Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time & Darkness

Titles	Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time · Explorers of Darkness ポケモン不思議のダンジョン 時の探検隊 · 闇の探検隊 (Pokémon Fushigi no Dungeon: Toki no Tankentai · Yami no Tankentai)
Platform	Nintendo DS (DS Wireless and Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection)
Developer	Chunsoft
Publisher	Nintendo (The Pokémon Company in Japan)
Directors	Seiichiro Nagahata · Hironori Ishigami
Producers	Koichi Nakamura · Hiroaki Tsuru · Hiroyuki Jinnai · Kunimi Kawamura · Hitoshi Yamagami
Music	Arata Iiyoshi · Hideki Sakamoto · Keisuke Ito · Ryoma Nakamura · Kenichi Saito
Players	1 (Friend Rescue and Wonder Mail S link up with other players)
Genre	Roguelike dungeon crawler
Pokémon	491: every Pokémon of Generations I–IV except Shaymin and Arceus
Hero & partner	16 hero Pokémon (set by the personality quiz) · 13 partners
Released	13 September 2007 (Japan and Taiwan) · 20 April 2008 (North America) · 19 June 2008 (Australia) · 4 July 2008 (Europe) · 11 December 2008 (South Korea)
Re-releases	None (the enhanced Explorers of Sky reached the Wii U Virtual Console in 2016)
Rating	ESRB E · PEGI 3 · CERO A · OFLC G
Predecessor	Red & Blue Rescue Team (2005)
Successor	Explorers of Sky (2009), an enhanced version of the same story
Sales	4.50 million combined (Nintendo, March 2009) · 1.52 million in Japan

Overview · Quick Answers · Story · Pokémon · Gameplay · Treasure Town & the Guild · Regional Variations · Glitches · Videos · Trivia · Legacy · Sales & Reviews · Media

Overview

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness are the second pair of games released in the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series. All Pokémon up to the fourth generation are present in the games, except for Arceus and Shaymin.

Since the games are the successors to Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red & Blue Rescue Team, they share a lot of gameplay features with them. The story is a new one, but it still revolves around a human who has been transformed into a Pokémon and lost their memories. As a Pokémon they journey across different dungeons, focusing more on exploration than on rescuing other Pokémon, compared to the previous games.

The gameplay and graphics are almost the same as Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team, with the addition of a few more Wi-Fi and dual-screen features.

Quick Answers

The questions people ask about Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness, answered first and explained further down the page.

What is the difference between Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness?

Very little. The story, dungeons and features are the same in both. The real difference is the exclusives: Time has Butterfree, Combee, Pachirisu, Riolu, Lucario and Celebi, while Darkness has Beedrill, Burmy, Buneary, Rotom and Mewtwo. Some items and TMs differ too, and Black Gummis turn up far more often in Darkness. More →

Can I choose my partner Pokémon in Explorers of Time and Darkness?

Yes. Your hero is set by the personality quiz and your gender, but you pick the partner yourself. It can be Pikachu or any of the twelve Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh starters, as long as it doesn’t share the hero’s type. Munchlax, Skitty and Meowth can be the hero but never the partner. More →

How do I get Mewtwo and Celebi?

Each is tied to one version. Celebi appears only in Explorers of Time, at Mystifying Forest. Mewtwo appears only in Explorers of Darkness, on Aegis Cave Pit B5F and in Dark Crater. Both are rare. The only way to get either in the other version was a limited-time Wi-Fi mission, which owners can still pass on by local wireless. More →

Can you still play Explorers of Time and Darkness? Are they on Switch?

Only on the original DS cards, which work on DS, DSi and 3DS systems. Neither version has been re-released, and neither is on Nintendo Switch Online. Online rescues ended when Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection closed in May 2014, but local wireless still works. Explorers of Sky reached the Wii U Virtual Console in 2016, and that eShop closed in 2023. More →

How many Pokémon are in Explorers of Time and Darkness?

491: every Pokémon from the first four generations except Shaymin and Arceus. Most can be recruited, though some only through the other version, Wonder Mail S jobs or special missions. Sixteen species can be the hero and thirteen the partner. Legendaries such as Groudon, Kyogre and Rayquaza guard the Seven Treasures. More →

Should I play Time and Darkness or Explorers of Sky?

Explorers of Sky (2009) tells the same story with extras. It adds Spinda’s Café, five Special Episodes, new hero choices such as Riolu, Shinx and Vulpix, Shaymin and Destiny Tower, plus many balance tweaks. On the other hand, Wonder Mail codes from Time and Darkness don’t work in Sky, so the two can’t be linked. More →

Story

A new exploration team

The game starts out with the player, transformed into a Pokémon after a failed time travel, lying unconscious on a beach. Their Pokémon partner, who was wandering around the beach, finds the player, informing them that they are now a Pokémon.

The partner possesses a rare item called the Relic Fragment and wants to uncover the shrouded mystery around it. To do so, they want to join the local exploration club, Wigglytuff’s Guild, which is famous for its countless exploration expeditions. But the partner isn’t so sure about themselves and soon gives up. Suddenly, a Koffing and a Zubat from Team Skull appear and steal the partner’s Relic Fragment. The player helps their partner recover the stolen item, and after seeing how courageous and self-confident the player was, the partner decides to pursue their love for legends and uncover the truth behind their treasured item, by joining Wigglytuff’s Guild with the player, as a new team.

The newly formed team spends its first days in the Guild learning about Treasure Town, where they have to stay, and the local people. They meet many members of Wigglytuff’s Guild, starting with Wigglytuff itself, a great and kind leader. They then meet an easily angered Chatot, who turns out to be the second Pokémon in command. They soon encounter the rest of the members, including Sunflora, Dugtrio, Diglett, Chimecho, Bidoof and Loudred, each of them having a particular responsibility to fulfil in the Guild.

After meeting everyone and the other exploration teams, they discover that the world is facing a great hazard, as many Pokémon have gone rogue because of the time disruption and are spreading chaos across the land. Soon the player also discovers that they have a special gift, as they can see both the past and the future when they come into contact with certain items. A Dusknoir later explains that it’s an ability called the Dimensional Scream. With many new dungeons open, the team starts their quest, helping the Guild with whichever task they are presented with.

