuff Club. Two Rescue Team Camps are available initially and there are a lot to unlock later (some opening up after recruiting certain Legendary Pokemon). Rescue Team DX even provides the ability to recruit Shiny Pokemon with the Friend Bow, which itself raises recruitment rate by 10 percent when worn.

New Pokemon and Mega Evolutions

Rescue Team DX has 386 Pokemon to recruit, encompassing Generations 1 to 3. However, several new Pokemon have been added from Gen 4 including Magnezone, Magmortar, Lucario, Weavile, and many more, according to dataminers at least. Mega Evolutions were confirmed from the outset but datamining managed to indicate exactly which ones. You can likely expect to see Venusaur, Blastoise, Steelix, Charizard, Alakazam and many more in Mega Evolution form.

Felicity Bank and Kangaskhan Store

Before embarking on some dangerous or unknown jobs, it’s a good idea to visit Felicity Bank to store your money. This ensures that it won’t be lost in dungeons if you happen to be defeated. Kangaskhan Storage offers the same functionality except with items (and you have unlimited space from the outset). Any excess items earned will also go into the storage.

Luminous Cave

Once you complete the story, the Luminous Cave can be accessed from Whiscash Pond. This is a place where Pokemon can evolve but conditions apply. You’ll be asked to give an item for evolution but even if you decline, and the conditions are right, the Pokemon will evolve. If the Pokemon doesn’t meet the proper conditions, then they won’t evolve (even if you donate items).

Makuhita Dojo

Makuhita Dojo is a very unique facility in Pokemon Square, offering up 21 different mazes with three unique floors as the story progresses. You can’t recruit any of the Pokemon battled in these mazes but you can recruit several boss Pokemon (though you must be level 90 and have a Friend Bow). In Rescue Team DX, changes have been made to make the Dojo more worthwhile. The mazes are timed now and only one Pokemon can enter but they receive increased XP, making it a good way to boost a teammate up in between jobs.

Eating Food

With the ability to take up to eight teammates into a single dungeon, one has to wonder what the purpose is of having less. The answer is probably food. As you venture through dungeons, your Pokemon have to eat food to stave off hunger. Different food items have different effects with some able to raise a Pokemon’s experience points or their overall level. So more Pokemon likely means more food consumed.

TMs

Technical Machines or TMs work here pretty much the same way as the mainline series – they confer different abilities upon Pokemon. You’ll find many of the same TMs from the main games though there are two new ones – Wide Slash and Vacuum-Cut. Unlike the original Rescue Team games you can no longer recycle Used TMs and they’re instead destroyed.

Seeds

The one item unique to the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games are Seeds. These are consumables that can be either eaten or thrown. When thrown at a Pokemon, they consume the Seed immediately (except for Blast Seeds, which just explode when thrown). So for instance, if you want to disable an enemy Pokemon’s last used move, throw a Ban Seed at them. Otherwise, you have the Encourage Seed for perfect accuracy and increased critical hits; Golden Seeds for raising a Pokemon’s level by 5; and Reviver Seeds for reviving fainted Pokemon. Seeds can be recycled but they’ll either change to different Seeds or an Oran Berry (which increases its user’s max HP by 10 for a dungeon).

Playtime

So with all these new features, Pokemon, and areas to explore, how long can you reasonably expect Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX to last? According to HowLongToBeat, the original releases lasted about 20.5 hours if you were just trying to finish the main story. This could go up to 42 hours with some extra missions and a whopping 147 hours for doing everything. And if you want all the Shinies in Rescue Team DX, it may take even longer than that. Either way, there’s quite a bit to play through, whether you’re a fan of rogue-likes or Pokemon.

Spike Chunsoft’s Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX is out in the coming weeks, bringing the rogue-like dungeon crawling of the classics to Nintendo Switch. To help players better understand what they’re getting into, a new overview trailer has been released in Japanese. You can also check out some of the new TV commercials below featuring Pikachu and Eevee.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX sees the player, a human, suddenly transformed into a Pokemon. Determined to uncover their past, the player character embarks on a journey with their partner Pokemon, taking on different jobs in dungeons. Other Pokemon can be recruited to one’s team to help in turn-based battles.

Unlike the mainline series, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX uses procedurally generated dungeons with a roguelike approach. However, if you go down in a dungeon, it’s possible to save yourself with another team (or via another player’s help). With new mechanics like Auto Mode and new Pokemon, including Mega Evolutions, it might be worth checking out at launch.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX releases on March 6th for Nintendo Switch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urFaVkyskxA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY4M8DjhLBI

For veteran players though, what’s changed in Rescue Team DX? Let’s take a look at 15 of the biggest differences between the remake and the originals.

