Parents' Guide to

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness

By Erin Bell, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 8+

Become a Pokemon and explore random dungeons.

Game Nintendo DS 2008
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

Community Reviews

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age 8+

Based on 1 parent review

GirlLegend6
GirlLegend6 Adult
May 9, 2015
age 8+

Great messages!

This game is all about adventure, friendship, and teamwork, all while you interact with your favorite Pokémon! It will teach kids to try their best, and to be adventurous.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
Easy to play/use
See all 1 parent review

What’s It About?

After the rather shaky Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team, the follow-up POKEMON MYSTERY DUNGEON: EXPLORERS OF DARKNESS boasts more depth. The game is another attempt to graft a Pokemon theme onto the format of the long-running Mystery Dungeon series, unique for its randomly-generated dungeons (maze-type environments) and harsh penalties for defeat. A second version of the game, subtitled EXPLORERS OF TIME, is virtually the same experience with a handful of different Pokemon and items.

In a twist, you're actually a human who wakes up transformed into a Pokemon and with amnesia. You then select a companion from another set of Pokemon, who will trail behind you and attack automatically. You join an adventurer's guild, earning fame and fortune exploring mystery dungeons while also investigating the mystery of the human's identity and the reason for strange rifts in time that are occurring.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1):
Kids say (6):

Explorers of Darkness is heavier on role-play than simply random exploration. Basic gameplay consists of taking on quests at the guild, such as exploring dungeons to hunt down outlaw Pokemon or find missing Pokemon or items. There are also scripted events that occur regularly as your party advances in guild rank. Also, you don't necessarily have to make it to the end of a dungeon to win but can warp back to the guild after completing a mission. Through Wi-Fi you can "rescue" fallen friends and exchange items and Pokemon teams with another player.

Still, the game is still super-frustrating if your party gets defeated – and it will happen a lot. Not only will you lose all gold and some of your items, but any quest you had completed (without warping back immediately) will be reset for you to do all over again. It's this harshness that takes some of the fun out of Explorers of Darkness. Also, you'll have to endure the same unskippable eating and sleeping cutscenes each day, and production values still more closely resemble a Game Boy Advance game than a Nintendo DS title.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how the random dungeon format is different from typically linear Point A-to-Point B experience of past Pokemon games. Which format do players prefer?

Game Details

  • Platform: Nintendo DS
  • Available online?: Not available online
  • Publisher: Nintendo
  • Release date: April 20, 2008
  • Genre: Role-Playing
  • ESRB rating: E for Mild Cartoon Violence
  • Last updated: November 4, 2015

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