The Time Gears

After the team arrests Drowzee, the player learns from their partner about the legend of the Time Gears. They are said to be very powerful artefacts that maintain the flow of time within each region, and removing them would disrupt it and freeze time in their respective area. As the game progresses, the Guild decides to go on an expedition to Fogbound Lake. Reaching the foggy area, the player feels the place is familiar, but has no explanation as to why. Soon, they encounter Groudon, which they defeat and which turns out to be a mere illusion created by Uxie, the lake’s guardian.

It is revealed that a Time Gear is located at the centre of the lake, and Uxie guards it by erasing the memories of whoever sets foot there. But, after the partner pleads with it, Uxie decides to trust the Guild members, and lets them return home without erasing anyone’s memory. The team meets Dusknoir, the renowned explorer, who reveals that the phenomenon happening to the player is an ability they possess called the Dimensional Scream. After hearing the player’s full story, Dusknoir promises to help them by any means.

Later on, word of a Time Gear being stolen spreads within the Guild, and a bounty is set on Grovyle, who’s said to be the thief. Everyone in the Guild is determined to capture Grovyle and protect the rest of the Time Gears. Many Guild members are dispatched to find the remaining artefacts, and Dusknoir offers its help once again. While searching the Northern Desert, the player’s team makes its way down through Quicksand Cave and finds the Underground Lake, where one of the Time Gears is found, protected by Mesprit. The team defeats Mesprit and tries to explain their intentions, but they are interrupted by Grovyle, who appears out of nowhere and beats all the Pokémon present, including Mesprit.

Grovyle then steals the Time Gear and runs away. Mesprit and the player’s team barely manage to escape before they’re frozen in time in that area. Upon returning to the Guild’s headquarters, the Pokémon feel desperate, as they have no lead on when and where Grovyle will show up next. But Dusknoir steps in and explains how Grovyle’s next target would be a lake guarded by Azelf. In fact, Mesprit, the being of emotion, and Uxie, the being of knowledge, were both guarding lakes where a Time Gear was found. Azelf, the being of willpower, should likewise be guarding a lake where another Time Gear is hidden. Dusknoir’s words return hope to the Guild members. Dusknoir then makes the player touch an item that Bidoof found in the Crystal Cave, which triggers the Dimensional Scream, giving the player a vision of Grovyle defeating Azelf. As the Dimensional Scream can show both the future and the past, Chimecho worries that this might be the past and that Grovyle might already have got its hands on the Time Gear.

Dusknoir calms them, believing that there’s still hope, as it’s sure the vision is of the future. The Guild starts searching for the lake, and soon finds Crystal Lake, beyond the depths of the Crystal Cave at the end of Crystal Crossing, where they witness Azelf being defeated by Grovyle. Unlike the other guardians, Azelf had an emergency measure to protect the Time Gear: it springs a crystal trap that crystallises the peninsula holding the Time Gear, making it unreachable. The annoyed thief then turns on the player’s team, and the story treats the battle that follows as a loss: the partner is left badly injured, until Dusknoir appears and steps in to save it. Dusknoir and Grovyle seem to know each other well, and after the confrontation, Grovyle escapes while Dusknoir chases it.

A few moments later, the rest of the Guild members show up and take the injured Pokémon back to the headquarters. There, the player’s partner reawakens and tells the others how Dusknoir and Grovyle know each other. An emergency alarm is then rung, and all the Guild members meet in the town. They find Dusknoir, who reveals that both Grovyle and itself are from the future, with Grovyle being a dangerous criminal that wants to stop time and cover the world in darkness. Dusknoir was assigned the task of following Grovyle, who fled to the past, and capturing it. After hearing Dusknoir’s story, everyone decides to lend it a helping hand.

Azelf seems to have a plan in mind. It wants the Guild members to spread the word that Mesprit, Uxie and Azelf itself are trying to seal the Time Gear at Crystal Lake once and for all, and there they’ll ambush Grovyle and capture it. Everyone is excited by the plan and wants to join in, yet Dusknoir wants to be the only one to accompany the trio on their mission. A few days after the guardians and Dusknoir have left, good news arrives of Grovyle’s capture, and of how Dusknoir is planning to return with it to the future. To do so, Dusknoir has opened a Dimensional Hole in the town square. Everyone gathers there, but Dusknoir is nowhere to be found. Suddenly, it appears with two Sableye and Grovyle. Grovyle is slowly escorted to the Dimensional Hole, and Dusknoir says farewell and heads towards it. Surprisingly, before it enters, Dusknoir grabs the player and their partner and jumps into the Dimensional Hole, which vanishes before anyone else can act.

Escaping the future

The player’s team wakes up to find themselves imprisoned somewhere. A few moments later, a group of Sableye working as guards escort the team to another room and tie the two to poles, along with Grovyle. Dusknoir then appears and orders the Sableye to execute all three of them. Grovyle, who believes that there is a chance for the ropes to break, tries to convince the two to cooperate, so they can run away together.

The ropes indeed break, and together Grovyle and the player’s team defeat the Sableye guards. Grovyle then uses a Luminous Orb, allowing everyone to get somewhere safe. Once they are outside, the player soon learns that they are in the future, where time has been frozen, and the whole planet with it. The player’s team and Grovyle split up, but just then more Sableye show up and chase after them. As the partner starts losing hope, the player decides to go back after Grovyle and learn how to get back to the present.

They find Grovyle knocked out by a Spiritomb, which they eventually defeat. Now that it is safe, Grovyle tells the team the real story: the reason time is frozen in the future is that the Temporal Tower, controlled by Dialga, the Legendary Pokémon of time, collapsed. This caused Dialga to lose control over time and eventually go mad, turning into Primal Dialga. The insane Primal Dialga only seeks to keep history unchanged and frozen, which is why it tries to eliminate Grovyle and the player’s team, by sending its agent Dusknoir after them.

Grovyle’s mission was to return to the past, collect the Time Gears and place them in the Temporal Tower to prevent it from falling, thus preventing the whole catastrophe. Now Grovyle has to find the time-travelling Pokémon, Celebi, and seek its help to return to the present once more. The player, who believes Grovyle’s story, decides to help it, although their partner is unsure about that, as it still doesn’t trust the Pokémon they once believed was a thief. As soon as they meet Celebi, the time-travelling Pokémon takes them to the Passage of Time, which links several dimensions.

Before they set foot in it, Dusknoir appears along with the Sableye guards. As they get surrounded, they realise that their only option is to fight back, but soon the extremely powerful Dialga appears too, putting an end to their escape. Grovyle still believes there’s hope, as it travelled with a human partner before, who might still be in the present. Unfortunately, Dusknoir reveals that Grovyle’s partner is in the future with them, and is standing right before them.

