Pokemon Ranger 3: Tracks of Light

[The REAL Joey]

So it was revealed today that the big surprise that was going to be on the Japanese Pokemon Sunday show. To be perfectly honest I was a bit shocked by this announcement as it only seems like yesterday Shadows of Almia came out. While I do enjoy the Ranger series (They were fun diversions from the main series) I think this is getting a bit much. Still, i'll likely pick it up.

Looks as if Deoxys might be a special downloadable Pokemon too, so watch out for that all you people without Deoxys.

Sheesh, these Ranger games must be selling tons to warrant a third game. Plus the trainer designs look a bit off... Digimonish if you ask me.

[The REAL Joey]

Pardon my bump but thought i'd just see if any discussion is to be had now that it's been out for a good while now. I did indeed pick up Guardian Signs a while ago but I have such a huge backlog of DS games to play through that it's taken me so long to finally get round to it (Just beat DQVI today which was enjoyable).

I am looking forward to this. ;D Still unsure about the main character designs.

[Dan]

I bought a pokemon ranger game a while back. I cant seem to remember which one it was though xD, I believe it was the first one ever made and it wasn't that bad. Quite enjoyable is you ask me but I have not gotten the newer ranger games. I might pick it up sometime soon. You should tell me what ya think about it! ^^

[Deleted]

I liked the series and played through both including all the downloadable missions except the Deoxys one which I have only downloaded. I got a Heatran with Eruption thanks to the game as well as a few other good pokemon Darkrai being the best. I still have not played the Deoxys mission on the second one but I downloaded it like I said above but until I find someone locally with a high level I cannot play it fast enough to get deoxys in it's attack forme since that one has the best exclusive moves of the 4 possible versions. I will make sure to get this when it comes out and hopefully there will be more missions which offer exclusive pokemon as a reward.

[Tyger]

I love the Ranger Games. (Raikou being a ride-able Pokemon is irrelevant.... )

I don't think i'll pick it up til someone brings it to the used game shop I shop at.

[The REAL Joey]

Well I think i'm about half way through. Just got to a certain Mt.Sorbet and beat a certain gang leader who was trying to awaken a certain Pokemon. Myyyyeeees... My interest waned in it a little but i'm trying to get back into it. I honestly think that Shadows of Almia was probably the best one. This one is okay, with the Pinchers battle theme (Note to self: Include as an NPC plot for someone and have them mind control a player's Pokemon against them mwahahah ;D ) and the summoning feature pretty cool but it just seems so... Droll. Can't really place a finger on it. Maybe i've just had my fill of the ranger games?

[Kristastic]

How is the Ranger series? Up until very recently I wasn't really interested in the non-main games (other than Snap, which I loved), but a friend on another forum convinced me to get PMD: Explorers of Sky, and I love it. So now I'm curious about the Ranger series. Is it pretty enjoyable, over all?

[The REAL Joey]

I've still yet to really tread the water with the Mystery Dungeon series so I can't really use that as a base comparison. In all honesty, I would give the spin off series a recommendation. There's three in total (Although don't be too shocked if a fourth one comes out with how quick they're making 'em) and so far i've definitely enjoying seeing things from a ranger's perspective. I know it's likely a bit outdated but i'd definitely start with the first one just to immerse yourself in with the series and get a hang of the basis.

None of them are true sequels and more accurately stand alone titles although there are overlap with the supporting cast. Also, if you do try these out, be prepared for your screen to get a metric butt load of markings. I promised myself I wouldn't but some of the captures can get infuriating (Looks at Flygon/Salamence/Kingdra trio D:< ) and you kinda lose it with not even being able to loop once with your styler.

So yeah, if you can find it cheap, by all means. They're definitely not a bad time sink and a fairly good spin off.

[Deleted]

Believe it or not I misread this post when I first posted but I myself have played through all of the games so far. I have played quite a few Spin Offs besides it so I can say without a shadow of a doubt it is the best of the spin offs to only Snap. With the exception of snap none of the other spin offs compare to the Ranger series in my opinion. That's not to say it is without it's faults. It can get repetitive at times but the special missions where you can get pokemon for the main games makes up for this fact. Graphics wise they are a bit different in style but in my opinion it is a good kind of different as pokemon do not appear for random patches of grass but instead appear in the over world and coming into contact with them starts a capture attempt in which you must make enough loops around a pokemon to capture it.

Some pokemon can cut down trees or destroy rocks in your path which sometimes block your path. So having a good befriended pokemon can help you advance but they can also help in a capture with a Poke Assist which can have a different effect depending on the type. As for comparing it to Mystery Dungeon I highly recommend it over MD. For one unlike MD so long as you download them in time some special missions give you pokemon for the main games which there is no reward for beating MD for the main games. I do like MD but with no rewards for the main game and being overall pretty easy so long as you bring reviver seeds and have a high level most of the games are pretty easy while in Ranger the later bosses can be tough and in the newest game some require multiple people in order to complete temple missions.

The other reason I prefer the Ranger series to Mystery Dungeon is the overall better storytelling. Yes MD does have a decent series of stories but in my opinion Ranger edges out overall. In MD there are times where an event seems to happen out of nowhere just because you explored a few dungeons and the story does not tell you why you had to explore a specified number of Dungeons in order to continue the story and it seems it was just to occupy time. Ranger does have a bit of times where what the game ask you to do is a waste of time but the story does not seem to have as many plot holes from the seemingly useless task at times. Now everyone has their opinions of course but in my honest opinion Ranger is the best spin off since Snap which I hope to this day they will make a sequel to.