Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky

One of the most heartfelt, beautiful videogames ever created. It's about community, trust, friendship and love. Even when 30 years of life on earth should've made me a cynical bastard incapable of being moved by media for children, I really couldn't help myself crying by the end, thinking about my partners, my friends, all the people I've ever know that have made my life somehow better: Grateful of them to be in my life, all the stories, all the memories, all those things that make life worth living.

Ideal to have a mental breakdown at the age of 10.

This is probably the best game on the DS and at least the best in the Pokémon series. The story is intriguing, filled with deep lore, and thought provoking and covers some pretty deep themes throughout. The soundtrack is insane- boasting a unique track for each main story dungeon, as well as some of the extra ones. Tracks during bosses and cutscenes are able to further convey the emotional state of the characters and boosts the climax of the story to another level. Post-game content is very solid as well and gives the player both more challenge and a reason to keep playing after completion.

Also separated by a 2-year release gap is Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, an enhanced version of Time/Darkness that incorporates new mechanics, hub areas and dungeons. The best feature - however, had little to do with add-ons or fixes. Its five unlockable 'character episodes' were mini-challenges whose origin stories (starring the side characters) add further depth and color to their passionate, Pokemon-inflected melodrama. But ultimately, all these updates try in vain to rescue a rather dull gameplay loop, in which players fast-forward their way through rooms while encountering (mostly redundant) items or (brief) fights every now and then. Tackling the odd group of enemies can be fun, and an honest attempt was made to dial up its difficulty, but generally speaking, latter-day Chunsoft is at their best when the audience is reading instead of exploring.