I'm the type of person that would usually prefer gameplay over story. A good story can certainly enhance a game, like many on my Top 100, but it can't usually replace gameplay I'm not into. Emphasis on usually though, because one notable exception has always been the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series. I don't think the PMD games necessarily have bad gameplay, but I'm definitely not a huge dungeon crawler fan and as such they aren't really my cup of tea. So it's a testament to how incredible Explorers Of Sky's story is that, despite my not loving the gameplay, I would rank it in a heartbeat as one of my ten favorite games ever made, and my favorite Pokemon game of all time.
It took me a long time to get into Pokemon. I had played portions of games throughout my childhood, but I never truly invested myself into any of them until around high school. It was at that point that I was really getting into webcomics, and I discovered the frankly staggering amount of impressively well-drawn PMD comics out there on the internet. I always liked the cute designs of the Pokemon, so learning that there was a game series focused exclusively on them had me intrigued. But I think what really grabbed me was the central dramatic hook of the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, the concept of being dragged into a new world as a Pokemon, rebuilding your life and forming a community there, saving the world, and proceeding to be immediately forced back home. Reading all those comics peaked my interest in checking out the real McCoy, so I went ahead and played the one people seemed to like the best, and the rest was history.
However, as I mentioned, I'm not exactly enamored with the Mystery Dungeon gameplay loop. I don't think it's bad, per se, but it's not something that would normally keep my interest. I've already voiced my disinterest in procedural generation, and it's easy to see how something like PMD could fall into repetition. That being said, I do think the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games have quite a bit going for them mechanically that keep me playing. Being a Pokemon game, these entries allow you to recruit other Pokemon into your team, so there's still that addictive "catch-em-all" aspect that defines the series, just injected into a dungeon crawler format. Similarly, there's also type weaknesses and managing the limited amount of moves each Pokemon can hold, all these tried and true elements are able to transition genres really naturally. I also think it helps that Explorers Of Sky in particular is utterly bursting with original content. The postgame is about as long as the main campaign itself, with a ton of secret side dungeons with unique objectives, music tracks, and atmospheres. There's a bunch of unlockable secret chapters that allow you to play through a short campaign as other characters, several of which manage to hit similar emotional highs to that main campaign. And with over 20 playable Pokemon, there's so much replayability since each run you play will feel totally different. In general, I also think Explorers is the best execution of the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon gameplay. It expands on the previous game's mechanics, but doesn't cull too much like Gates does or overcomplicates things like Super does.
But ultimately, the reason I love PMD Explorers Of Sky comes down entirely to the story. This is my favorite video game story of all time, I am not joking. For starters, I just think it's such a well-crafted narrative on its own merits. It's a masterclass in tension, drama, character work, and overall plotting. The first third of the game keeps things fairly slice of life as you get to know the other members of the guild, but there's still engaging conflicts like the rivalry against Team Skull and the looming mystery of Grovyle stealing the Time Gears. Then, Dusknoir appears and the plot starts to thicken, you start to wonder who's really in the right there, leading to that big twist. Dusknoir shoving you and your partner to the bad future, Grovyle revealing his motivations and teaming up with you, and all the plot bombs about your own origins, it's shockingly well-executed. It's twisty enough to genuinely surprise a new player, but it also makes sense, it fits into everything the game had been setting up previously. The oppressive drama within the dark future continues to heighten the stakes, then there's the minor breather as you wrap up loose ends in Sharpedo Bluff, and then there's that incredible final act that resolves every single plot arc in the most powerful way possible, balancing its desparate world-ending stakes with incredibly personal drama (Grovyle's sacrifice, player knowing they'll have to leave once they win). And as I mentioned, the special chapters are also impressively well-written, with the Igglybuff and Grovyle chapters in particular being really effective character studies. When all's said in done, Grovyle in this game might be one of my favorite video game characters solely in terms of writing.
But you know me, I like it when game stories actually take advantage of the medium, and Explorers Of Sky does that wonderfully. It's one thing to have a great story, but Explorers Of Sky does everything in its power to make the player entirely immersed and invested. The obvious way it goes about doing this is by making the main character your self-insert, but you can't just do that and expect instant immersion (looking at you, Forces). Explorers Of Sky puts in the effort to also make all of its characters feel real. The partner and Grovyle are legitimately complex and multi-faceted, which makes it easy to grow genuinely attached to them. Similarly, the crew at Wigglytuff's Guild all have their own unique traits, struggles, and traditions, and the community they form feels really comfy and inviting. And as such, when you're forced into the bad future, it feels haunting, oppressive, and just plain depressing. The most brilliant stroke, of course, is the fact that you have to say goodbye to your partner at the end of the game. It perfectly parallels the fact that, well, the game is over. You will have to say goodbye to these characters because you're reaching the end of the campaign. It's that compelling meta aspect combined with the engaging drama at the core of the story that makes that final goodbye a moment that always brings a tear out of me.
The fantastic story is all tied together by Explorers Of Sky's stellar presentation. The actual spritework is fairly standard DS fare, but it's incredibly polished and vibrant, and it's elevated by the phenomenal art direction. I love the way Explorers Of Sky's world looks, from the jagged rock cliffs, to the instantly iconic bubble beach, to cozy interior of Wigglytuff's Guild, to Fogbound Lake, to the monochrome future world. Explorers realizes a world inhabitant by Pokemon so effectively, I doubt the game would be as immersive as it is without such strong art direction. And then there's the soundtrack, easily one of my all-time favorites in a video game. It has no business being as emotionally resonant as it is, each theme fits the area and situation pretty much perfectly, heightening the emotions at play in every scene. Throughout most of the game, the music is quite good, with highlights like Drenched Bluff, Wigglytuff's Guild, Treasure Town, Craggy Coast, Foggy Forest, Amp Plains, and Fogbound Lake standing out as especially comfy. But then you get to the final stretch and you are hit with some of the best and most powerful pieces of game music back-to-back-to-back, with Through The Sea Of Time, Temporal Tower, Dialga's Fight To The Finish, Don't Ever Forget, and Memories Returned all punching me in the gut every time I hear them.
It's kinda funny, because when people talk about immersive games, they're
usually talking about realistic cinematic games or immersive sims, not a
sprite-based dungeon crawler for the DS. And yet, Explorers Of Sky
managed to immerse me more than any other game I've played through the
sheer strength of its writing, world-building, and character work. I like hanging out in this world, I like going on adventures with my partner Cyndaquil, I like vibing with the Wigglytuff Guild gang, and that's enough to make me overlook any potential gameplay gripes I could've had with it. I tend to think gameplay beats out story, but Explorers Of Sky manages to be the exception that proves the rule.
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