Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon:
Gates to Infinity
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon:; Gates to Infinity
	Cover art
Developer(s)	Spike Chunsoft
Publisher(s)	JP: The Pokémon Company; WW: Nintendo;
Director(s)	Seiichiro Nagahata; Hironori Ishigami
Producer(s)	Koichi Nakamura; Takato Utsunomiya; Kunimi Kawamura; Hitoshi Yamagami
Artist(s)	Hisashi Nagai
Writer(s)	Shin-ichiro Tomie
Composer(s)	Keisuke Ito; Yasuhiro Kawagoe
Series	Pokémon Mystery Dungeon
Platform(s)	Nintendo 3DS
Release	JP: 23 November 2012; NA: 24 March 2013; EU: 17 May 2013; AU: 18 May 2013;
Genre(s)	Roguelike

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity (ポケモン不思議のダンジョンマグナゲートと∞迷宮, Pokémon Fushigi no Dungeon: Magnagate to Mugendai Meikyū, lit. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Magnagate and the Infinite Labyrinth) is a role-playing game in the Pokémon franchise developed by Spike Chunsoft and published by The Pokémon Company and Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. It is the ninth installment in the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series, and was released in Japan on November 23, 2012, in North America on March 24, 2013, in Europe on May 17, 2013 and in Australia on May 18, 2013.

Like other Mystery Dungeon games, Gates to Infinity features turn-based combat in a tiled dungeon environment which changes as the player character, a human turned into a Pokémon, progresses from floor to floor. Reviews for the game were mixed, although it generally received lower scores than its predecessors.

Gameplay

The game heavily features Pokémon from the Unova region, with Pikachu, Oshawott, Tepig, Snivy, and Axew being the starters of the game, with the "personality test" present in the Rescue Team and Explorers installments absent.^[4]^[5] The game has a 3D art style and makes use of the 3D capabilities of the 3DS.^[6] Instead of the usual 2D sprites, the game utilizes more complex 3D models, and also uses the 3DS' camera and sensors for the players to find round objects and turn them into portals. The portals, called Magnagates,^[7] hence the title of the game, need to be unlocked and act as gateways to new dungeons.^[8] The game's hub area is titled Pokémon Paradise and contains many Pokémon that provide services built by the player.^[9] Gates to Infinity also features "augmented reality options"; by scanning objects in the "real world" additional dungeons may be unlocked.^[10] The game features both free and paid downloadable content, in the form of additional dungeons.^[2]

Plot

Similar to the older Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games, the game starts with the player having a weird dream and waking as a Pokémon.^[8] Upon arrival, the player meets a partner Pokémon, who intends to construct a "Pokémon Paradise" near a settlement called Post Town. In the process of doing so, they befriend several Pokémon, including Dunsparce, Emolga, Virizion, Umbreon and Espeon. Later on, the player meets Hydreigon who had featured in the player's dreams. Initially believed to be a villain, Hydreigon reveals himself to be the physical embodiment of the Voice of Life, who brought the player and other humans into the Pokémon world to save it. Kyurem eventually confronts the player, the partner Pokémon and Hydreigon, who destroys Hydreigon and severely wounds the player to stop them from destroying the Bittercold – a presence created by the growing negative emotions of Pokémon which threatens to destroy the world, as he did with other human-turned Pokémon.

Some time later, the group returns to rescue Keldeo who was held captive by Kyurem, and defeats Kyurem and the Bittercold with the support from the Pokémon in Post Town and Paradise. Hydreigon is reconstituted shortly afterwards, and the group celebrates their victory. However, the player is forced to return and vanish from the Pokémon world, to the strong grief of others.

The game then continues, focusing on the partner Pokémon. Hydreigon discovers a way for the player to return, revealing that the partner Pokémon must traverse across a dungeon known as Worldcore to make a wish for the player to return. The partner Pokémon realizes that taking the player from their loved ones would be horribly selfish of them, and instead wishes for the player to be able to freely cross dimensions.

