I’m actually quite a huge fan of the Pokémon Ranger series, for a number of reasons. The main one is that these games are generally a little bit more shallow and easier to play through, and this isn’t a bad thing, as all the Pok&eac...
I’m actually quite a huge fan of the Pokémon Ranger series, for a number of reasons. The main one is that these games are generally a little bit more shallow and easier to play through, and this isn’t a bad thing, as all the Pokémon Ranger games are thus far still pretty substantial packages that have managed to keep my attention for quite a while.
Guardian Signs takes place on the island region of Oblivia. The player takes on the role of a Pokémon Ranger, who can best be compared to Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny using Pokémon but not capturing them to do greater good for society. Upon finding a Pichu who carries a broken ukulele and helping him fix it, the Pichu becomes the player’s first Pokémon, and together they work to make the island of Oblivia a peaceful and place safe from the Pokémon Pinchers, evil people who steal Pokémon and poach them for their own personal gain.
The world of Oblivia is beautifully presented to the player, with very clear and crisply drawn characters and environments throughout the whole game and some nice and atmospheric locales to explore including some rather interesting ruins of ancient structures. What’s even better about the presentation of Guardian Signs is how bright and vibrant the colours are; it really adds an extra level of charm to the general appearance of the region and to be completely fair, you wouldn’t expect anything less from a Pokémon game. The only thing that can get in the way every now and then is that the assets for most of the characters do not get upscaled neatly when in battle, creating a rather pixelated effect. Otherwise, everything has this great level of polish.
The general gameplay in Guardian Signs is largely similar to the previous two Pokémon Ranger titles. Players step into the shoes of the Pokémon Ranger and traverse various areas in Oblivia to befriend Pokémon in an effort to use them against the Pinchers. Using a device known as the Capture Styler, players can capture Pokémon by drawing circles around them during active battles. In previous Pokémon Ranger games, players could pick a Pokémon from the outset and use that to woo other Pokémon over to the ranger/player’s side, however in Guardian Signs you will instead start off with the Ukulele Pikachu who puts up quite a fight.
Playing through the game, players will encounter Pokémon they require to complete certain tasks, draw circles around them using the Capture Styler device and befriend them. Every Pokémon takes a certain amount of “rings” to befriend and despite the effort you might be putting into the game, the Pokémon do not stay with the player permanently. Each Pokémon has different moves that allow it to reach different areas or perform different tasks, such as Cut and Surf. The battle system, if you can even call it that, is still rather simplistic however. And despite being very easy to pick up and being quite streamlined without annoying menus or anything, it can and will get incredibly boring to older players within a few hours. Younger children, however, will absolutely appreciate the simplicity of the system.
A new feature of Guardian Signs is the ability to trace a sign on the touchscreen to summon a legendary Pokémon for use at any time in the game (following their “defeat” in battle). There are a total of four legendary creatures to summon and each has their own specific and more important ability, such as the ability to run on water, fly through the air and travel great distances. These are a nice new touch but they ultimately don’t add anything majorly new or groundbreaking. Despite having over 300 different Pokémon to capture and play around with, Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs literally has the player just going through whatever Pokémon are available to them at the time, circling them a few times with the stylus, and then using them to proceed. It’s a very shallow experience.
There is, of course, a lot of multiplayer functionality in Guardian Signs along with an interesting way to import rarer Pokémon to HeartGold or SoulSilver. Guardian Signs supports four-player co-operative modes wirelessly, and despite taking place during different quests and adventures prior to the game, these experiences are a great way to continue the story either during or after the adventure as they do not interfere with the main mode. Co-operative modes just see players completing missions with a set amount of Pokémon as decided by the game, and are quite easy either way. Finally, Guardian Signs also allows players to import a very rare and coveted Deoxys or Manaphy to any of their mainstream Pokémon series games. It’s a bit of a cheap way to get those who play the main games and love them to buy this game, but still, it does add value to the overall package for the die-hard fan.
Of course, as you’d expect from any Pokémon game, the soundtrack is pretty simplistic and uplifting with the little digitised cries of the Pokémon being played at almost every turn with almost every Pokémon. The music is pretty bearable, especially over longer play periods which was a surprise, being someone who usually finds it rather irritating and mutes the game to avoid further frustration. The biggest problem with Guardian Signs is that there is a lot of talking. Almost everything in the game talks to you in some way, shape or form, and without proper voice acting, it’s rather boring to read through walls and walls of text to get where you want to go. Similarly, the sounds for the Pokémon are all recycled from previous games, and despite keeping a sense of continuity, they are definitely starting to show their age.
The main mode itself will take players around about 15 to 20 hours to complete depending on their skill levels, and while a multiplayer campaign certainly adds value to the overall package, it’s actually much shorter than you would expect. These numbers do take into account whether or not the player completes all the side quests available too, which are good but sometimes feel a bit like filler. Thankfully, the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection can also be utilised to download new quests, though this service will obviously be only as good as it lasts.
Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs is a pretty good Pokémon game but it really does nothing to add to the franchise, nor the formula established by the previous two games in the Ranger spin-off series. Despite having quite a bit of content, it’s a bit too simplistic to recommend to older players and they may tire of it fast. If you’re below the age of 15, definitely pick this one up, if you’re anywhere upward from that, you might enjoy it but I doubt you’ll make it through the whole thing.
Very polished and creative design makes Oblivia come alive, but some weird upscaling issues draws the graphical fidelity back a notch.
An interesting and streamlined battle system creates something a little bit different, however its way too simplistic to hold your attention for too long. The use of Guardian Signs are a new feature but are essentially the same as using any regular Pokmon.
A good use of chipper style music that doesnt get horrifically irritating as time passes by, however the use of recycled assets for Pokemons cries makes the game feel terribly aged despite being released in 2010.
There is admittedly a lot to do here with almost 15-20 hours packed into the game, and with downloadable quests and multiplayer functionality, this only increases. However, some of the content does feel like filler and may put players off from completing it.
Pokmon Ranger: Guardian Signs is a decent addition to the Pokmon Ranger franchise, however I am not convinced that the developers can put anything out in the future that will add anything substantial. I hope they prove me wrong.
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