Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Magnagate and the Infinte Labrinth

[Bespinben]

Still haven't played GtI, haven't heard the best things about it from friends and others who have played it. I was partially instantly put off by the lack of all available Pokémon and the overhaul to the art style (this was before XY/ORAS happened and made me actually appreciate the 3D Pokémon, though). Would anyone recommend spending money on it?

Well, you know my answer already Given my extreme fanboyism however... it's probably not the testimony you're looking for.

I will say this though -- of all the video games I could have chosen to play for the first time in two years since 2012, I'm glad it was Gates to Infinity.

[Altissimo]

Pfft, I'm a humongous Rescue Team/Explorers fangirl, so I know all about that kind of "yes it is good" lol
The melody from the Snow Refugees piece was one of the first video game themes I ever worked out by myself, and measure 22 of Run Away/Fugitives Theme (specifically measure 22) was one of the first multi-layer video game things I worked out alone. Frosty Grotto was one of the first melodies I notated solely on my own without assistance from other documents with the music. The Mystery Dungeon games were responsible for my video-game-musical-development more than any other except perhaps Kirby :p

[SlowPokemon]

The story in GTI is as good or better than the other games? They all have the same basic plot. The lack of post game was made up for in my eyes by the main campaign being almost twice as long as the other games--this one actually had a LONGER story section in total than the others, including post game. The one thing that's unavoidably a bad thing about the game is the limited Pokémon selection, though with 90% of the Pokémon available being from Unova, it almost feels like PMD: Black and White, sort of how Explorers felt like PMD: Diamond and Pearl

[K-NiGhT]

Tbh, it's not great, but the story and music did just enough for me to warrant a purchase.

[SlowPokemon]

Basically how I feel^

[TheDreamingHawk]

I still firmly stand my ground when I say it's the best video game I've EVER played. The story flows nicely and is excellent in its own way, the gameplay is a nice balance of difficulty, and the characters are much improved over the past three games, and of course the music is excellent. I can't recommend it enough, despite the minor issues with the post story or evil minigames.

For reference, here is the rest of my top 5 list to show you all that I have indeed played a ton of games and I'm not entirely biased for the PMD series.

2: Ys I-II (Turbografx CD)
3: Lufia: The Legend Returns (GBC)
4: PMD Red Rescue Team (GBA)
5: Bravely Default (3DS)

[FireArrow]

I liked the story up until the plot twist, then it just kinda became a generic corny children's story.

Spoiler

Besides the scene where the town reacts to the world ending, that was really well done.

[close]

[mikey]

2: Ys I-II (Turbografx CD)
3: Lufia: The Legend Returns (GBC)
4: PMD Red Rescue Team (GBA)
5: Bravely Default (3DS)

no Zelda, list is incomplete

[AwesomeYears]

Fine, Zelda CD-i u happy now?

[Bespinben]

This morning I got up early to catch my train going back to Utah for college. It was my last day at home. During the car ride over to the station, I decided to listen to some of my PMD GtI playlist, and it would just so happen that as we (my mom and I) were getting near, "A Home to Remember" started to play:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHdIvlNDKg0

(Followed immediately by "One Last Look at Paradise")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-OGKkGXPEg

It got me choking up a bit, but I hid my emotions because I had no idea how I would explain why some "pretty game music" held such emotional significance. I'd be home again in another 4 months again, right? Thing is, for me, the feelings felt were not just about the present situation, but about every time I had to part with someone dear (especially people from my 2 years in North Carolina). The sadness of a goodbye is not the moment itself, but months later realizing I never tried to stay in touch, or worse, don't even desire to anymore (another dark theme GtI addresses in its brief epilogue).

At least I can vent to you guys though. I think the messages music carries is different for each of us, but I can hope we share just little something in common due to this game.

[SlowPokemon]

No need to explain yourself to me. You should see me get worked up about the most minimalistic Professor Layton tracks. And honestly, a few tracks from the PMD series get me the same way. I'll list them for you later if you want.

[Bespinben]

I'd be honored to see your list. There's a part of me that hesitates for fear of me ignorantly trampling upon your musical pearls, but that's your call. I suppose this whole venting thing got me wondering if normal people roll their eyes at my VG music the same way I roll my eyes at people fawning over Yiruma or other mainstream new age piano that to me all sounds very much the same. I would hope not, but I suppose I got to learn to be open-minded myself too.

[Kman96]

No need to explain yourself to me. You should see me get worked up about the most minimalistic Professor Layton tracks. And honestly, a few tracks from the PMD series get me the same way. I'll list them for you later if you want.

I'd be interested to see this list, too, buddy.

[mikey]

I'd be honored to see your list. There's a part of me that hesitates for fear of me ignorantly trampling upon your musical pearls, but that's your call. I suppose this whole venting thing got me wondering if normal people roll their eyes at my VG music the same way I roll my eyes at people fawning over Yiruma or other mainstream new age piano that to me all sounds very much the same. I would hope not, but I suppose I got to learn to be open-minded myself too.

And that's why music is so amazing.  I admit I teared up a little bit

[Bespinben]

Oh Reddit, you will ever fuel my white-knighting fire. I think I need to start a PMD-themed blog called "Team SJW".

~Person says they loved Explorers of Sky but extremely dislikes Gates to Infinity.

---I inquire why (I respect well-founded opinons)

~Person says "I felt that it was the stagnant nature of the side characters in GtI that detracted from the my experience the most (from a story standpoint)."

--- I post massive text-wall citing several examples of character development in GtI

Spoiler

I would argue that the GtI supporting cast was actually very dynamic:
+Quagsire -- When you meet him, he seems like he just doesn't give a flying fudge about anything, but over time, he withdraws his aloof demeanor while watching you "build Paradise" (physically and symbolically) and even becomes prone to emotional outbursts.
+Gurdurr -- One of the first people you "convert" in the game, Gurdurr at the outset was violent, prone to rage, and had a cynical worldview, but you and your partner manage to begin to restore his faith in the world with your insistence that he and only he could build your house.
+Virizion -- Similar to Gurdurr, Virizion also was disillusioned with the state of the world. Even after joining your Team, Virizion still maintained her distance, and it was only until after your Expedition to the Great Glacier that she finally made the decision to have hope again (thanks to a Frism message from her missing friend, Keldeo).
+Emolga -- This little guy is about as self-absorbed as narcissists come, and to boot, he has a terrible habit of holding grudges. Yet, despite all this, he sacrificed his once-in-a-lifetime chance to go to the Great Glacier by trading spots with Dunsparce at the very last second in the Magnagate. He evens warms up to Virizion by the end of the main-game, someone he swore he would never forgive. In the post-game, it's revealed he even has a bit of a secret crush on Virizion.
+The Partner -- We all seems to think he's an unphasable goody-two-shoes idealist, but the Partner actually confides in You that this isn't a state of being that comes naturally to him. He has to consciously decide every day to have hope despite the grim condition of the world. During the post-game, he even lapses into a bout of depression because he misses You that badly, which I think is a glimpse into his former personality.

[close]

~~Person posts a reasonable response, appealing to the way the story was told (rushed) was the source of diminished experience rather than the elements themselves.


tl;dr - You can say you don't like X, you can say you would have liked X if X had Y , but you CAN'T say you don't like X for not having Y when it clearly has Y. (Unless... the source is dislike isn't the lack of Y at all, but Z)

Heed K-NiGhT's words:

gameplay is shit but the story and soundtrack are super good