Explorers of Sky would potentially sit right at home if adapted as a Saturday morning cartoon, its entire story and sequential chapters making solid episodic content, especially alongside Sky's new chapter additions that function as side episodes within select characters from the cast. It would join the leagues of Avatar: The Last Airbender and Infinity Train in that regard, because its lighthearted exterior builds a foundation to unravel a story with real depth to it.

That's where most of the appeal of Explorers of Sky comes from, and it certainly had a profound impact on me in my childhood, of which still lingers to this very day with every replay. Every particular scene has charm and real intent behind it, slowly showcasing the epic that is Explorer of Sky's narrative. The music helps too, with absolute bangers ranging from Treasure Town to Through the Sea of Time, emphasizing the emotional weight behind some of these story moments. Not a single hour went by where I wasn't immersed in the mysticism and engaging world on offer here, even shedding a tear at certain scenes.

It's a little disappointing that the somewhat below standard roguelite rpg gameplay that underlines it isn't particularly interesting or good, although I have found it to be less irritating over time. That has more to say about my unapologetic love of the game though than it is to say that it does actually get better. There is postgame on offer that does make use of its sparse mechanics, but generally it is something to give your hands something to do in between scenes. It takes up more than a solid 1/3 of the runtime though, so it's something to consider before jumping in.

That being said, I would recommend Explorers of Sky wholeheartedly. It's still one of my favorite games to this day, and my heart still wails after the end credits. At the very least, I do hope you give it a try, for a grand tale of time and darkness awaits you!

God this game's so freaking good. I'll admit that I don't really like the Mystery Dungeon gameplay as much as I like the story, but oh man, the story... this is one of the best stories in the danged franchise. Plus, even so, it's still fun, I'm just bad at video games and it's reasonably difficult. I never really managed to finish the post-credits content even though that's still a big chunk of the game left, so one day I'll absolutely do that. Hopefully they consider remaking this one the way they remade Rescue Team so I can give it a shot on the Switch, but honestly, I'm sure I'll miss the really good sprites... it'd be great to have official remixes of the fantastic music, though.

Anyway, this game made me cry actual tears and I'm not ashamed to say it. Game good.

A game that somehow manages to surpass the first one. I loved the gameplay in this one. It doesn't seem nearly as bullshit as in the first game, but instead a lot more strategic. Sure, there are still attacks that are complete dogshit, but they are a lot fewer, so you can strategize around them. Overall I would say the music in this game is better, even though Blue Rescue Team has some tunes that are better individually. The best thing about the game, however, is the story. It isn't the most complicated of stories, but it is damn effective at conveying its feelings. And I don't know what it is, but I found myself cutting onions at the end of the game yet again. The game was truly at its best during the final dungeon, it being suitably difficult, and many unorthodox strategies had to be used to clear it. Haven't got much else to say, this game was a blast to play and experience, and I hope the other games in the series are this good!

They definitely don't make Pokemon games like this anymore. It's likely due to the nostalgia I have for it when I played it as a kid but regardless, the core gameplay loop is still rather good and the game really has no business being as good as it ended up being. It was quite a surprising little gem, this one. One grievance that always annoys me on replays is not having the oppurtunitiy to select the pokemon I play as at the start. I understand what the developers were aiming for but I still found it a little archaic to take a personality quiz that would link me to some kind of fictional animal.