To everyone’s surprise, the player turns out to be Grovyle’s partner. Dusknoir reveals that it merely befriended the player’s team so it could take them all to the future with Grovyle and eliminate them together. Upon hearing Dusknoir’s words, the partner is shocked, as it once looked up to Dusknoir, which was powerful and had a lot of knowledge.

Now, with the truth revealed, the partner tells the others of a great escape plan. Celebi suddenly teleports all of them near the Passage of Time, but Dusknoir is faster, getting in front of them and blocking the way. Celebi sacrifices itself by keeping Dusknoir busy and staying behind, while everyone else escapes through the passage.

The Hidden Land

The player, accompanied by their partner and Grovyle, find themselves on the beach where the player was found. As the partner is about to take everyone to the Guild, Grovyle reminds them of its criminal status in the present and how complicated things could get. The partner then decides to take everyone to its home on Sharpedo Bluff.

There, they rest, and when night comes, Grovyle tells the story of itself and its partner: they were both investigating the time freeze in the future and formed a marvellous team. Grovyle’s partner was gifted with the ability called the Dimensional Scream, which helps locate the Time Gears. This ability is only activated when the human partner has a Pokémon they trust a lot with them. This showed how much the player once trusted Grovyle.

Although they are reunited, Grovyle is still worried about how the Dimensional Scream works in the present. The three then decide to come up with a plan to recover the Time Gears. The partner tells Grovyle about how the player reacted upon touching the Relic Fragment. Everyone then agrees that there must be a link between the Relic Fragment and the player.

After finishing their plans, the group sets out to recover the Time Gears, starting with the one located in Treeshroud Forest. Arriving there, they find the whole area frozen in time and the Time Gear unguarded, which they easily recover. On the same night, the partner tells the other two about the other places that have been frozen in time, concluding that the Temporal Tower is starting to crumble. With the trio running out of time, the only option left is to return to the Guild and seek its help.

They do so and tell their side of the story to the rest of the Guild members, who are surprised at first but then decide to help Grovyle out. They contact the lake guardians, telling them the truth and recovering the Time Gears they’re protecting. Now all they need to do is place the Time Gears in the Temporal Tower, which lies in the Hidden Land. But, as the name suggests, no one knows where the Hidden Land actually is. The Guildmaster, Wigglytuff, advises them to visit Torkoal, the eldest and wisest Pokémon in town. Torkoal informs them that the Hidden Land appears only to those who have found enough ‘proof’, but doesn’t know what the proof is.

The day after, Torkoal visits the Guild, as it seems to have remembered what the proof is, identifying it as some sort of motif, similar to the one engraved on the Relic Fragment. Chatot and Wigglytuff soon remember that they’ve seen the motif before, in a cave called Brine Cave. The Guild decides to make an expedition to the cave, and Grovyle warns them about the possibility of Dusknoir returning from the future. Once they reach Brine Cave, the Guild members decide to split up and search the place.

Chatot decides to tag along with the player’s group, and halfway through they get attacked by Team Skull. The villainous team steals the Relic Fragment and runs away. Chatot chases after them and manages to catch them, but both Chatot and Team Skull get attacked by a Kabutops and two Omastar. The player’s group catches up and finds everyone badly injured by the Kabutops and Omastar. They work together to defeat the attackers, and after they do so, Wigglytuff appears with the rest of the Guild.

Wigglytuff is very worried about Chatot, who was injured by the same Kabutops and Omastar once before, when they visited the cave on their previous expedition. Wigglytuff pleads with Grovyle and the player’s team to continue, while it takes Chatot back to the Guild’s headquarters to treat it. At the Guild’s base, Wigglytuff reveals to the rest of the Guild that they were both attacked on their last visit to the cave, and a Lapras saved them, on the condition that they stopped investigating the strange motif they had found on the cave’s wall – the same one as on the Relic Fragment – and never explored the cave again.

But, as the world’s fate depends on the exploration, Wigglytuff can’t keep its promise to Lapras. Meanwhile, the player’s group reaches a wall facing the sea, on which the Relic Fragment motif is engraved. The motif shines and resonates as the Relic Fragment gets closer. As it shines, a Lapras appears and reveals that it is the gatekeeper of the Hidden Land, which is located in another dimension. The Lapras takes the group to the Hidden Land, explaining that it was created by Dialga, which kept it hidden for fear that bad and evil Pokémon could reach it.

Restoring time

Now that they’ve reached the Hidden Land, Lapras informs them that they need to use the Rainbow Stoneship, which lies within some old ruins, to reach the Temporal Tower. The group finds the ruins and is astounded by the pictures of different Legendary Pokémon drawn on the walls, showing Groudon, Kyogre, Mew, Dialga and Palkia. The group continues to delve into the ruins and finds a temple, on top of which they discover the motif from the Relic Fragment. It seems that the Rainbow Stoneship is the temple itself, and that the key to activating it is the Relic Fragment that the partner holds.

As the partner is about to put the Relic Fragment in the activation slot, the group is ambushed by Dusknoir and its Sableye guards, who capture the partner and try to throw it into a Dimensional Hole. Before they can do so, the Sableye guards are defeated by the player and Grovyle, forcing Dusknoir to fight them too. The two fight Dusknoir while the partner goes to activate the ship. During their fight, Dusknoir reveals to the player and Grovyle that they’ll both be erased from existence, as the two of them are from a future that will no longer exist.

Grovyle and the player both know that the greater good is more important, and that their goal is worth dying for. The player, though, thinks that the partner won’t take the news as easily as them, and decides to keep it a secret. The partner succeeds in activating the ship, which starts leaving, but before Grovyle and the player get on it, Dusknoir attacks the player again. At that moment, Grovyle leaves the Time Gears behind and throws itself into the Dimensional Hole with Dusknoir, sacrificing itself to save the others.

The player boards the ship without saying a word about their inevitable fate to their partner. The two finally arrive at the top of the Temporal Tower, which seems to be falling apart, and find the indentations where the Time Gears can be placed. The team is confronted by the enraged Primal Dialga and has to face this tough opponent. Managing somehow to defeat it, the partner puts the Time Gears in their slots. Dialga then returns to its normal state and uses its powers to fix the time disruption.

