When people talk about the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games, and what they want to see, they usually go for things I, personally, find obvious: "all the pokemon, improved AI, better music, personality quizzes, a game closer to Sky than GTI, etc."
But, something that I've been thinking about: why not delve a bit deeper and make the games more true to their Mystery Dungeon roots?
I'm a huuuuuge fan of Rogue-Likes, so it was no surprise that I fell in love with this series, but truth be told...the PMD games are bit on the simplistic side, as far as games in the genre go. Now, I know, I know. It's because it's Pokemon, but imagine the potential.
-Berries found on the ground are simply labeled "berry" until you eat one. Then for the rest of the dungeon, all berries of that type are automatically identified for you. And, of course, any that you get out of the dungeon stay identified forever. Once your IQ becomes high enough, you get "berry master" which allows your character to be able to identify berries just by picking them up. This kind of system is a call back to the classic Rogue, by far. You would find random potions, some good, some bad, and until you drank it, you would have no idea what that color of potion did. Was that red potion a Potion of Healing, or was it a Potion of Blindness? This rule, of course, applies for ALL items, not just berries. You just found a scarf on the ground. Is it a pecha scarf? A power band? Or is it a dreaded whiff scarf. More on this in the next.
-Add "equipment." Now, I don't mean give Pokemon swords, and armor, and stuff. But consider what a Pokemon adventurer would wear, and remove that 1 hold item limit. Let's have our power bands, our x-ray specs; those crazy capes, and reintroduce the species items from TDS. With more "wearable" slots, you could make the items a bit more useful to have in the field, and thus, give them purpose. Of course, the identity would be a mystery until you equipped and used the item a bit. If it's an item that alters your stats, it automatically identifies itself when you wear it. If it's an item that activates under certain conditions (pecha scarf curing poison, whiff scarf making you miss thrown items), then it'll become identified when you activate its ability.
-'Look-alike' items and the classic "cursed" item. Another classic of the genre is the cursed item, and it is what the look-alike items from sky were based off of. They were items that appeared as any other, but often with the opposite effect, and in the case of a piece of equipment, they become stuck to you until you could lift the curse. A cursed pecha scarf? Wear it and become poisoned on every floor until you can get it removed. A look-alike oran berry? Eat it and take damage. They add to the challenge and danger, and make you always ask the question when you find a new item, "Do I experiment now, or do I wait until I'm closer to heading back to town before trying it out?" Of course, there will be a pokemon in town who helps you remove these "cursed" items...by using knock-off on you. Savvy players would then realize that if they get a pokemon with knock-off, they can remove the items themselves in dungeons, at the cost of a painful hit.
~~~~~~
Ultimately, these are just a few of the ideas that have popped into my head. But I would LOOOOOVE for the PMD series to introduce more of the "hardcore" mechanics that Rogue-Like games are known for. And in the end, I believe it could work.
Oh, and make weather not completely crap like in Gates. Holy cow. People praised the weather mechanic because it replaced hunger, but they failed to realize that it made weather based teams completely worthless. Wow. Oh, my team that uses weather boosts to gain ability buffs and damage boosts? Hope you guys don't like health regen. Ever.
But, something that I've been thinking about: why not delve a bit deeper and make the games more true to their Mystery Dungeon roots?
I'm a huuuuuge fan of Rogue-Likes, so it was no surprise that I fell in love with this series, but truth be told...the PMD games are bit on the simplistic side, as far as games in the genre go. Now, I know, I know. It's because it's Pokemon, but imagine the potential.
-Berries found on the ground are simply labeled "berry" until you eat one. Then for the rest of the dungeon, all berries of that type are automatically identified for you. And, of course, any that you get out of the dungeon stay identified forever. Once your IQ becomes high enough, you get "berry master" which allows your character to be able to identify berries just by picking them up. This kind of system is a call back to the classic Rogue, by far. You would find random potions, some good, some bad, and until you drank it, you would have no idea what that color of potion did. Was that red potion a Potion of Healing, or was it a Potion of Blindness? This rule, of course, applies for ALL items, not just berries. You just found a scarf on the ground. Is it a pecha scarf? A power band? Or is it a dreaded whiff scarf. More on this in the next.
-Add "equipment." Now, I don't mean give Pokemon swords, and armor, and stuff. But consider what a Pokemon adventurer would wear, and remove that 1 hold item limit. Let's have our power bands, our x-ray specs; those crazy capes, and reintroduce the species items from TDS. With more "wearable" slots, you could make the items a bit more useful to have in the field, and thus, give them purpose. Of course, the identity would be a mystery until you equipped and used the item a bit. If it's an item that alters your stats, it automatically identifies itself when you wear it. If it's an item that activates under certain conditions (pecha scarf curing poison, whiff scarf making you miss thrown items), then it'll become identified when you activate its ability.
-'Look-alike' items and the classic "cursed" item. Another classic of the genre is the cursed item, and it is what the look-alike items from sky were based off of. They were items that appeared as any other, but often with the opposite effect, and in the case of a piece of equipment, they become stuck to you until you could lift the curse. A cursed pecha scarf? Wear it and become poisoned on every floor until you can get it removed. A look-alike oran berry? Eat it and take damage. They add to the challenge and danger, and make you always ask the question when you find a new item, "Do I experiment now, or do I wait until I'm closer to heading back to town before trying it out?" Of course, there will be a pokemon in town who helps you remove these "cursed" items...by using knock-off on you. Savvy players would then realize that if they get a pokemon with knock-off, they can remove the items themselves in dungeons, at the cost of a painful hit.
~~~~~~
Ultimately, these are just a few of the ideas that have popped into my head. But I would LOOOOOVE for the PMD series to introduce more of the "hardcore" mechanics that Rogue-Like games are known for. And in the end, I believe it could work.
Oh, and make weather not completely crap like in Gates. Holy cow. People praised the weather mechanic because it replaced hunger, but they failed to realize that it made weather based teams completely worthless. Wow. Oh, my team that uses weather boosts to gain ability buffs and damage boosts? Hope you guys don't like health regen. Ever.
