Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia

Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia
North American box art
Developer(s)	Creatures Inc.
Publisher(s)	The Pokémon Company
Distributor(s)	Nintendo
Series	Pokémon
Platform(s)	Nintendo DS
Release date(s)	JP March 20, 2008[1] NA November 10, 2008 EU November 21, 2008[2] AUS November 13, 2008[3]
Genre(s)	Action RPG
Mode(s)	Single-player

Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia (ポケモンレンジャー　バトナージ, Pokemon Renjā Batonāji, lit. Pokémon Ranger: Vatonage) is an action role-playing video game developed by Creatures Inc. for the Nintendo DS video game console. It is the prequel to the Pokémon Ranger video game, also for the DS.

It was announced in the January 2008 issue of CoroCoro and was released in Japan on March 20, 2008. It was announced at E3 2008 that the game would be released in the United States under the title Shadows of Almia on November 10, 2008. It was announced on September 25 that the game would be released in Europe under the title Shadows of Almia on November 21, 2008.

The game features 270 Pokémon, including new Pokémon which were not featured in the original Pokémon Ranger, from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. The game utilizes the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection to download new missions.

Gameplay

The game takes place in the Almia region. The player begins as a Pokémon ranger-in-training at the Ranger School and quickly graduates to a rookie Ranger and must advance from there. The player may choose their character’s gender, but unlike in the original Pokémon Ranger, this choice does not affect their partner Pokémon.

Much of gameplay is similar to the original game. Players must capture/befriend wild Pokémon to aid them by circling them with their Nintendo DS stylus (known as a Capture Styler in the game).

There is a major change from the original capture method. Instead of having to complete certain number of loops without lifting the stylus, the player must fill up a Pokémon’s Friendship Gauge by drawing loops around the Pokémon, but can lift the stylus to avoid attacks. However, the power in Friendship Gauge will decrease over time if the player stops drawing loops for too long. The amount of power in the gauge filled by each loop increases as the player levels up the styler.

Shadows of Almia also introduces Quests, which are mini-missions not essential to the plot that involve the player completing requests from Almia citizens, earning new partner Pokémon and power-ups (such as resistance to attacks or longer capture lines) for their styler as rewards.

Unlike the original, Shadows of Almia allows the player to choose their partner Pokémon. In the previous game, the partner was decided based on the players chosen gender (Minun for male, Plusle for female). Players start with either Pachirisu, Munchlax, or Starly, and the other 14 partners (as well as the two partners that were not chosen at the beginning) are obtainable either through sub-quests or in-game events, and once captured, can be switched to be the player's partner at any time. There are 17 possible partners, one for each Pokémon type.

Shadows of Almia also includes 4 different types of stylers: the School, Capture, Fine and Vatonage stylers. The School styler is a simplified version of the capture styler, while the Fine Styler has a charge feature (which can be upgraded) which activates when the styler is held down, increasing the amount of feelings conveyed to the Pokémon and enabling quicker captures. The Vatonage styler is a unique Fine Styler that can capture Team Dim Sun's Pokémon instead of merely releasing them.

Synopsis

Setting

This game takes place in a new region - Almia (アルミア地方, Arumia-chihō), far from all other regions encountered in other games. The Fiore region is an exception, however. It is mentioned frequently in Almia. Almia has a widely varied landscape, everything from the hot Haruba Desert to the chilly Hia Valley.

Plot

The game starts at the Ranger School, with the player enrolling as a student after expertly capturing a Pikachu. The player quickly makes friends with two of classmates, Rhythmi who dreams of being an Operator, and Keith, a rival, who dreams of becoming a Top Ranger. After the player and Keith nearly discover what Mr. Kincaid, a teacher, is doing in the basement, Mr. Kincaid seals it off from all students. Both the player and Keith show strong potential as Rangers, and graduate with full honors after defeating two Tangrowth at their graduation ceremony. The player stays in Almia, while Keith and Rhythmi go to Fiore as part of their training. The player's family moves into a nearby town known as Chicole Village, and the player goes to live with them.

The player and Keith go on to separately collect the sources of these shards; the blue gem from Almia Castle, the red gem from Boyle Volcano, and the yellow gem from Hippowdon Temple. Although the player takes both the blue and red gems, Keith is captured by Dim Sun, which uses him to blackmail the player into surrendering the yellow gem. Meanwhile, Sven raids Dim Sun's undersea base, stealing plans for an "Incredible Machine". The plans reveal that Altru Inc.'s tower is actually a massive Gigaremo powered by the Shadow Crystal and that Altru has been behind Dim Sun's activities. Peace returns to Almia and its inhabitants, and the characters enjoy a concert originally planned for Altru Inc. (ironically played by the Go-Rock Quads from the original Pokémon Ranger) while the player returns home to his family. The game ends showing Darkrai circling the Luminous Crystal, signifying the return of peace.

Partner Pokémon

Reception

Shadows of Almia has received mostly mixed reviews, with a score of 68 on Metacritic. GameSpot gave the title a 7.5 out of 10 rating, stating that "Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia improves upon its predecessor just enough to make it a fun, solid addition to the spin-off series.". Eurogamer gave Shadows of Almia a 6 out of 10 rating, stating that "With a long wait until the next proper Pokémon game, many fans may feel that's enough, but they shouldn't expect anything more than a mild distraction." 1UP gave the title a C+ rating, stating that "While it's nowhere near as addictive as the regular color-coded Pokémon games, Almia's still a decent diversion -- I just wish the story offered something a little deeper." IGN gave the title a rating of 6.7 out of 10, stating that "Unless you're addicted to scribbling circles like that creepy boy from The Ring, or you're some sort of hippie that only likes playing humane non-battling Pokémon games, you could probably pass on this and be just fine." As of July 9, 2008, the game has sold 576,467 copies in Japan, according to Famitsu.^[10][11] It is also the 13th best-selling game of Japan in 2008.^[12] It was the sixth best-selling game of December 2008 in the United States.^[13]

See also

• Pokémon Ranger
• Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs

References

External links

• Official website