Pokémon Ranger: Difference between revisions

 

In the first game, nicknamed ''The Road To Diamond And Pearl'', you battle the Go-Rock Squad. In the second game, ''Shadows of Almia'', you battle Team Dim Sun. In the third game, ''Guardian Signs'', you battle The Pokémon Pinchers.

 

* [[Absurdly Spacious Sewer]] - Underneath Fall City in the first game.

* [[Actually Four Mooks]] - Generally averted; the number of Pokemon you see on the field is exactly how many will appear in battle, even the ones that the villains summon to fight you. It starts to show up near the end of ''Shadows of Almia'', though, when Dim Sun summons one Pokemon and you wind up fighting two or three.

** Snorlax from the first game appears blocking various passages to higher-level areas; it's impossible to wake or move it, but it will move on of its own accord when the plot needs you to reach that area later.

* [[Bullet Hell]]: The third game's Shaymin mission has an aerial chase with one of the nastiest bullet spreads around.

** Likewise, from the second game onwards, Pokémon have a "Friendship Meter" that effectively serves as a health bar -- it's even ''labelled'' "HP".

* [[Cerebus Syndrome]] - In the third game, you have to dodge these weird energy balls flying at you while you're in the sky. If you get hit, your health bar goes down. But what is it really? {{spoiler|In the anime special, they're literally balls of energy that can electrocute you (demonstration on Ben's part). You'd think they're actually trying to kill you.}}

** {{spoiler|And also, you get knocked out by a big chunk of debris falling on your head for a moment, too}}. And it's not played for laughs.

** Steelheads are suits of armor {{spoiler|that can capture Pokemon via bad feelings. The Pokemon Pinchers wear these things. The armor takes control of the wearer's mind.}}

* [[Charged Attack]] - After a certain point in the second game, you can charge your Styler by holding it in position, making it more powerful and easier to "damage" the opponent.

** Many Poké Assists work like this as well, where the longer you hold the Styler in place before attacking, the stronger its effect will be.

** Barlow's identical ancestor in the Past missions.

** Spencer's and others' names can be found etched on the Pledge Stone in the second game.

** The second game also had a few missions and quests inside the volcano on Boyleland. You even get to ride a Pokemon across lava!

** The third game once again has you walking about three inches above the boiling magma of Faldera island.

* [[Dual Boss]]: After defeating Ice's Pokemon in [[The Very Definitely Final Dungeon]] of ''Shadows Of Almia'', he asks for Lavana and Heath to lend him their Mons, and you have to fight ''all three at once''. (Fortunately, they're not quite so aggressive the second time around.)

* [[Easing Into the Adventure]] - In the first game, your first mission involves helping a man find a missing pet Pokémon. In the second, you actually go to Ranger school for the first bit. For the third game, you get launched directly into the adventure, as the programmers expect you to have played the first two.

* [[Elite Mooks]] - Steelhead-armored Pinchers in the third game.

** Admins in the first and second games. Also in the first, they're "commanders" and they spend the whole game pissing and moaning that they can't be real Executives, since they're not related to the leader.

* [[Escort Mission]] - In the first game, you have to escort a mechanic terrified of bug Pokémon through a jungle infested with said Pokémon. If you encounter one, instead of going into battle, the mechanic freaks out and you have to start over from the entrance.

* [[Experience Points]]

* [[Exposition Fairy]]: Ben or Summer in Guardian Signs - whichever one you don't pick. Once rescued, they happily follow along, [[The Load|not contributing anything]], but mainly interacting with the cast in place of the character, who by Pokemon law must remain a [[Silent Protagonist]].

* [[Final Boss]]: Entei in the first game, Darkrai in the second, and Mewtwo in the third.

