The Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games are relatively new entries in the long running Mystery Dungeon series, having many themed versions of the game, with mostly the same mechanics. The Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series in particular has tended to be on the easier, and on the more accessible side. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity seems to have a desire to shed some of its mechanics, and even trading out 2D sprites for 3D polygons, and have a fresh start for the series going forward.
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity for the 3DS starts off when your character, a human, gets spirited away by a mysterious voice that you hear in your dreams. You wake up and discover that not only have you been whisked away to the Pokémon World, but that you have also taken on the form of a Pokémon. You select one of 5 different Pokémon to play as. The choices are the starters from Black and White which consist of Snivy, Oshawott, or Tepig, the other remaining choices being Pikachu and Axew. You then pick your primary partner Pokémon that will accompany you throughout the majority of the main game. Then after an introductory dungeon you end up in a barren land, on the outskirts of a Pokémon town called Post Town. You and your partner decide to make a team dedicated to making the empty land a Pokémon Paradise. This is to uplift the spirits of Pokémon and hopefully make the world a better place, as Pokémon only seem to either be cold or indifferent to each other. During your adventures you learn the reason for all this despair and bitterness, and of course you have to save the day: A very typical but adorable plot.
Gameplay consists of entering over-the-head perspective dungeons that are randomly generated. The floors are filled with loot, traps, and enemy Pokémon. Combat is done by holding the L button, facing the direction of your opponents, and hitting the face buttons. Like any Pokémon game you are limited to four moves to choose from, each with types that are strong or weak against others. The Pokémon themselves also have types. The moves also have a limited number of uses. Should you run out, you are left with a very weak attack option. As a Mystery Dungeon game, some moves function a bit differently than its traditional counterparts. Moves also have specific ranges that you can take advantage of based on your position. Your team can also execute Team Attacks. Some items can also be held, used, eaten, or thrown. You do have a limited inventory space however. Some floors also have field effects that prevent HP regeneration, or cause a slow HP drain effect. If you or your main partner fall in a dungeon and you do not posses a revival seed, you can submit a rescue request via the Streetpass feature. This lets you get bailed out of a jam and continue exploring. You can also rescue other players as well. This version of the game has also abolished the hunger meter from previous versions, to make the game more accessible to its audience.
In town you can buy and sell your loot, or take on requests to improve the Pokémon Paradise, which features a number of facilities that make dungeon exploration easier, or provide fun little diversions. The facilities can also be upgraded further. One feature of the game is the ‘Discover a Magnagate’. The 3DS uses it’s camera to scan for circular objects to unlock new mystery dungeons to explore. These dungeons will usually set you up with a random Pokémon team and have unlimited floors, meant to see how long you can go on before falling. Any items taken from the dungeons that are left over are sent to the deposit box. These items can then be used in the main game. There are also DLC dungeons that you can purchase to extend gameplay length. An option to play as the other Pokémon on your team that you left behind also exists. Perhaps to make op for lack of selectable Pokémon or to give you items from outside the main game. This is because many of the later parts of the game have long stretches where you can’t go back to town to buy things. These recruitable Pokémon are enemies that randomly ask to join your party after they are defeated. Local co-op play is also available.
While the gameplay and music are nice, there are some minor issues with the game. For one, the number of Pokémon to play the game as has been drastically reduced from 19 to 5. And the number of recruitable Pokémon to use as backup is only 151 from the last versions 490. Most of these are also from Pokémon Black and White. One other annoying thing is that the text speed cannot be altered; only automatically scrolled through, though you need to hold down the B button. None of the cut-scenes are skippable either. You would think Chunsoft would have learned by now. Also, the free reign gameplay takes a backseat to the main story mode, not truly being accessible until after the final chapter. Online play is nonexistent, which is a missed opportunity. The dungeon rescue feature would have benefited from online interaction as well. Despite these shortcomings though there is a fun game here, especially for all the Pokémon fans regardless of age, or whether they are new to the Pokémon or Mystery Dungeon series.
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