Dialga then thanks both the player and the partner, tells them that the world will get back to normal with time, and escorts them to the ship so they can return home. While they’re on their way, the player starts slowly fading away and the partner gets confused about what’s happening. The player says farewell to their partner and tells them about their fate. The partner, in tears, witnesses the player vanishing. Once home, the partner tells the Guild about Grovyle and the player’s heroic acts and their sacrifices. As time passes, the world starts getting back to normal, but the partner’s sorrow isn’t over, as it still mourns the player’s loss. One day, as the partner is walking along the beach, it remembers their adventure with the player and feels a deep melancholy that makes it collapse to the ground, crying. The end credits roll. After the credits, Dialga senses their pain from a distance and decides to revive the player, as a way of thanking the partner for helping it. Surprised and feeling a sudden great joy, the once-crying partner can’t believe what has happened, as the player appears in front of it out of nowhere.

After the credits

A lot of time has passed since the player returned to life, and the team has resumed its activities. One day, Wigglytuff informs the player’s team that they need to take a graduation test. Their task will be to visit the Luminous Spring, beyond Mystifying Forest, and find the hidden treasure. The Luminous Spring is the place where Pokémon can evolve.

Wigglytuff also adds that the area is inhabited by bad Pokémon, led by the Grand Master of All Things Bad. Before heading to the Luminous Spring, the team meets Ursaring and Teddiursa, who insist that no such Grand Master exists. Both Pokémon decide to tag along with the player’s team for the journey. To their surprise, when they reach the Luminous Spring, they are faced by the Grand Master and its minions, who turn out to be Wigglytuff and the rest of the Guild members, whom they eventually defeat before finding the hidden treasure.

The treasure turns out to be a simple Perfect Apple that Wigglytuff placed in a chest. While they are there, the team discovers that Pokémon can evolve at the Luminous Spring once again, as Teddiursa steps into it and evolves into an Ursaring. The player’s team try out the spring too, but in vain. A mysterious voice tells them that they cannot evolve yet, as they were the most exposed to the distortion. Now that they’ve successfully graduated, the player and their partner decide to strike out independently from the Guild, although they’ll still share some of their reward money with it, and they make Sharpedo Bluff their new headquarters.

Later, a Mr. Mime tells the people of Treasure Town that the explorer Scizor has gone missing on Blizzard Island. The player’s team decides to investigate, visiting Crevice Cave and finding Scizor frozen there by Froslass. They defeat Froslass and rescue Scizor, who gives them the ‘Secret Rank’, which turns out to be the key to the Seven Treasures dungeons, where seven fabulous treasures can be found.

Many days after that, a request arrives for the player, informing them that a new dungeon has appeared. Surrounded Sea, as the dungeon is called, is a place filled with rare and exotic treasures. The team explores the dungeon and finds a Wonder Egg when they reach its end. They use a warp tile to escape the dungeon and return home. The day after, the Egg hatches and a Manaphy emerges from it. The player and their partner decide to visit Chatot, to get more information on Manaphy.

They learn that Manaphy is a very rare Pokémon, which makes them pay extra attention to it. They take Manaphy to the beach, which makes the Pokémon incredibly happy. At night, Manaphy longs for the beach, and more precisely the sea, and decides to revisit it alone while everyone else is asleep.

When the sun rises, the team finds out that Manaphy is missing and goes searching for it, finding it collapsed on the beach’s sand. The player’s team takes Manaphy to Chatot, who informs them that Manaphy are supposed to live in the ocean and that this one is actually sick. In order to cure it, they need to find the Phione Dew in Miracle Sea. The team urgently explores the dungeon, and upon reaching its end they find a group of Phione, which get scared away by an angry Gyarados.

The team defeats the Gyarados and receives the Phione Dew from the Phione. After using the medicine on Manaphy, they entrust it to a Walrein, which will take care of it in the sea, where it truly belongs. After a few miscellaneous missions, the player’s team witnesses the visit of the legendary Master Rank team, Team Charm, to the Guild. It is the best exploration and treasure-hunting team, consisting of Medicham, Gardevoir and Lopunny, with Wigglytuff itself being one of its former members.

It appears that Team Charm needs the key to a certain dungeon, which Wigglytuff possesses. At first Wigglytuff doesn’t recall having it, but a few moments later, as they are about to leave, the key is found in Wigglytuff’s room. Everyone in the Guild, including the player and their partner, wants to explore the dungeon that Team Charm mentioned. Team Charm agrees and lets the player’s team tag along with them. Within Aegis Cave, they encounter the three Legendary guardians Regice, Regirock and Registeel, which they defeat before moving further.

They are later confronted by Regigigas, forcing the teams to work together to win against this formidable foe. As the game progresses, a Cresselia visits the player in their dreams and informs them that their very existence, which was not meant to be, is causing distortions in space. Soon after, Azurill falls into a nightmare, and the player, their partner and the reformed Drowzee go into the dream to rescue it. The team then decides to visit Palkia, the Legendary Pokémon that controls space, and ask it for answers, riding Lapras from the beach to reach the Spacial Rift.

There, they try to battle Palkia and ask it for answers at the same time, but it seems that the Legendary Pokémon is trapped in a nightmare. The Cresselia shows up again and tries to use Palkia to finish off the player’s team. Unexpectedly, another Cresselia appears and reveals that the first one was a Darkrai disguised as Cresselia. Darkrai reveals itself and taunts the player into following it. Although Cresselia warns the team that it’s probably a trap, they still accept Darkrai’s invitation. Upon reaching the evil Pokémon, they learn that Darkrai is behind everything, including the space and time distortions, the damage to the Temporal Tower and even tampering with the player’s memory during their time travel.

Darkrai’s goal is to cover the world in darkness, allowing it to spread nightmares to all the Pokémon and rule them. Darkrai then invites the player and the partner to rule at its side and creates an illusion in which the player sees the partner agreeing with Darkrai and accepting its proposal. The player snaps out of the illusion and fights Darkrai with the help of the partner. Defeated, Darkrai tries to flee through a Dimensional Hole. At the same time, Palkia appears and attacks Darkrai, but misses, hitting the Dimensional Hole instead. This causes the Dimensional Hole to malfunction after Darkrai goes through it, making the Pokémon lose all its memories of its evil past and wander aimlessly around the Pokémon world. Although Darkrai’s location is unknown, they know the Pokémon is still alive.

