[Complete] Mystery Dungeon and Main Series: What They Can Learn From Each Other

[SirBoglor]

I have had quite an admiration for the Mystery Dungeon series. In fact, Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky is my favorite Pokemon game, trumping every main series game on my list. So for this reason, I would like to compile an in-depth article for the sake of comparison, as well as explanation for those unfamiliar with the spin offs. I should note that I don't plan on polishing up either side to make one look better than the other.

The base structure of this article will be essentially a standard compare and contrast. Here's my base layout with some vital points that I plan on addressing.

Beginning
- General intro.
- Debrief of Mystery Dungeon for those less familiar
- Shorter Debrief for the main series games. Just to lay out the raw structures of both for clarity's sake

Story Structure
- From trainer to pokemon
- Linear stories
- The endgame/post-game

Characters and Their Development
- How being a pokemon changes perspective
- How being a trainer changes perspective
- The dynamics of the character interactions

Gameplay
- Is Mystery Dungeon's battling system really that different?
- The generated dungeons
- Trainer battles and wild pokemon
- The endgame/post-game

The Games and Their Worlds
- Mystery Dungeon and nature
- Main Series and their civilizations
- Intrigue vs. familiarity

Visuals
- The graphical upgrades/previews that Mystery Dungeon gives
- Art styles
- 2D and 3D

Music/Game Sounds
- Writing the music, and what makes it harder/easier to do for both series of games
- Correlation with cutscenes and emotions.
- Battling sounds

Conclusion
- The different experiences that both game series have to offer
- Why both have their highs and lows
- Why the reader should enjoy the differences

This is the core of what I would like to write. So, what do you think? Be sure to let me know! I plan on putting a great amount of thought and effort into this if it gets approved, so hopefully there aren't any issues with my idea. But if there are, don't hesitate to tell me!

 

[SirBoglor]

Okay, I'm going to start with a rough draft for the prelude. While I likely won't be looking for too much assistance in regards to the content itself, I should note that I am extremely inexperienced when it comes to cleaning things up visually and making the article look nice (pictures, background, things like that.) I'll of course be implementing any feedback from other areas too.

Mystery Dungeon And Main Series: What They Can Learn From Each Other​

Welcome, trainers and explorers! This is the start of a series where important comparisons are made between the main series franchise that we all know and love, and the spin off series known as Mystery Dungeon. It should be stated that this will not be for the purpose of making one side look better than the other. The focus of this is to observe what both groups of games can learn from each other, as well as noting what makes the experience of playing them so unique and different. This article will set up the foundations for this by giving a general synopsis of both.

The Foundation For Mystery Dungeon​

The Mystery Dungeon games started during the third generation of Pokemon with the Installments Blue Rescue Team and Red Rescue Team. In these games, you're no longer a trainer as you're used to. In a huge twist, you are actually human who was transformed into a Pokemon and thrown into a completely new world! What's even more interesting is that humans don't exist in the world of Mystery Dungeon, with the exception of yourself. This grabbed the attention of fans since nothing like this had been delivered from Game Freak before. Mystery Dungeon seemed to have found success too, considering the multiple installments of the spin off series. These games gave the franchise a completely new experience for the players to enjoy. Rather than going town to town with your Pokemon collecting gym badges, you were exploring caves and ruins with your partner collecting treasure and relics while rescuing those in need. A different experience indeed.

The Foundation For Main Series​

 

[bobandbill]

Okay, I'm going to start with a rough draft for the prelude. While I likely won't be looking for too much assistance in regards to the content itself, I should note that I am extremely inexperienced when it comes to cleaning things up visually and making the article look nice (pictures, background, things like that.) I'll of course be implementing any feedback from other areas too.

No worries there - we'll be taking care of presentation when transferring to wordpress and you'll also get to check how it looks before it's published. Images like how you've done is fine. If you want images to have captions then just include said caption below the image in italics in the drafts.

Overall seems good! Minor comments:
- No centering for headers (you can continue with that rn, but we'll just left align headers in the wordpress version)
- "In a huge twist, you are actually a human who was transformed into a Pokemon and thrown into a completely new world!"
- On that note, Pokémon rather than Pokemon (accented e). You don't need to worry about that rn, a find + replace when you're finished is the quick way to fix that.
- As we're splitting this up into different articles, we'll set it up as an article series - ergo we need a name for said series. Also an excerpt for the article (1-2 sentences giving the gist of what the article is about - it appears below the article title both on the article page and the homepage/comment thread).

 

[SirBoglor]

Overall seems good! Minor comments:
- No centering for headers (you can continue with that rn, but we'll just left align headers in the wordpress version)
- "In a huge twist, you are actually a human who was transformed into a Pokemon and thrown into a completely new world!"
- On that note, Pokémon rather than Pokemon (accented e). You don't need to worry about that rn, a find + replace when you're finished is the quick way to fix that.
- As we're splitting this up into different articles, we'll set it up as an article series - ergo we need a name for said series. Also an excerpt for the article (1-2 sentences giving the gist of what the article is about - it appears below the article title both on the article page and the homepage/comment thread).

My apologies, I actually wasn't finished with this draft yet. I just posted it anyways for some initial impressions. However, the issues presented definitely apply regardless. The excerpt would be really wise, I'll definitely do that. As for the title of the series, I'm not really sure about the name. I'll give it some thought.

