Pokémon Rangers: Shadows of Almia

Posted 4 years ago By

It wasn’t long ago that Pokémon fans and Nintendo DS owners were given a spinoff from the orignal Pokémon titles and this year fans were given a sequel to Pokémon Rangers. Its predecessor was a departure from the series catch-phrase, “Gotta catch ‘em all” since it placed an emphasis on befriending Pokémon rather than capturing and battling. Nothing has changed in Shadows of Almia, except for a few small welcome improvements, the concept is basically the same. Here we take a look at Pokémon Rangers: Shadows of Almia.

Gameplay

Players begin as one of two cadets (male or female) at a ranger school in the area of Almia. Building off its predecessor, you come from the region of Fiore and quickly make friends with Rythmi who dreams of being an Operator and Keith, your rival, who like you is studying to be a Ranger. Here you will also meet other students, some who dream of being Operators, Mechanics and Rangers. You’ll find yourself graduating quickly and being assigned to a Ranger Station nearby while your friend’s also go off to pursue their dreams. The game doesn’t let you forget them either; you will often have a paper shoved in your face reminding you of your rivalry with Keith. As you continue along missions and quests, you’ll quickly uncover a plot by Team Dim Sun to hypnotize and brainwash Pokémon to do its bidding.

For those new to the Ranger series (like me), this title focuses on puzzle-like action as opposed to battling. Rangers work to help Pokémon by befriending them with a special tool called a “Styler”. In classic JRPG fashion, players walk into fellow Pokémon to establish contact; then using the stylus, players express feelings of friendship to these Pokémon by drawing circles around them. Each complete circle helps fill up an empty friendship gauge. Pokémon can break your continuous stylus action but in a departure from its predecessor, Shadows of Almia awards bonus points if you manage to capture Pokémon using uninterrupted consecutive circles. If the Pokémon you are attempting to befriend bumps into the lines being drawn, it disappears and you have to start again, but the friendship meter won’t dissipate giving you time to re-establish your friendly circles. If the Pokémon attacks the friendship circles being drawn, your Styler will take damage; if enough damage is taken the Styler can break, ending the game (not to worry there are save points scattered throughout each area and a Quicksave function via the menu). There is a flee button which allows players to break encounters to go recharge your stylus and try again.


Pokémon fans will definitely appreciate the large number of Pokémon in this title. The menu gives you a huge a diverse Pokédex, more than any other title. Players can also choose their companion (as opposed to it being assigned to them); these Pokémon are called your Partner Pokémon. In fact during an encounter as a student, you will get the chance to pick your first Partner Pokémon from the three that are available, Pachirisu (my choice), Munchlax or Starly. Partner Pokémon have a special bond of friendship with their owners and never leave their side unless asked. Both in-game events and sub-quests give players a total of seventeen Partner Pokémon, one for each type, but only one can remain at a player’s side at any given time. Partner Pokémon can help out during captures sessions of more difficult Pokémon. As you make successful friendship circles around other Pokémon, this fills a special Poké Assist gauge just above your Styler’s health bar. Once full you can call forth the abilities of a Partner Pokémon or any other Pokémon within your repertoire.

Shadow’s of Almia employs seventeen different Pokémon types, which including the basics from other games like grass, fire, water, and electric; there is also steel, flying, dark, and bug just to name a few. Players can use a Pokémon’s type to strategically provide an advantage over other Pokémon, this is especially helpful against the more difficult captures. For example when fighting a Pokémon who’s type is steel, I can make the capture go smoother by pairing my Pokémon assists with a type that offers an advantageous matchup; in this case choosing a Pokémon who’s type is Fire, Water, Electric or Steel. Each type has a different Pokémon assist that fits with its type. For example a Pokémon whose type is ‘electric’, requires me to place the Capture Disc near the Pokémon I’m attempting to capture. Soon after a thunderbolt will hit that spot; whereas a Pokémon whose type is ‘psychic’, requires me to draw a ring of psychic energy and flick that energy ring towards the Pokémon I’m attempting to capture. Whenever a Poké Assist is used successfully, points are then added to the friendship gauge and the Pokémon’s status changes accordingly. This gives me a chance to quickly finish my capture without fear of my friendship circles being disrupted and broken.