Who’s who

Grovyle

The Pokémon everyone hunts as the Time Gear thief is really a hero from the ruined future. He came back with the human hero to stop Temporal Tower from collapsing. In the future he saves the team from execution and guides them home. In the Hidden Land he pulls Dusknoir into a Dimensional Hole, giving up his own future so the others can finish the mission.

Dusknoir

A celebrated explorer who wins over Treasure Town, names the hero’s Dimensional Scream and leads the hunt for Grovyle. He is really Primal Dialga’s agent, sent from the future to stop anyone changing history. Dragging the hero and partner through the Dimensional Hole is the story’s great betrayal, and he pursues them all the way to the Hidden Land.

Team Skull

Skuntank leads this trio of bullying treasure hunters, with Koffing and Zubat. Koffing and Zubat steal the Relic Fragment in the first scene and become the first boss in Beach Cave. The full trio later takes on the team at Apple Woods. In Brine Cave the gang steals the Relic Fragment once more, until Kabutops and Omastar ambush the thieves and leave them needing rescue.

Primal Dialga

Dialga driven mad by Temporal Tower’s collapse, which froze the planet in the future. It wants history to stay as it is, so it sends Dusknoir after anyone trying to change the past. The hero and partner fight it at Temporal Pinnacle. Once it is beaten and the Time Gears are back in place, it returns to normal as the true Dialga.

• The hero: A human who wakes up as one of 16 Pokémon picked by the personality quiz, remembering only their name. Their Dimensional Scream gives them glimpses of the past and future. In the future they learn they were Grovyle’s partner, sent back in time to stop the planet’s paralysis. Fixing time should wipe them out of existence, but Dialga brings them back after the credits.
• The partner: A timid Pokémon who loves legends and carries the Relic Fragment, which turns out to be the key to the Hidden Land. The player chooses it from Pikachu and the twelve starters, never of the hero’s type. At first it is too scared to join the Guild, but it later works out the escape from the future and starts the Rainbow Stoneship.
• Celebi: A Shiny Celebi, pink instead of green, who lives in the frozen future and helps Grovyle with his plans. She takes the hero, partner and Grovyle to the Passage of Time and stays behind in the future when they go through it.
• Darkrai: The real cause of the trouble. Darkrai disguises himself as Cresselia, traps Palkia in a nightmare and admits to sabotaging Temporal Tower and tampering with the hero’s memory. He offers the pair a share in ruling a world of darkness. Beaten at Dark Crater, he escapes through a Dimensional Hole that Palkia strikes, and he loses his memories.

Pokémon

The game features almost all the Pokémon up to the fourth generation, 491 in all, with Shaymin and Arceus excluded. Most of the Pokémon are encountered in the dungeons, while some play major roles in the game’s story.

• 491Pokémon in the games
• 16possible heroes
• 13possible partners
• 11version exclusives

Playable Pokémon

As in the previous games, the player will take a quiz as soon as the game begins, and the Pokémon they turn into is determined by their answers.

These are the Pokémon the player can become, and the nature the quiz has to give them as a male or female player:

• PiplupImpish ♂ · Quirky ♀
• MudkipRash ♂ · Lonely ♀
• TotodileJolly ♂ · Sassy ♀
• SquirtleQuirky ♂ · Bold ♀
• ChimcharNaive ♂ · Impish ♀
• TorchicHardy ♂ · Rash ♀
• CyndaquilTimid ♂ · Calm ♀
• CharmanderDocile ♂ · Brave ♀
• TurtwigBold ♂ · Timid ♀
• TreeckoQuiet ♂ · Hardy ♀
• ChikoritaCalm ♂ · Quiet ♀
• BulbasaurLonely ♂ · Docile ♀
• MunchlaxRelaxed ♂ · Jolly ♀
• SkittyHasty ♂ · Naive ♀
• MeowthSassy ♂ · Relaxed ♀
• PikachuBrave ♂ · Hasty ♀

Choosing a partner

As in the previous games, the player can choose which partner they want, this time from Pikachu and the twelve Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh starters, on the condition that the partner is of a different type from the player’s Pokémon. For example, if the player gets Charmander as their Pokémon, they can’t pick Chimchar, Torchic or Cyndaquil as partners. Munchlax, Skitty and Meowth can be the player’s Pokémon but never the partner.

Exclusive Pokémon

As in every pair of Pokémon games, each game has its own exclusive Pokémon, appearing only in it.

Pokémon exclusive to Explorers of Time:

• Riolu#447
• Lucario#448
• Butterfree#012
• Combee#415
• Pachirisu#417
• Celebi#251

Pokémon exclusive to Explorers of Darkness:

• Buneary#427
• Beedrill#015
• Burmy#412
• Rotom#479
• Mewtwo#150

Of the Buneary line, only Buneary itself is exclusive: Lopunny lives in Mystery Jungle in both versions. In the same way, Combee and Burmy are exclusives, but Vespiquen, Wormadam and Mothim turn up in both. Wonder Mail S jobs can bring in the other version’s exclusives, such as Buneary, Riolu, Burmy, Combee, Pachirisu and Rotom, while Mewtwo and Celebi could only cross to the other version through a limited-time Wi-Fi mission, which owners can still pass on by local wireless.

Pokémon met along the way

Many Pokémon function as NPCs throughout the game, either helping the player or seeking their demise. The Pokémon who run Treasure Town and Wigglytuff’s Guild have their own section below; these are some of the others the team meets:

• Grovylethe wanted ‘thief’
• Spoinklost pearl, Drenched Bluff
• CelebiShiny, in the future
• AzurillMt. Bristle
• Torkoalthe town elder
• ScizorBlizzard Island
• ManaphySurrounded Sea Egg
• PhioneMiracle Sea
• Cresseliadream warnings
• LaprasHidden Land gatekeeper
• Marill#183
• Vigoroth#288
• Krabbythe beach bubbles

Exploration teams

Pokémon the player faces as bosses

Legendary Pokémon in the dungeons

Once the story is over, these Legendary Pokémon can turn up on set floors of existing dungeons. The odds of meeting one are low, and Mewtwo and Celebi each appear in only one version:

• MewtwoAegis Cave and Dark Crater (Explorers of Darkness only)
• CelebiMystifying Forest (Explorers of Time only)
• EnteiDeep Dark Crater
• RaikouConcealed Ruins
• SuicuneFinal Maze
• ZapdosAmp Plains
• MoltresFinal Maze
• LugiaSurrounded Sea
• Ho-OhMt. Mistral
• LatiosMidnight Forest
• LatiasHappy Outlook
• JirachiFinal Maze
• DarkraiSpacial Rift
• DeoxysShimmer Hill

The Seven Treasures

Special Wonder Mail S jobs lead to the Seven Treasures, each guarded by a Legendary Pokémon, and they all need the Secret Rank that Scizor gives the team. An event job against Gabite, tied to the 2007 animated special, needs no special rank:

• GiratinaWorld Abyss
• RayquazaSky Stairway
• KyogreBottomless Sea
• GroudonShimmer Desert
• HeatranGiant Volcano
• ArticunoMt. Avalanche
• MewMystery Jungle
• GabiteLabyrinth Cave, event job

Gameplay and Features

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness both inherit the gameplay of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team, with the games mainly focusing on exploring different dungeons while the story progresses. While the previous games focused much more on missions, this pair sheds more light on exploration, with the introduction of an astounding number of dungeons.