I'm actually fairly busy right now, but Spring Break starts next week so expect a full draft of this first part by week's end. The next ones should be written steadily and consistently afterwards.

 

[bobandbill]

My apologies, I actually wasn't finished with this draft yet. I just posted it anyways for some initial impressions. However, the issues presented definitely apply regardless. The excerpt would be really wise, I'll definitely do that. As for the title of the series, I'm not really sure about the name. I'll give it some thought.

I'm actually fairly busy right now, but Spring Break starts next week so expect a full draft of this first part by week's end. The next ones should be written steadily and consistently afterwards.

That's okay, I was aware (or leastways assumed) that wasn't the full draft, haha. I just decided to offer those points while I was looking at the thread. No rush with the draft either - when you have time to work on it is fine. =)

 

[SirBoglor]

Hello, I just want to see how you are getting on with this and whether this thread still needs to be open or not.

Dear goodness. I am so, so sorry. I recently moved out of college, and I completely forgot abut it with all of this life going on lately. I can have a final draft by week's end for sure. I know that there aren't necessarily deadlines, but I'll give myself one just to make sure that it gets done. So sorry for the inconvenience!

 

[SirBoglor]

Well, hello again. It has been a while, but I finally found the time/need to write up a full draft of this. Sorry for all of this delay, the spring semester really kicked my butt. But now, it is time to write this series and make my mark. I am still struggling greatly with a proper title for this series, but I will figure something out soon enough. Also, does this feel perhaps a bit too short, even for it being an introductory article? With that being said, here it is.

Mystery Dungeon and Main Series: Prologue


Synopsis: Let's take a look at the Mystery Dungeon games alongside the main series games that we all know and love. What will they have to offer each other?​

Welcome, trainers and explorers! This is the start of a series where important comparisons are made between the main series franchise that we all know and love, and the spin off series known as Mystery Dungeon. It should be stated that this series will not be for making one side look better than the other. The focus of this is to observe what both groups of games can learn from each other, as well as noting what makes the experience of playing them so unique and different. This article will set up the foundations for this by giving a general synopsis of both.

The Foundation For Mystery Dungeon​

The Mystery Dungeon games started during the third generation of Pokémon with the Installments Blue Rescue Team and Red Rescue Team. In these games, you are no longer a trainer as you may be used to. In a huge twist, you are now a Pokémon thrown into a completely new world! What's even more interesting is that humans only exist in the world of Mystery Dungeon as legends. With nothing like this coming from the franchise before, the attention of many fans was grabbed. Mystery Dungeon seems to have found success too, considering the multiple installments of the spin off series. These games gave the franchise a completely new experience for the players to enjoy. Rather than going town to town with your Pokémon collecting gym badges, you were exploring caves and ruins with your partner. You were an adventurer, collecting treasure and relics while rescuing those in need.

The Foundation For Main Series​

If you're a Pokémon fan, then you likely know the games that so many love. In each generation, there has always been a main set of games. These games follow yourself as a young Pokémon trainer. You are not a Pokémon, but a valued partner and friend instead. You travel throughout a specific region, strengthening the bonds between you and your Pokémon. You will eventually be looking to become champion, whether you want to call yourself the best battler or brag about your filled Pokédex. During your journey, you will generally meet a cast of characters and villains while unraveling some sort of story. While the specifics of these experiences differ greatly with each generation, the foundation of Pokémon is always there. You are a trainer, simply looking to grow and embark on an epic journey.

The Important Differences​

There are many differences to observe when comparing these sets of games. The music is written with different things in mind. The gameplay structure is vastly different, aside from the turned based movements that we all know. The characters play different roles and interact with each other in interesting ways. Even the art and storytelling take separate paths away from each other. When this much contrast occurs, it makes comparing them worthwhile. This not only allows us to appreciate the different yet wonderful games, but helps us understand what they can learn from one another. Every aspect of these games is going to be observed, so one can better understand what makes them so unique.

To start off the in-depth comparing, the stories that both sets of games tell will be analyzed. This will come with the next installment of this series. Until then, which games have you enjoyed more? Did you love the spin-off series Mystery Dungeon? Or do you prefer the original masterpieces?

 

[Z25]

Very good! I like the article idea, see no grammar mistakes and the set up for the rest of the series comes after a good pace.

Looking forward to final product and the series! Also Mystery Dungeon all the way for me. Although Black and White is amazing imo.

 

[SirBoglor]

Okay, so I'm finally starting to finalize this article. Is there anything that you all may recommend content wise to add on? My only concern currently is length, as the article is not as long as I would like it to be.

 

[bobandbill]

Okay, so I'm finally starting to finalize this article. Is there anything that you all may recommend content wise to add on? My only concern currently is length, as the article is not as long as I would like it to be.

If you don't want to go into story analysis for this first article, you could compare broader things like who made the games, what platforms they appeared on (PMD has been on the Wii for one eshop version iirc; main series have been strictly handheld). Maybe a quick mention of sales? https://vgsales.wikia.com/wiki/Pokémon Otherwise I think it will also look longer when on Daily compared to forum-view. You can try out putting it in an article draft on that note now you have the account set up!

This is the start of a series where important comparisons are made between the main series franchise that we all know and love, and the spin off series known as Mystery Dungeon.

spin-off with the hyphen or spinoff as one word, imo. There's another instance later of this too.

No other issues, bar maybe consider captions for the images if you wanted them to have those (you can just put that in the Daily draft though). Looks like a good start to me!