Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX is set in a world inhabited only by Pokémon. When players first open their eyes, they see a Pokémon in front of them, and they can understand what it’s saying. Upon closer inspection, players will realize that they themselves have become a Pokémon. According to the Pokémon they meet, natural disasters have suddenly started occurring all over this world, causing all kinds of problems. Players and their partner Pokémon decide to form a rescue team to go help Pokémon that are in trouble. 

Players will answer a few questions that appear at the beginning of the game to help determine which Pokémon they will be. Next, they will decide the Pokémon that will be their partner on this adventure. The main character and their partner can be chosen from 16 different Pokémon. Players will get job requests in various forms—like on the Bulletin Board at Pelipper Post Office or from letters that will be delivered to the mailbox at the player’s rescue team base. As players complete jobs, their rescue team’s rescue points will increase. When they collect enough points, their rescue team’s rank will go up. When they first form their rescue team, they’ll be Rookie Rank. Players can gain experience as a rescue team on their way to what all rescue teams aspire to—the Gold Rank.

In this world, Mystery Dungeons can be found in various places, such as mountains, canyons, forests, and more. Each time players enter a Mystery Dungeon; the layout is slightly different. They’ll need to adventure through these dungeons to complete the jobs they will receive requests for one after another.

The Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX game plunges you into the role of a Pokémon faced with mysterious dungeons to explore, joined by a daring rescue team of Pokémon friends with unique personalities of their own. Explore gorgeous watercolor-inspired environments as an intriguing story unfolds that thrusts you into the center of a quest to make the world of Pokémon a safer place.

In addition to Pokémon whose evolved forms hadn’t been discovered yet, Mega Evolved Pokémon will also appear in the Nintendo Switch installment of the game. Encounters with over 400 Pokémon await you, including Mega Evolved versions of fan favorites such as Venusaur, Charizard, Gengar, Sableye, Altaria and Gardevoir, among many other surprises waiting to be discovered!

Throughout your quest, you’ll need to plan strategically to build a well-balanced team of Pokémon to challenge any foes you might face. Your Pokémon will have a range of moves at their disposal, and each one can learn four moves at a time. Some moves, like Thunder Shock, allow you to damage foes directly in front of you, while other moves can heal your team members. Some moves like Growl and Smokescreen provide special effects that interfere with your opponents’ attacks. It’ll be up to you to prepare wisely and think tactically as you proceed.

The layout of the mystery dungeons you explore will change each time you visit, and you’ll find different helpful items along the way. Blast Seeds let you dish out big damage to foes, Gravelerocks let you attack from a distance and Oran Berries will recover HP for you or your team members. Luckily, you can teach your Pokémon useful abilities called rare qualities by feeding them Gummis. Rare qualities have good effects for all your team members in a dungeon, like “Small Stomach,” which allows certain foods to fill your belly quickly, and “Narrow Focus,” which guarantees moves used in a corridor will land sure hits. Some rare Pokémon may already know rare qualities when joining your team, so keep your eyes on the lookout!

Along your journey you’ll encounter rescue team camps that are in a variety of natural locations. Pokémon who have joined your team can stay at camps, and you’ll also be able to power them up and change their nicknames. It’s a great place to regroup and plan for the challenges that await.

Inside dungeons, players will find various useful items—such as Seeds, Berries, and TMs—which will help them on their adventure. As with the layout of the dungeons, the kinds of items and their locations will change each time players enter a dungeon. Players will need to use the right items at the right time to help out Pokémon that are in trouble.

Dungeons are inhabited by many Pokémon that will attack the main character. Inside dungeons, battles are turn based, meaning that for each move you make, your opponents will also make a move. Since opponents won’t move unless the player moves in these turn-based battles, the player will have plenty of time to think about what their next move should be. If the player panics and presses a button or walks a bunch of steps carelessly, they could find themselves in a scrape they weren’t anticipating. Making decisions calmly and carefully considering how the opposing Pokémon are moving are the keys to successfully navigating a dungeon.

This title can be played in any mode on the Nintendo Switch—TV mode, tabletop mode, or handheld mode. In addition, the following features have been added that can assist players with controlling their Pokémon and progressing through the game, so even if it’s their first time, they can easily adventure through a dungeon.

Key Features:

• Auto mode: Starting with this title, an auto-mode feature has been added that lets players progress through their adventures more easily. By just pressing the L Button, the main character and their team will move efficiently. When a player approaches an enemy, auto mode will turn off automatically.
• Unleash moves automatically with the A Button: Ordinarily the player would select from one of four moves to use on an enemy. When players aren’t sure which move to use, they can get the enemy right in front of them and press the A Button to automatically unleash the best move to use on that foe.
• Up to eight Pokémon can travel with you: When Trainers depart for a dungeon, they can have three members on their team as usual, but in this title, they can also add Pokémon they encounter as they go through dungeons to get up to eight teammates walking through a dungeon with them.
• Fainting in a dungeon: If a player is defeated in a dungeon, they can ask for other players to rescue them, or they can rescue themselves with another of their own rescue teams. Then they’ll be able to resume their adventure from where they fainted.

The free demo version of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX is available now in Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch, which allows you to try an early part of the story, as well as carry your save data over to the full version, once purchased upon release. For a limited time, My Nintendo members can earn up to 600 My Nintendo Gold Points – twice the normal amount – when pre-purchasing the digital version of the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX game through Nintendo eShop or Nintendo.com (where available).

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX will be available exclusively for Nintendo Switch on March 6, 2020.