** Entei also gets a [[Final Boss Preview]] when he's first awakened.

** Go-Rock Squad in ''Pokemon Ranger'':

*** [[Big Bad]]: Gordor

*** [[The Evil Genius]]: {{spoiler|Hocus (and Dr. Edward also fills this role to a large extent - he's even called Ed "The Thinker"!)}}

*** [[The Dark Chick]]: {{spoiler|Kasa (she's also a [[Master of Disguise]].)}}

** In ''Pokemon Ranger'':

*** [[The Hero]]: The Protagonist

* [[Foreshadowing]]: Of the many mysterious books in Amun's library, a book about how to deep-sea dive seems really out of place. {{spoiler|One of the relics to summon [[Fan Nickname|Lati@s]] is at the bottom of the Eastern Sea -- Amun went to the trouble to mark ''all'' of them.}}

* [[Frictionless Ice]] - And God help you if there happens to be a drop after the edge. Thankfully averted in the sequels, where the ice in Almia Castle and on Mt. Sorbet behaves more realistically. It behaved realistically in the rest of the cave.

* [[Giant Space Flea From Nowhere]]: The final boss of the third game, Mewtwo, which the [[Big Bad]] uses to fight you, really has no explanation. Finding it in a preservation chamber as scenery just a few minutes ago doesn't count as an explanation.

* [[The Goomba]]: Bidoof are almost entirely harmless -- their Browser entry even describes them as "sometimes it ''pretends to'' attack".

** In the second game, none of their "attacks" even do damage, except for the Bidoof that you have to rescue Little Tim from - at the ''beginning'' of the game.

* [[Hopeless Boss Fight]]: The Darkrai battle in ''Shadows of Almia'' is like this initially (no amount of loops will affect its lifebar), before a story event kicks in and you can take him down for real.

** {{spoiler|Arceus is also like this in the "Pledge to Arceus" downloadable mission in ''Guardian Signs'' - however, the game doesn't let you ''try'' to fight it while it's in its "can't touch this" mode. The legendary dragons Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina just immediately show up and smack Arceus out of its invincible state for you.}}

* [[Ice Palace]]: Almia Castle, which is frozen over, making all the floors slippery. {{spoiler|It's where the King of Almia and his youngest son, both from the region's legend, were said to live.}}

* [[Idiot Hero]] - Not so much idiot hero as idiot ''rival''.

* [[Immortality Inducer]]: In ''Guardian Signs'', {{spoiler|The Societea become immortal by wearing pieces of the Golden Armor. This seems to be of the "stop the aging process and survive mortal blows" kind, but we never actually see them suffer any direct physical harm until after they lose their armor to Purple Eyes, so we can't be sure about the latter. After Purple Eyes is defeated, the armor disappears, thus making sure no one remains immortal.}}

* [[In Medias Res]]: ''Guardians Signs'' begins in the middle of a pursuit of the Pinchers.

** Jynx's kiss will do this too.

* [[Inventory Management Puzzle]]: You can only have up to 7 Pokemon at a time. Several quests make use of this, such as retrieving the 7 Eeveelutions, all but two of which need other Pokemon to be reached. Getting to the Regis in the first game also tended to be like this.

* [[Involuntary Group Split]]: Early in the first game, you escort Professor Hastings through a cave and are separated from him by a rockfall.

* [[I Always Wanted to Say That]]: Early in Guardian Signs, when Booker is about to take you to Renbow Island:

* [[Kick the Dog]]: The villains in all three games just ''love'' to do this, to a ridiculous extent. In particular, {{spoiler|the Societea blowing Dolce Islands to smithereens in the third game}} [[Moral Event Horizon|''has'' to win some sort of trophy for sheer pooch-punting panache.]]

* [[Kid Hero]]

* [[Level Grinding]] - You can bring your styler to ludicrous levels if you run around and capture enough Pokémon instead of actually progressing in the game. This makes the second and third games ridiculously easy.

* [[Locked Door]] - Averted by Barlow in the second game. [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|TARGET CLEAR!]]

'''Burkhart:''' I hope it does. I like onions. Hey, get back here! Like pizzas could fly! You tricked me! }}

* [[Lost Forever]] - While certain Pokémon can be re-fought later on in the game, there are some that can only be fought once (usually for plot purposes). The games also feature entire sidequests that are only accessible ''if you downloaded them from Ranger Net when they were available for download''.

* [[MacGuffin Delivery Service]]: Heath of Dim Sun's elite Sinis Trio pulls this on you in ''Shadows Of Almia'', with a [[Hostage for Macguffin]] for backup.