Most of the game’s features are kept the same, except for the removal of the Friend Areas that were present in Red & Blue Rescue Team. Additionally, many new features were added, like the Pokémon Eggs that the player can leave at Chansey’s Day Care, where they will hatch and join the team.

Treasure Boxes appear for the first time in these games, and contain rare items. These chests can be opened by paying a certain amount of money to Xatu. The Wonder Mail feature has also been reworked as Wonder Mail S, with longer 34-character codes that only work within their own region. Another great addition is the ability to send one of your team members to a friend, allowing the friend’s team to contain more than four Pokémon and letting them clear dungeons much more easily.

In depth: the fine print

Recruiting, Eggs and Chimecho AssemblyFriend Areas are gone, and recruiting is much easier. Defeated Pokémon can ask to join even when the team is full, and new recruits no longer need to survive to the end of the dungeon. Recruits wait at Chimecho Assembly, where you pick each expedition’s line-up. Legendary bosses usually join through a cutscene after a later rematch. Eggs earned from jobs hatch at Chansey Day Care into level-1 Pokémon that start with Egg Moves.

Wonder Mail SWonder Mail S replaces the old Wonder Mail. Each code is 34 characters long, and codes don’t work across the Japanese, North American and European versions or in Explorers of Sky. The codes unlock special jobs: the Seven Treasures and their Legendary guardians, exclusives from the other version and a Gabite event job. Apart from the Gabite job, the Seven Treasures jobs need Secret Rank.

Friend Rescue and Wi-FiA defeated team can send an SOS by DS Wireless or, until Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection closed in May 2014, over the internet. While it waits, the stranded team can go on standby adventures in dungeons it has already cleared to earn money and items, though it can’t gain levels. Special missions were also handed out over Wi-Fi, including the only way to get Mewtwo or Celebi in the other version.

Treasure Town & Wigglytuff’s Guild

Between expeditions, everything happens in Treasure Town. It is the game’s hub: Wigglytuff’s Guild lies to the north-east, Sharpedo Bluff – the partner’s hideaway, and the team’s own base once it graduates – lies to the west, and in between are the shops and services where the team banks its money, stores its items and gets ready for the next dungeon. The Guild itself is where the player and partner live and train as apprentices for most of the story, and its routine sets the rhythm of every day.

Around Treasure Town

These are the Pokémon who run Treasure Town’s services:

Money left at Duskull Bank and items left in Kangaskhan Storage are safe if the team is defeated in a dungeon. Marowak’s Dojo offers a training maze for each type, which the team has to enter without items.

Wigglytuff’s Guild

Wigglytuff & Chatot

Head of Wigglytuff’s Guild: cheerful, childlike and obsessed with Perfect Apples, but frighteningly strong when roused. The Guildmaster was once a member of the master-rank Team Charm and still keeps the key to Aegis Cave. In the post-game, Wigglytuff plays the ‘Grand Master of All Things Bad’ to test the team’s graduation. Chatot is Wigglytuff’s assistant and best friend, and the one who keeps the Guild running. Chatot leads the morning assembly, hands out assignments and runs the Guild when the Guildmaster is away, usually with plenty of scolding. Kabutops and Omastar had hurt Chatot in Brine Cave on an earlier expedition, and it happens again when Chatot chases Team Skull there.

The members of the Guild, each with a job of their own:

• WigglytuffGuildmaster
• Chatotsecond-in-command
• Dugtrioupdates the job boards
• Diglettsentry duty
• ChimechoChimecho Assembly, dinner
• Sunfloraapprentice
• Corphishapprentice
• Bidoofapprentice
• CroagunkSwap Shop
• Loudredwake-up call, visitors

Treasure Boxes and the Swap ShopTreasure Boxes are new to these games. They drop in dungeons as locked chests that can’t be opened in the field. Back in town, Xatu Appraisal opens each one for 150 Poké. Some hold everyday items and others hold rarities, some of which only help particular species. Croagunk runs a Swap Shop inside the Guild, where sets of these finds can be traded for even rarer items. That gives players a reason to keep exploring long after the story is over.

A day at the Guild

A day in Wigglytuff’s GuildDuring the story every day follows the same pattern. Loudred wakes the apprentices, the whole Guild meets on the lower floor for the morning cheer, and Chatot reads out the day’s announcements. Teams then take work from two boards upstairs: the Job Bulletin Board for rescues and deliveries, and the Outlaw Notice Board for wanted criminals. Dugtrio updates both boards every morning. Dinner is served in the Mess Hall, cooked by Chimecho, and the Guild keeps nine-tenths of every reward until the team graduates.

Sentry dutyGuild chores include sentry duty, normally Diglett’s job. From the sentry post under the grate at the entrance, the team has to name each visitor from its footprint alone, while Loudred deals with the visitor waiting outside. It makes a short break from dungeon crawling between story chapters.

Exploration ranks

Completed jobs earn points that raise the team’s exploration rank, climbing from Normal Rank to Master Rank:

1. Normal
2. Bronze
3. Silver
4. Gold
5. Diamond
6. Super
7. Ultra
8. Hyper
9. Master

Each new rank adds more room in Kangaskhan Storage, and the Guild’s own rules call on teams to take on many jobs and reach Gold Rank. After the credits, rescuing Scizor from Crevice Cave earns the special Secret Rank, which is needed for the Wonder Mail S jobs leading to the Seven Treasures.

