Announced during the Pokémon Direct of January 9, 2020 and released on March 6, 2020 on Nintendo Switch, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX is the remake of the first two Mystery Dungeon games, Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team. Same story, same dungeons, but a watercolor presentation and many comfort features. A great way to rediscover a classic.
An unchanged story
The hero wakes up transformed into a Pokémon, with no memories, in a world struck by natural disasters. Together with their partner, they found a rescue team to help Pokémon in need. The story, moving and far darker than you would expect, is identical to the 2006 one. For the dungeon-by-dungeon walkthrough, our guide to the original remains valid.
A real facelift
The watercolor-style scenery is gorgeous, and the additions change the experience: an auto mode that moves the team until the first enemy, the A button that picks the best attack, teams of up to eight members, the ability to switch leaders in every dungeon, moves up to the seventh generation and new Pokémon, mostly evolutions and pre-evolutions from the early generations. See the new features.
Recruiting and powerful Pokémon
The powerful Pokémon, one per dungeon and sometimes shiny, and the Mystery Houses, opened with an Invitation Letter, give you good reasons to explore every corner. Recruiting is still tied to rescue camps. See recruiting.
The drawbacks
The remake stays faithful to a 2006 game: rescue missions are repetitive, and the difficulty spikes suddenly late in the story. Passwords and Wonder Mails keep their charm, but the content has not been expanded beyond the original.
Our verdict
A polished, comfortable remake, ideal for discovering Mystery Dungeon or coming back to it, that doesn’t dare to expand its content.
What we like
- A superb watercolor art direction
- Very welcome comfort features
- A story that is as touching as ever
- Powerful, shiny Pokémon to recruit
What we like less
- A very faithful remake with no new storyline
- Repetitive missions
- A difficulty spike late in the story