New Graphics and Art-Style

Obviously the biggest change is the visuals. Utilizing fully 3D graphics, the art-style is a mix of watercolor-like textures and a bright palette. The effect makes for more vibrant looking environments, which helps liven up the combat and exploration in equal measure. Pokemon also look more detailed and have better animations, which is a given with the jump in styles.

Changing Names

The good ol’ quiz returns in Rescue Team DX, allowing players to determine which Pokemon is best suited for them by answering different questions.  You can manually choose as well so don’t worry. Unlike the original games though, the name of the main character, your partner and the rescue team members can be changed.

Free Demo

If you’re on the fence about picking up the title, then there’s a free demo on the Nintendo eShop. Reports indicate that it’s almost two hours long. That’s enough time to see the prologue and do quite a bit of dungeon crawling. The demo ends before fighting the first boss but that should be just enough time to try out the gameplay.

Combines Red and Blue Versions

Like with the mainstream Pokemon titles, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team had two versions – Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team – each with their own exclusive Pokemon. Rescue Team DX seemingly combines both rosters while introducing plenty of new Pokemon to shake things up.

New Pokemon

We’ve learned of some of the new Pokemon added to the remake. We saw Lucario, who was previously in the original titles as a statue, being recruitable with other new additions including Porygon-Z, Sylveon and Honchkrow. A number of Pokemon have also been added thanks to another unannounced feature, namely….

Mega Evolution

The Pokemon Company hasn’t officially announced it yet but Mega Evolutions are in Rescue Team DX. It makes sense when you consider that Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon, a later game in the franchise, added them in. So look forward to Mega Evolutions of Venusaur, Gengar, Pidgeot, Charizard and many, many more.

Auto Save

Praise be to auto save, which is now a core feature. No longer will you need to open a menu and find the “Save” button to keep progress. The manual save option is still available though, if you want to be extra careful. Simply press X, select the “Others” menu, then “Save and Go to Main Menu” and you’re good.

Auto Mode

While you can move through areas in the same tile-based sense, you can also use Auto Mode. By pressing ZL, your team will move “efficiently”, which means they’ll keep moving without your input. If you encounter an enemy, Auto Mode is turned off and you’ll proceed as per normal. Auto Mode can be switched on and off as per one’s preference.

Press A to Win

Not sure which is the best attack to use on an enemy? Rescue Team DX helps simplify things. By pressing A, you’ll automatically select the most optimal move in a battle. It’s not a bad option especially for those who want some chilled out dungeon crawling. This can be disabled if you’d prefer doing things the old-fashioned way.

Shiny Pokemon

In the original games, the Friend Bow was a special item. Found at Mount Faraway, it would increase the recruitment rate of Pokemon by 10 percent. In Rescue Team DX, it serves the same purpose. However, the description states, “It’s also said that Shiny Pokemon will want to join you, too.” It’s not yet known whether each recruitable Pokemon has an increased chance to be a Shiny with the Friend Bow equipped or whether Shinies can acquired by other means. But they’re definitely in the remake.

8 Pokemon Squads

The previous games allowed for the leader Pokemon aka you to venture into dungeons with only two other teammates. With Rescue Team DX, it’s possible to bring five more teammates along for a total squad of eight Pokemon. Overkill? Perhaps but on the other hand, who doesn’t want to roll up with the squad and stomp out foes? Besides, it’s only an option – those who prefer more challenging runs can go with the original three.

Save Yourself

Throughout the story, you’ll take on different tasks to rescue different Pokemon. Who rescues you, if you happen to fall? The good news is that you can either have another team go in and save you or call other players for a rescue. Though the feature is new to Rescue Team DX, it’s actually from Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon.

Makuhita Dojo Changes

The Makuhita Dojo in Rescue Team offers several different mazes for Pokemon to battle through. Players can’t recruit any of the Pokemon battled in these mazes but they can recruit the boss Pokemon. More mazes are unlocked as one progresses through the game and they’re fairly decent challenges. In Rescue Team DX, the Makuhita Dojo is largely the same but offers increased experience. However, now only one Pokemon can enter and you have a time limit. Different tickets can influence conditions and it’s now seemingly more of a challenging side-activity, which is nice.

Recycling Changes

Other gameplay changes can be seen in the recycling of Technical Machines or TMs and Plain Seeds. The former can no longer be recycled and are instead destroyed. As for Plain Seeds, recycling them results in a different Seed being produced. Alternatively, you can also get an Oran Berry which increases max health for a dungeon by 10 if a Pokemon’s HP is full (though it can also be eaten to restore 100 health).

No Basic Attacks or IQ Skills

Of course, not every change is going to be met positively. Basic Attacks are out completely and the IQ Skills have been replaced with Rare Qualities. The latter is gained when eating Rainbow or DX Gummis and confer different passive buffs to Pokemon. Examples include Blast Control, which reduces team damage from explosions, Funnel Fun to greatly speed up natural health recovery in corridors and much more. It’s a nice system to help specialize Pokemon all the more.