Reception

Aggregate scores
Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	62.34%^[11]
Metacritic	59/100^[12]

Review scores
Publication	Score
Destructoid	8/10^[13]
Electronic Gaming Monthly	3.5/10^[14]
Famitsu	38/40^[15]
Game Informer	6.75/10^[16]
GameSpot	5/10^[17]
GamesRadar+	^[18]
IGN	4.5/10^[19]

Gates to Infinity received mixed reviews.^[20] IGN rated the game 4.5/10, stating "Gates to Infinity fails as both a Pokémon and a Mystery Dungeon game, and reaching its meatiest content requires playing through hours and hours of tedium. Its deep supplementary features can't overcome the fact that its moment-to-moment play feels so watered down as to be completely pointless," and summing it up as "bad".^[19] GameSpot also reviewed the game negatively, commenting "it's as cute as a button, but dull, simplistic dungeon exploration drags Gates to Infinity into mediocrity," and scored it a 5/10.^[17] GamesRadar stated that there are "moments of fun to be had with the game, particularly when the narrative hits its stride, but with little variety in the quests you’ll be taking on, and no real depth to the combat, the experience grows old very quickly, making it a difficult recommendation," and gave the game 2.5 stars out of 5.^[18] However, Destructoid gave it an 8/10 score, noting the much easier difficulty compared to previous games and praising the game for its visuals.^[13]

The game has sold 374,000 copies in Japan as of January 2013 and 298,000 copies in the United States as of September 2013.^[21]^[22]

References

^ Spencer (4 October 2012). "3DS Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Set For November Release". SiliconEra. Archived from the original on 20 February 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
^ ^a ^b Ishaan (15 February 2013). "Pokémon Mystery Dungeon 3DS Has A New Trailer And A European Release Date". SiliconEra. Archived from the original on 4 September 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
^ "NINTENDO AUSTRALIA ANNOUNCE THE RELEASE DATE FOR SEVERAL HIGHLY-ANTICIPATED NINTENDO 3DS GAMES". Nintendo Australia. 25 February 2013. Archived from the original on 26 June 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
^ ^a ^b Caruana, Christine. "3DS News: Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon returns to the 3DS". CVG - computerandvideogames.com. Archived from the original on 16 September 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
^ Jackson, Mike. "3DS News: First Pokémon Mystery Dungeon 3DS trailer released". CVG - computerandvideogames.com. Archived from the original on 23 December 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
^ Martin, Liam (14 September 2012). "'Pokémon Mystery Dungeon' sequel announced for 3DS". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 18 July 2013. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
^ Lucas M. Thomas (14 September 2012). "Pokemon Mystery Dungeon 3DS Announced". IGN. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
^ ^a ^b Water Pokémon Master (13 September 2012). "New 3DS Game – 'Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Magnagate and the Infinite Labyrinth'". PokeBeach. Archived from the original on 16 September 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
^ Ishaan (13 October 2012). "Pokémon Mystery Dungeon 3DS Story Deals With Lugia, Ho-oh And Kyurem". SiliconEra. Archived from the original on 11 August 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
^ Rose, Mike (13 September 2012). "Pokemon Mystery Dungeon for Nintendo 3DS debuting in Japan this winter". Pocket Gamer. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
^ "Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity". GameRankings. Archived from the original on 30 July 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
^ "Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 23 September 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
^ ^a ^b "Review: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity". Destructoid. Archived from the original on 19 April 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
^ Camron, Marc. "EGM Review: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity". EGM. Archived from the original on 10 October 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
^ "Famitsu Review Scores: Issue 1249". Gematsu. November 14, 2012. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
^ Hilliard, Kyle (22 March 2013). "Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity Review". Game Informer. Archived from the original on 24 August 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
^ ^a ^b Kemps, Heidi. "Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 7 April 2013. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
^ ^a ^b Knezevic, Kevin (22 March 2013). "Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity review". GamesRadar. Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
^ ^a ^b Parish, Jeremy (27 March 2013). "Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
^ Neltz, András (28 March 2013). "Six Critics Clash Over Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates To Infinity". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 17 May 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
^ Handrahan, Matthew (28 January 2013). "Pokemon tops 2012 software chart in Japan". GamesIndustry. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
^ Makuch, Eddie (12 September 2013). "Pikmin 3 US sales reach 115,000 units". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 4 October 2013.