** {{spoiler|And of course, Purple Eyes ends up [[The Starscream|betraying]] them all in the end.}}

* [[Metal Slime]]: In the past missions, Delibird give a huge amount of AP when captured, but good luck finding one. [[Pinata Enemy|They're easy to capture if you ''do'', however.]]

* [[Mind Control]] / [[Mass Hypnosis]]: The villains' ultimate goal in all three games, and the means of achieving it.

* [[Mind Screw]]: {{spoiler|Hocus}}'s way of messing with you. {{spoiler|He even supersizes himself and his Crobat at one point.}}

* [[Monster Compendium]]: The Pokemon Ranger "Browser" is similar to the main series's Pokedex in function, but less difficult to complete because it logs full entries for all Pokemon captured in any battle (whereas in the main series, only ''wild'' Pokemon can be captured and fully logged), and doesn't require trading between games for rare Mons to complete.

* [[Mook Bouncer]]: Weepinbells in Ringford forest will bounce you to the entrance of their area if they catch you. Dusclops and Claydol in ''Guardian Signs'' also perform this as part of the stealth-based missions that occur in their territory.

* [[Musical Theme Naming]]: The islands in the third game; '''Do'''lce, '''Re'''nbow, '''Mi'''tonga, '''Fa'''ldera, '''So'''phian, '''La'''yuda, '''Ti'''likule.

** Lampshaded early in the post-game with Ben/Summer (whoever you didn't pick) trying to decide on a dime what island to patrol:

* [[My Name Is Not Durwood]]: Rhythmi is annoyed by the fact that professor Hastings seems to think that her name is "Misery".

* [[My New Gift Is Lame]]: In the first game, Cameron is said to have a habit of giving people lame gifts. At one point, he gives the player a broken little submarine. Subverted when said submarine is later fixed and used to travel to another area through an underwater cave.

** Not so much you as Lunick/Solana, he/she won't let you LEAVE THE TEMPLE.

* [[Nintendo Hard]]: The past missions in Guardian Signs, especially in single-player. Enough so as to make you hurl your DS against the wall. The Deoxys one can't even be done in single-player.

** It is possible that, against all odds, the name he was given for smelling like oil just happened to be his actual name.

* [[Nominal Importance]]: Given a [[Lampshade Hanging]] by two Team Dim Sun admins, who comment on how their names are just "Admin" and not, for example, "Admin A" and "Admin B".

** Also [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] by a student in the Ranger School at the beginning of ''Shadows of Almia''.

* [[Obviously Evil]]: Gordor from the first game can't stop laughing maniacally when he's posing as a perfectly good person, and Blake Hall in Shadows of Almia is pretty much ''instantly'' recognizable as a villain as soon as you set eyes on him (evil shiny sunglasses, all black suit, evil mustache, and a businessman). To a lesser extent, {{spoiler|Dr. Edward will probably set off alarm bells for any [[Genre Savvy]] player as soon as you meet him for having a unique sprite and name but no early plot importance, as well as a hairstyle that can only be described as "Mad scientist hair", plus a creepy facial expression.}}

* [[One Steve Limit]]: Ranger Keith of Fall City and Ranger Keith (Your idiot rival from the second game), who was transferred to Fiore.

* [[Overly Long Name]]: Played with as a joke in a Quest in ''Guardian Signs''; a simple bridge with a name so long that it took ''[[Up to Eleven|three signposts]]'' to completely name!

* [[Papa Wolf]]: Rand in Guardian Signs when he {{spoiler|[[Crowning Moment of Awesome|knocks down a Steelhead, while wounded, to save his daughter!]]}}

* [[The Password Is Always Swordfish]]: {{spoiler|After Isaac realizes that Kincaid was just using him for his evil plans, he decides to tell everything about his research to the rangers, including that the password they need is "Melody", the name of his younger sister. Later on, when Keith and the player character are in an elevator and need to guess the password, Keith eventually guesses that the password Isaac programmed in is once again "Melody" and comments that Isaac must really care about his sister a lot.}}

* [[Save Point]] - Unlike the main Pokémon games, you cannot save anywhere, only at odd little flying machines (in the second and third game) or strange talking statues with glowing orbs on them (the original). They're typically located at the start of a dungeon, and just before the boss/exit -- often [[Suspicious Videogame Generosity|with an Electric-type nearby so you can recharge your Styler]].