Players work through the game’s missions in a very linear fashion. A new element within Shadow’s of Almia is the quest system that can be tracked by using the Quest menu. These quests are not official missions but rather requests from Almia citizens. Completion of them award players power-ups for their Styler and new Partner Pokémon. These power-ups offer a variety of defensive, elemental and offensive bonuses. Some Pokémon are never used in a fight, but rather provide puzzle, travel and styler solutions. Such Pokémon can float you over a pit of lava, they can be mounted to ride through undersea ravines or float down rivers to access new areas that cannot be reached by land. Some even recharge your styler and I quickly found all of these Pokémon were handy to have around. Especially helpful was the DoDuo, which could be mounted to increase your traveling speed (at least until you can fly). Players level up both their styler and their Ranger rank. I found that completion of certain missions seemed to grant you new Ranger ranks but they appear to be superficial. Players can also clear anything blocking their path with "Field Moves". Provided that they have the proper Pokémon that can perform the ability that is needed, this can be checked by selecting the barrier that is in your way. Players simply select the Pokémon required for the task and draw a line to the obstacle. This sets your Pokémon in action and the obstruction is quickly cleared. Still, despite all the game had to offer regarding gameplay, the missions are the driving force within the game and while additional downloadable missions are available via a wi-fi, unfortunately the missions just don’t offer a lot in terms of variety. Thankfully each mission has plenty of puzzles that made for a welcome distraction from the repetitive circling and the game does get very repetitive fairly quickly.


Graphics & Sound

The level design within Shadows of Almia offers us a large variety of regions to explore including perilous cliffs (aptly named “Peril Cliffs”), volcanic caverns (aptly named Volcano Cave), and the deep sea (named “Puel Sea” for the area it’s near). The graphics are remarkably detailed and while progression is extremely linear the diverse environment treats us to a vivid 2D world with fantastically detailed sprites. The menu system is also nicely represented offering tons of information should you get lost or not understand the Pokémon type assists. There is no shortage of help as you progress in the game, which I found exceptionally helpful. Quests and Missions show players where they should be heading in the event you get lost and while it adds to the simplicity of the game, younger audiences will definitely appreciate it. Older audiences will appreciate the supplementary information as the menu system offers the equivalent of a strategy guide bundled within the game.

The sound features an overly cutesy background score but the Pokémon sounds scream of 8-bit audio. I’ve watched the series and the cute Pokémon calls that are present fall short in the game. Younger audiences will enjoy the score and fans may feel turned off by the low quality Pokémon calls; while older audiences may find the cutesy score annoying. Not to worry the game doesn’t lose anything with the sound turned off. It’s quite clear that the game is visually oriented so those who are hearing impaired can still enjoy the game without missing anything.



Value

Shadows of Almia is a very, very long game. It will provide hours of entertainment for any Pokémon fan and if you haven’t played a Pokémon game before, this is a good game to start with. Unfortunately because Pokémon do not level up and there is not multiplayer – once the game is finished, you’re finished. There’s no real desire to play through a second time.

Conclusion

While older audience might find the plot and story (especially the dialogue) to be overly simplistic, predictable and childish; a younger audience will thoroughly enjoy the mystery involved. Parents will greatly appreciate the game’s overall tone and message, such as healthy competition, glowing praise for a job well done, feats deserving of reward, the positive nature of the story and dialogue and the story’s overall missions of good vs. evil. Older children and even adults may feel talked down to but not so much that they’ll feel turned off. The game makes heavy use of the stylus, so the younger crowd will find that they can keep up and play with great ease. Regardless of age, the game weakens itself with its repetitive nature. The game is best enjoyed in smaller periods as lengthy play will quickly become boring.

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