If you’ve only played the demo or the first couple hours of the game, you could be tricked into thinking this game is very easy. This is one of the more difficult Pokémon games to launch in a long time, so we’ve prepared a list of tips you can use to help make your journey a little bit easier.
Tip 1: Ace the personality test to get your desired Pokémon
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX begins by asking you to take a personality test. This determines which starter Pokémon you’ll receive, and which Pokémon you’ll actually be playing as for a good portion of the game. This is a fun way to start but if you’re not happy with the selection the game has offered up, you can just choose instead. Pikachu and Charmander are excellent starters as their damage output is ridiculous compared to some of the other options. There are Pokémon from later generations too, if you’re looking to shake things up a bit.
Tip 2: Visit the Mystery House
Mystery Houses appear on various floors in dungeons and they contain friendly Pokémon who are keen to join your team, as well as useful items such as Max Elixirs. You’ll need an invitation to enter the house, but it’s easy enough to acquire one. Head to the Town Square and talk to the Kecleon. Invitations can be purchased for the hefty sum of 1,000 coins. If you find that the invitation isn’t in stock, simply wander off for a while and return later.
Tip 3: Press A to blast through the early game
Your Pokémon have a full moveset for you to utilise while exploring dungeons and enjoying the thrills of turn-based combat but there is a way to take the guesswork out of fights. Simply press A to perform the best move for that specific combat. Of course, you can disable at any point if you want full control of the situation. This is certainly useful in the early game where you may still be acclimating to your party’s strengths and weaknesses. Unfortunately, you cannot rely on this when the dungeons get progressively more difficult as you will need to conserve your most powerful attacks for dangerous encounters.
Tip 4: Hunt Strong Foes
Strong Foes are powerful enemies who can cut through your party like a hot knife through butter. It’s worth fighting them though, as they drop a Deluxe Box upon defeat, containing precious items including DX Gummies and Gold Dojo Tickets. If you’re hoping to add a new Pokemon to your party, going after a Strong Foe makes sense as you only want the best additions to your squad. In addition, some Shiny Pokémon are Strong Foes, making them an instant-pick for Shiny hunters—you’ll want your trusty Friend Bow for this. To get you started, you can find Rapidash in Mt. Steel and Ampharos in Sinister Woods.
Tip 5: Use the tunnel from your base to go directly to the Pelipper Office
One of the tiny quality of life changes to this remake is the addition of a tunnel to your base. You can find the tunnel on the right side of your base, travelling through it will take you directly to the Pelipper Office. This saves you the trek of having to walk through the Pokémon Square unless you specifically need something from that area. You can also find a similar tunnel in the Pelipper Office that takes you directly back to your base.
How long to complete: It took me around fifteen hours to complete the main storyline, though this could’ve been extended by at least three more hours if I chose to do all the side-quests. There’s a good amount of post-game content to complete, however, whether you find this to be an enjoyable experience is down to how much you love the game. If you want to see everything the game has to offer, expect to put in close to thirty hours.
Where to buy: Just like every first-party Nintendo game, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX will rarely ever drop in price. We’ve managed to find the game for £37.99 at Amazon which seems like a lot, but the alternative option is spending £49.99 on a digital version of the game at Nintendo’s eShop. There is a demo available for the game if you want to give it a try, and your save does transfer over if you purchase the full game at a later date.
Written for the April 21st issue of DailyBits.