Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - Rescue Team DX: An unexpected finale

"Oh baby baby / How was I supposed to know / That endgame was almost here?"

Well, that took me by surprise. Granted, I had been playing for 25 hours; granted, there were prior narrative hints already; and granted, I had uncovered a hefty 17 dungeons... and yet! The idea that the Sky Tower could be the very last main game dungeon honestly never crossed my mind. I was left gaping at the ending sequence, watching Sakura's and Pika-Cute's goodbyes with stunned and crestfallen eyes; and as the credits rolled, I felt a curious, bittersweet mix of joy and sadness wash over me. It was mission accomplished all right, and I could rightfully be proud of myself; and yet, I was left a bit unsated and vexed about what I saw as a premature ending.

Of course, should I want more crawling, the game would be perfectly happy to humour me. Just like its fellow Mystery Dungeon instalment Shiren the Wanderer, Rescue Team DX offers a middle-sized main game supplemented by a ludicrous mass of postgame dungeons, some of them absurdly enormous. We're talking about a whopping 28 dungeons here — including 6 dungeons with 99 floors — for a grand total of 1209 floors. 1209 floors, people! The mere though of tackling those monstrous afters makes me dizzy and faint — which is exactly why I'll wisely abstain from doing it. That being said, I'm still holding onto my save data, just in case I'm in a intense masochistic crawling mood one day. 

Anyway, those were 25 lovely hours. Granted, RTDX could have been a mite deeper, both in terms of story and gameplay: its humble GBA and DS Phat origins are still very apparent — so much so that it feels a tad too primitive and simplistic for a Switch game. The pacing could also use some tightening and spicing up — although I may have been distrait, it's embarrassing and not too normal that I couldn't smell the last dungeon coming. But playing RTDX made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside nonetheless; and that's all that matters, ain't it? And with that, my revisitation of PMD's first — and last — entry comes to a satisfying end; a happy end, even, considering that it virtually erased my underwhelming experience with Blue Rescue Team. And now, off to new gaming pastures!