Regional Variations

The rest of the world had to wait months for the games, and a few things changed on the way:

• Japan got the games on 13 September 2007, Taiwan the same day and North America on 20 April 2008. Australia followed on 19 June 2008 and Europe on 4 July 2008, and Korea got its own release on 11 December 2008.
• The Japanese titles are Toki no Tankentai and Yami no Tankentai: ‘Exploration Team of Time’ and ‘Exploration Team of Darkness’.
• Wonder Mail S codes work only within their own region: Japanese, North American and European codes can’t be swapped.
• In the Japanese version, Shadow Ball lowers the target’s Defense rather than its Special Defense (see Glitches). The English versions fix this.
• Only the Japanese version has two animation errors: Entei’s upward charge uses a placeholder sprite with its katakana name misspelt, and Suicune’s left-facing walk is cut short.
• The European English text calls Crystal Lake ‘Shining Lake’, while the North American version keeps ‘Crystal Lake’.
• Several team names changed in translation. Team Skull is Dokurozu in Japanese, Team Charm is Charms, and Team AWD is Team MAD, from the Japanese names of Manyula (Weavile), Arbok and Dorapion (Drapion).

Left in the data

• The games’ data holds about 140 unused dungeons, more than the number actually used. Most can be reached with an Action Replay code for the US version of Explorers of Darkness.
• The first dungeon in the internal list is a four-floor Test Dungeon with blue and yellow visuals and Beach Cave’s layout. Its Pidgey, Sunkern, Wurmple and Chimchar line-up echoes Tiny Woods from Rescue Team.
• An unused second part of Concealed Ruins, Deep Concealed Ruins, survives as a single bare floor, which suggests the dungeon was once meant to be bigger. Around 23 placeholder ‘dummy’ dungeons, mostly 50 floors deep, differ between Time and Darkness.
• Internal track names show that the music used for Miracle Sea and Treeshroud Forest was written for the Spacial Rift and Deep Spacial Rift. The themes first planned for those two dungeons ended up as Random Dungeon Themes 1 and 2.
• Prototype builds from August 2007 survive. Early screenshots show Wigglytuff with darker eyes taken over from Rescue Team, lit torches in Wigglytuff’s room, no Krabby bubbles on the beach and lighter night scenes.

Glitches, exploits and oddities

A false shoplifting alarm, a reward that freezes the game and a few other oddities:

False thief in Kecleon’s shop

If a wild Pokémon is knocked out while standing in a Kecleon shop and drops an item there, the game counts that item as stock. Pick it up and walk out, and Kecleon accuses the team of theft. Talking to Kecleon first doesn’t help, because the item was never registered as something for sale. Explorers of Sky fixed this: Kecleon offers to sell the dropped item instead, and picking it up is harmless.

Member join freeze

Some jobs list their reward as ‘???’. If one of these is completed before the team is allowed to recruit, the game half-freezes right after the ‘Thank you for rescuing’ message, with the music still looping. The hidden reward can be an Egg, a new team member or, when the client is Magnezone or Magnemite and Chansey is already minding an Egg, 1,000 Poké.

Shadow Ball’s wrong stat (Japan only)

In the Japanese release, Shadow Ball’s extra effect lowers the target’s Defense instead of its Special Defense. In the main games, Shadow Ball lowers Special Defense, so here a special Ghost-type attack instead left the target weaker against physical moves. The English versions, released months later, have the correct effect. Players who move between the Japanese and English releases should bear in mind that this secondary effect behaves differently in each.

Egg recruit exploit

Fan-made Wonder Mail S generators can build a Labyrinth Cave job asking for a Gabite Scale, with an Egg as the reward. The Egg can carry the ID of almost any Pokémon, including ones normally impossible to recruit, such as a Shiny Celebi like the one in the story. The trick only works if Chansey Day Care has no Egg and the player isn’t carrying a Gabite Scale. It works in Time, Darkness and Sky.

Violent Seed at negative stages

A Violent Seed should sharply raise Attack and Special Attack, but the game works out the boost wrongly when the stat has already been lowered. Instead of adding the proper number of stages, it mixes the stat’s internal ID into the sum, which goes wrong at negative stages. A Pokémon at -6 Attack climbs only to -2. The bug affects Time, Darkness and the Japanese Explorers of Sky.

Videos & media

Videos from PMD: Explorers of Time and Darkness, including a collection of unused music discovered in the games’ files, the opening/intro video and one of the UK TV commercials. Many more can be found on our channel.

A collection of unused music from PMD: Explorers of Time and Darkness. This music was present in the games’ data files but never made it into the release version.

The intro / opening video from Explorers of Darkness.

One of the UK TV commercials.

Trivia & facts

• In English, the Spacial Rift and the Temporal Tower, where Palkia and Dialga reside respectively, are named after the categories of the two Pokémon, since Palkia is the Spatial Pokémon and Dialga is the Temporal Pokémon.
• The Japanese names are the original ones: the Temporal Tower is Jigen no Tō (時限の塔, ‘time-limit tower’, with ‘jigen’ also sounding like the word for ‘dimension’), and the Spacial Rift is Sora no Sakeme (空の裂け目, ‘sky fissure’, where the character for ‘sky’ can also mean ‘space’).
• The games’ script gives a gender to most Pokémon, even the Legendary ones that are supposed to be genderless: Celebi and Mesprit are called ‘she’ and Darkrai ‘he’, although as species they stay genderless.

• 

  The Celebi met during the story is coloured pink. While some people believe this is because it’s female, it is actually just Celebi in its Shiny form.

• The Mt. Freeze Peak, Sky Tower, Mt. Thunder and Thunderwave Cave themes from Red and Blue Rescue Team are mixed together, in that order, to form the music for Blizzard Island in Explorers of Time and Darkness. The Explorers of Sky jukebox calls it ‘Blizzard Island Rescue Team Medley’.

Further trivia

• Temporal Tower, Temporal Spire and Temporal Pinnacle add up to 24 floors, perhaps one for each hour of the day. A clock can be heard ticking faintly at the waypoint, the Spire and the Pinnacle.
• The Temporal Pinnacle, where Primal Dialga is fought, looks like Spear Pillar from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl.
• The Guild’s morning cheer is heard in full only once. After that, the apprentices shout only its last line, ‘THREE, SMILES GO FOR MILES!’, which is also the third of the Guild’s rules for exploration teams.
• Explorers of Sky asks at the start whether you’ve played Time or Darkness. Answering yes doubles the recruit rate of some Pokémon.