* [[Saving the World]]

* [[Segmented Serpent]]: Steelix. Gyarados too to a lesser extent, but it is partially underwater, making it much shorter than Steelix.

* [[Ship Tease]] - Between Solana and Lunick in the first game, after you complete the Groudon mission.

** Nema teases Ben and Summer that they are going on a date when out on patrol. Whichever one is not the player character begins talking quickly and getting flustered. Sort of a [[Brick Joke]], because an old man NPC asks a similar question in Ringtown.

* [[Sidequest]] - Loads of 'em. Literally referred to as "Quests".

* [[Spoiler Opening]]: The pre-title screen cinema in ''Guardian Signs'' has {{spoiler|Lugia's silhouette in the underwater background. Also, the Ranger Sign shown at the title screen is Mewtwo's.}}

* [[Standard Status Effects]]: Subverted; in the first game, the player can become temporarily "Poisoned" (slower movement speed) or "Confused" ([[[Interface Screw]] altered movement directions]]) if hit by a Pokemon's attack on the field, but this has no effect on the Styler itself in battle. Starting from the second game, getting hit on the field incurs normal damage.

* [[Status Buff]]: For the most part, Poke Assists in the first two games provide secondary effects on top of normal capture lines. By the third game, Poke Assists are basically [[Summon Magic]].

** The "Recharge" assist works inversely; in the first two games it instantly restores some Styler HP, but in the third game it provides a "Regenerate" status buff when used mid-battle.

** The third one has parts where you must sneak by Dusclops or Claydols. No mercy if you mess up here though, but at least their field of vision is clearly marked for you, and you can get rid of the Dusclops by sneaking up behind them.

* [[Storming the Castle]]: The finale of the third game. And it's ''epic.''

** The finale of the second game is very similar.

* [[Surprisingly Easy Mini Quest]] - [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in ''Shadows'' with the mission given to you by ''your mom''. All she asks you to do is read a recipe out loud, and says that after all the hard work you've done, you deserve a bit of a break.

* [[Suspicious Videogame Generosity]]: In the second and third games, you will often be warned by a character and given a chance to turn back when you're about to enter a boss area, sometimes without any reason to suspect a boss battle.

* [[Take Over the World]]: The [[Big Bad]]'s motivation in each game, though not necessarily the only motivation.

* [[Techno Wizard]] - Ice, Isaac, and Kincaid from ''Shadows'' and Nema from ''Guardian Signs''.

* [[Terrible Trio]] - The Sinis Trio, minus the comedy (except in Ice's case) in ''Shadows''. {{spoiler|Red, Blue, and Purple Eyes}} in ''Guardian Signs''.

* [[Timed Mission]]: Starting with ''Shadows of Almia''. Every Temple mission in ''Guardian Signs'' is also timed.

* [[Warp Whistle]]: Staraptor's "Fly" move lets you revisit any place you've been to before.

** ''Guardian Signs'' also adds some [[Global Airship]] elements, allowing you to freely fly all over Oblivia's sky to encounter various wild Pokemon, even though you can only ''land'' in previously-visited areas (or places where the story needs you to go.)

** After Murph quit being a Ranger to work for the Union, what became of his partner Pokemon Slowpoke?

** After the end of ''Shadows of Almia'', where did the Sinis Trio go?

* [[Wolverine Publicity]]: Pikachu on the cover of Shadows of Almia. While there are actual Pikachus in the game, they are merely a regular Pokemon, and get outclassed by both Raichu and Magneton in effectiveness.

* [[World Domination]] and [[Immortality]]: {{spoiler|<s>Edward</s> The Societea}}'s goals in ''Guardian Signs''.

 

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[[Category:Eastern RPG]]

[[Category:Nintendo DS]]

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