Spoilers Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon School Arc Thoughts?

[Alola]

Hey everyone, I wanted to know what you all thought of the school portion of Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon? It's roughly chapters 1-10 and thus a great portion of the story if I do say so myself.

Did you all enjoy it? Dislike it? How do you feel about the characters and overall plot elements of being "just a kid?"

Keep in mind this thread is only intended to discuss anything pertaining to the school arc-nothing story-related past it.

 

[Master Cyrus]

It didn't need to take up half the story. It made the entire dark matter storyline feel way too rushed.

 

[sc190191]

I love it, I think its a really fun storyline. I haven't finished it yet though

 

[Juliko]

I honestly didn't mind it. But I HATED Watchog. Somebody needed to send him off to Mars.

 

[Hunter Blade]

I thought it was a good way to give the townsfolk and kids their character that made leaving the town feel like a big moment. 10 chapters was kind of a long time to stay on that arc, but considering the rest of the game is 15 chapters and the world is basically thrown into chaos, the end of the world felt more urgent coming out of an established mostly-peaceful setting.

 

[Illus]

It was pretty interesting how it was apart of the plot, and I liked how the tutorials were incorporated into it. Do I think it was a little to long? Yes, but it worked well in the end.

 

[Zweilous]

I liked that it introduced us to the characters as I felt pretty attached to the kids when all was said and done, and it introduced the partner well. However, I do have to agree it went on too long when taking the story as a whole. Once you leave the village, only one of the kids matter after that point, so them getting more focus ended up not having too much of an effect in the long run for the story. Also, once you get to Lively Town, the story goes full throttle and you don't get some time to flesh out the event you just went through before it moves on to the next big event, it's basically big plot point to the next big plot point all the way up until the end.

This also extends to the characters in Lively Town as you don't get a lot of time to know most of them due to lack of focus. Bunnelby and Swirlix suffer from this of the worst of the guild, with the latter just being a walking gimmick, while Krokorok and Krookodile suffer the most from it in general. It's especially bad with the latter since he's supposed to be the biggest crook in town that later repents, yet they do very little with him and he's tossed aside way too quickly. These characters could've used a lot more focus then what they got, and it's a bit of shame that they weren't utilized to the fullest.

In short, it's a good arc, but one that took too long and caused some pacing issues in the long run. It may've been a better idea to have had the main characters move on from the village earlier so that the Lively Town plot points and characters could be given more time.

 

[Sakuraa]

I liked it, but I thought it was a bit longer than it needed to be. It was really clever to have a tutorial session presented in the form of a school setting, but I think they could have cut some things out. By the time Summer Vacation hit I was honestly ready to leave the village and get the main plot moving, but nope, gotta have this extra little ghost story too. Heck after Ampharos comes and makes you and the partner Junior Expedition Society members, the remaining school days are nothing more than you leaving at the end of the day to go do your missions. They really could have had us leave the village sooner.

 

[Kirby4ever]

The school arc was fun, it's nice to get a refresher on the basics a bit and learn some things that are new in the game. I think that it's a nice way to get those who are new to the Mystery Dungeon series. Pancham and Smelmet kind of reminds me of the bullies growing up and going to school myself since they're jerks, but I like how they give respect after the night with ghosts. I like how things gets more serious after the school arc finishes.