Legacy

What came after

• Animated special Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time & Darkness airs in Japan – 9 September 2007. Shown on Pokémon Sunday four days before launch, starring Piplup and Chimchar as Team Poképals.
• Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness launch in Japan and Taiwan – 13 September 2007. Together they sold 568,888 copies in their first week and topped the Japanese chart.
• North American launch – 20 April 2008. Australia followed on 19 June 2008 and Europe on 4 July 2008.
• The animated special airs on Cartoon Network in the US – 1 September 2008. It came out on DVD in a limited Pokémon pack in August. In the UK it was given away on DVD with the games at Woolworths.
• Korean release – 11 December 2008. Korea’s own edition of both versions.
• Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky launches in Japan – 18 April 2009. Enhanced version of the same story. North America got it on 12 October 2009 and Europe on 20 November 2009.
• Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection closes – 20 May 2014. This ended online Friend Rescue and the Wi-Fi mission downloads. Local wireless features still work.
• Explorers of Sky on Wii U Virtual Console – 23 June 2016. North American date. Japan followed on 20 July 2016, and Europe and Australia on 18 August 2016. Time and Darkness were never re-released.
• Wii U eShop closes – 27 March 2023. Explorers of Sky could no longer be bought on Virtual Console.

Where to play it today

Only on the original Nintendo DS cards. They play on any DS, DSi or 3DS system, and local wireless rescues still work. Online rescues and Wi-Fi missions ended when Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection closed in May 2014. Neither version has ever been re-released. Explorers of Sky, the enhanced version, was on Wii U Virtual Console from 2016 until that eShop closed in March 2023. So far, none of the three has come to Nintendo Switch.

How it was made

Chunsoft developed the pair as the follow-up to the Rescue Team games. Seiichiro Nagahata returned as director, joined by Hironori Ishigami. Chunsoft founder Koichi Nakamura was among the producers, and Shin-ichiro Tomie and Emiko Tanaka wrote the scenario. In March 2007 Famitsu announced a new Mystery Dungeon game for the DS that would use both screens and Wi-Fi. Two months later the two versions were revealed in full, with Generation IV Pokémon and 491 species. A playable demo was shown at Pokémon Festa 2007 ahead of the Japanese launch on 13 September 2007. A planned link with a Wii game was dropped because the team didn’t have enough information about the hardware. Five composers, led by Arata Iiyoshi, wrote the soundtrack. Nintendo published the English versions, which reached North America in April 2008 and Australia and Europe that summer.

Explorers of Time & Darkness elsewhere

Sales & reviews

Sales figures

The games had a very successful sales campaign, selling an estimated 862 thousand copies in Japan, 357 thousand in Europe and nearly 500 thousand in the USA within just the first three weeks of their release. Sales continued to increase further and further, reaching an estimated total of 1.54 million copies sold in Japan, 1.1 million in Europe, 1.6 million in the USA and a global figure of 4.93 million copies sold all over the world.

Those regional figures are third-party estimates. Nintendo’s own count was 4.50 million copies of the pair worldwide by 31 March 2009: 1.58 million in the year to March 2008, which covers the Japanese launch, and 2.92 million in the following year, which covers the North American, Australian and European launches. CESA later put the pair at 4.88 million. In Japan the games went straight to number one, with 568,888 copies in their launch week (Time 300,295; Darkness 268,593) on Media Create’s chart, ahead of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, released the same day. Three weeks in, the weekly total stood at 830,258. Enterbrain counted 1,354,447 in 2007 alone, the fifth best-selling game of the year in Japan, and weekly chart totals reached 1,516,375 by the end of 2013: 805,418 for Time and 710,957 for Darkness.

• 4.50mworldwide (Nintendo, March 2009)
• 1.52mJapan, weekly charts to 2013
• 568,888Japanese launch week
• No. 1in Japan, launch week

Review scores

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness received a mixed reception, earning middling scores on major review websites. Let’s take a look at these reviews:

• Craig Harris from IGN thought that the games were fun and challenging but ended up being repetitive at some point. He rated Explorers of Darkness 6.5/10, the equivalent of ‘Okay’ on the IGN scale.
• Austin Shau from GameSpot thought that the story was very interesting and surprisingly touching, and was overwhelmed by the number of missions and dungeons, stating “There are plenty of optional missions to embark on as well, even after you’ve completed the story.” But, like other reviewers, he believes the games eventually become dull, and that the problem probably lies with the Mystery Dungeon formula itself. He rated the games 6.5/10, which equates to ‘Fair’ on the GameSpot scale.
• On GameRankings (which closed in 2019), Explorers of Time received a score of 62.39% and Explorers of Darkness 61.25%, while on Metacritic Explorers of Time earned a score of 60 from 29 critics and Explorers of Darkness 59 from 27.
• James Burton reviewed Explorers of Darkness on behalf of Pokémon Dungeon, scoring it 4 stars out of 5, very good on our scale.
• Overall, the games were fairly good, mostly thanks to their fun and elaborate storylines. Nonetheless, there isn’t much variety in the missions and their objectives, and they are still lacking on the multiplayer front, as some Pokémon fans expected to be able to explore dungeons together with their friends simultaneously, but that wasn’t the case.

Western critics were lukewarm, and both versions ended up with aggregate scores of about 60. Most reviewers saw a modest improvement on Rescue Team rather than a fresh start. The story drew the most praise: GameSpot noted its surprisingly touching moments, and several outlets liked the bright, cheerful soundtrack. Reviewers also welcomed the gentler difficulty, the extra Wi-Fi features and the large amount of post-game content. The complaints were familiar ones: drab dungeons that look alike, repetitive jobs, clunky menus and a Mystery Dungeon formula that IGN and GameSpot thought was getting stale. GamesRadar called it worth a rental at most. GameSpy and Nintendo Power were warmer, recommending it to dungeon-crawler fans and to anyone who enjoyed the first game’s storytelling. In Japan, Famitsu gave it 35 out of 40.

Awards and honours:

Media & artwork

• Official artwork gallery from PMD: Explorers of Time & Darkness – a large gallery featuring many prominent Pokémon
• Box art from PMD: Explorers of Time, including regional variations
• Box art from PMD: Explorers of Darkness, including regional variations
• Screenshots from PMD: Explorers of Time
• Screenshots from PMD: Explorers of Darkness

Further reading

More Mystery Dungeon and Nintendo DS links on the site: