Pokémon Spinoff: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Special Episode 0: In A Dark Past

[Canete16]

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UPDATE 02-08-2024: THE HACK IS NOW COMPLETE AND FULLY PLAYABLE!

UPDATE 18-12-2024: THE SEQUEL TO THIS HACK, SEVEN SYMPHONIES, HAS A PLAYABLE DEMO ALREADY! --> https://www.pokecommunity.com/threads/pokémon-mystery-dungeon-seven-symphonies.533008/

ENJOY! ^^

Hello everyone! My name is Canete16, and I'm the creator of this Pokémon Mystery Dungeon which revolves around two of the most, if not THE most, memorable characters of the entire franchise: Grovyle and Dusknoir from Explorers of the Sky.


In this hack, you will discover how they ended up having such opposite ideals and objectives starting off from a context where they both were allies and even close friends. The hack will then, of course, connect with the Explorers storyline at its very end, adding up for a great backstory for this two great characters in addition to their contribution to the plot and their beloved Special Episode, which concluded their story beautifully.


Here you have some screenshots of the game (without many spoilers):





And a YouTube video on the first part of the hack made by PMDGang:



Thanks for checking out my post! Here you have the download link (you will need to patch it with the .xdelta patcher, it's included in the .zip file too just in case you need it):

104.51 MB file on MEGA

mega.nz

Here you have my Twitter just in case you want to leave a follow and get access to as much content as possible about the hack!

https://twitter.com/PKMM_ESPEP0

Credits are included both in the .zip file and inside the game!

 

[Inner Rhymes]

I am absolutely in love with the concept you are going for. Every single time I played Explorers of sky, it always made me wonder about the backstories of Grovyle and Dusknoir. I am vey tempted to play the available demo, but part of me wants to experience this as a whole. It's nice to finally see more mystery dungeon hacks crop up!

 

[Canete16]

Hey! Thanks for your sweet words! That is, indeed, completely understandable. It makes me really happy to hear that you loved the concept anyways, and I'm sure you will get completely shocked by the amount of work and love I'm putting into the game. I hope I can finish it soon so more and more people that have a similar approach to yours on how to experience their gaming can fully enjoy it, thank you very much again for your comment, have a nice day and look forward to the next update as it will be the full game ^^

 

[BobbyLedoux]

Wow! I really love your game.

 

[Fsjsjajaj]

Ciao, sai per caso se c'è un modo per giocare in modo drastico?

 

[looneyman1]

I'd double check on grammar if possible, that one image of Treecko chewing out Duskull should read more like this: "You don't understand the weight of your words! Can't you see what this darkness has caused!?" or possibly "How can you say that!? None of us were ment to live like this!"

 

[Inner Rhymes]

Congratulations on the full release! Quick question, which Explorers sky file should I patch this over? The Xenophobia one? Thank you!

 

[Fsjsjajaj]

dove posso contattarti per patchare il gioco?

 

[Inner Rhymes]

I started playing this last night, and my god, I am so invested in the characters already. That's the first hallmark of a high quality PMD hack! However, I do feel the difficulty in the Rhyperior boss fight should be toned down a bit, as it's a bit too high, I am on my fifth attempt as we speak.

 

[Elhambre]

This is amazing, you are truly a talented creator!! I give this a 100/10! If you don't mind me asking, what software did you use to make this hack? You've really inspired me to make one for myself 😅

 

[Basil48]

This is amazing, you are truly a talented creator!! I give this a 100/10! If you don't mind me asking, what software did you use to make this hack? You've really inspired me to make one for myself 😅

A Tool known as Sky Temple was likely used after all pretty much all of the PMD Sky Rom Hacks I know of are made using this tool.

 

[Patu Patu]

View attachment 106809
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UPDATE 02-08-2024: THE HACK IS NOW COMPLETE AND FULLY PLAYABLE!

ENJOY! ^^

Hello everyone! My name is Canete16, and I'm the creator of this Pokémon Mystery Dungeon which revolves around two of the most, if not THE most, memorable characters of the entire franchise: Grovyle and Dusknoir from Explorers of the Sky.


In this hack, you will discover how they ended up having such opposite ideals and objectives starting off from a context where they both were allies and even close friends. The hack will then, of course, connect with the Explorers storyline at its very end, adding up for a great backstory for this two great characters in addition to their contribution to the plot and their beloved Special Episode, which concluded their story beautifully.


Here you have some screenshots of the game (without many spoilers):

View attachment 106810 View attachment 106811 View attachment 106815
View attachment 106812 View attachment 106813 View attachment 106814


And a YouTube video on the first part of the hack made by PMDGang:



Thanks for checking out my post! Here you have the download link (you will need to patch it with the .xdelta patcher, it's included in the .zip file too just in case you need it):

104.51 MB file on MEGA

mega.nz

Here you have my Twitter just in case you want to leave a follow and get access to as much content as possible about the hack!

https://twitter.com/PKMM_ESPEP0

Credits are included both in the .zip file and inside the game!

Overall a pretty neat addition to the game, I esepcially love how you get to play as Duskull when I assume most thought they'd step into the role of Treecko. But can at times just feel stupidly unfair. Items are nearly impossible to come by as most are the fakes introduced in PMD-Explorers of Sky so basically they're useless. Only really worth it to chuck at an enemy for some extra chip damage, although every single one has the Item Catcher IQ skill so it's unlikely to actually do you any good unless you wanna waste another turn for 10 HP damage.

Especially the section with Gulpin sucks ass though, the "Wait Here" AI is not made to protect a useless goober with 1 HP, not to mention that all the enemies have ranged attacks which don't always trigger the waiting party member to attack back so they just stand there, getting their face bashed in. And while you can traverse more easily as Duskull, phasing over walls drains your hunger by one with each step, so unless you have a treasure bag full of nothing but food, you'll starve on Floor 3.
The idea is great but the execution so terrible, I got stuck for several days on that dungeon.
I get the future is supposed to be hard, yes. But there is a difference between "hard because you need skill" and "hard because it's random and not in your favour". Getting lucky ain't a skill sadly. While it represents the world they live in, from a game creator perspective, I feel the devs forgot to let the player have fun in that section.

 

[AlphaArceus46]

Came here to say that I absolutely loved this hack! I was all for every single aspect of your approach and I got immediately immersed after I started playing. Your storymaking really showed that you wanted what all of us did: provide explanations for certain parts of the main story and, most importantly, uncover the backstories of our two favourite characters! I can't thank you enough for this! I cherished every single moment of this canon-worthy game! Good luck on your other ventures! Much love xx

 

[JackMat98]

Trying to apply the patch, but it keeps on giving me an error that there was an "invalid input" and I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

Edit: Found out the problem. I was under the assumption it needed a US ROM, so once I used an EU ROM it worked

 

[Aural4444]

PMD Special Episode 0: In A Dark Past

If you are a fan of PMD Sky Explorers, especially Dusknoir, you will love it, as the game explores his past and point of view during the events of the original game.

I have played this wonderful game, I loved it, and here is my super super loooong review:

--Gameplay:

If you liked the Gameplay of PMD Explorers of Sky, then you will love this since this game is 70% the same type of Gameplay, with 20% being technical differences, like you will not have the freedom to explore between chapters, to do things like training at the dojo, shopping at the Kekleon shop, leveling up, recruiting other Pokémon, and doing side quests (Grovyle and Dusknoir are workaholics with no free time lol).

But 10% are differences that in my opinion give a lot of quality to the game and the Gameplay, since this game is very driven by a rich story, and the Gameplay will be very immersive which will make your playing experience much more enjoyable (I won't give spoilers, but a small example is that resources in the future are limited, and most objects will be in poor condition, and there will be no orbs or apples, since it is an apocalyptic future)

This game will focus mostly on Dusknoir and Grovyle, so you will only be able to control these two, and you won't be able to change companions during the game, plus the creator made this game faithfully and truthfully to the original work, so you won't have Pokémon new generation, but Still 2D.

--Music:

This has the ost of the original game as well as other tracks from other games and series that perfectly capture the soul of the original, they will destroy your heart to make your eyes bleed ; )

They really capture the emotional and trivial moments of the scenes and the essence of the characters, and nothing feels out of place.

But I recommend that you update your NDS emulator, because something that happened to me is that using an old one would cause the music to repeat in certain scenes (It felt bad but I couldn't do anything anymore because I had advanced too far in the game and if I updated the emulator, I lost my game, luckily it happened in very few scenes).

--Art:

Not only will there be drawings of iconic scenes from the original (such as the sunrise or beautiful natural settings), there will also be other drawings that I think some are the same team and others commissions, but they have surprised me very pleasantly 🥰

(And some have scared me more than I expected).

--Story:

If you don't like games with long stories, rich plots, and a lot of dialogue, I'm afraid this game isn't for you because it is one of the most important and strongest parts of this game, it really captures the essence of the original, and manages to entangle and deepen it without removing or erasing the original, managing to connect the original with this game in such a natural and unique way, managing to make this work feel like the prequel or sequel that we all dreamed of (For me this game is canon).

My only complaint is that the Human and Companion parts felt a little tedious, but that's more because I already knew them and I was more interested in Grovyle and Dusknoir.

I don't want to give spoilers but I will just say that this game made me cry, but really cry (literally), it ties up all the loose ends of the original game, and the ending is perfect, it captures the essence of Grovyle's mission dilemma even better than the original, and it deepens it in a wonderful way, making it your problem too.

Simply sublime.

--Characters:

Honestly, this is the best (and my personal favorite) part of the game, as it not only deepens the existing characters from the original, it adds new and original ones that don't feel out of plce, and you quickly fall in love with them.

And their development and arcs are at the same level, they really leave you speechless, since they make you fall in love to break your heart, make you cry, and still pray for a miracle, because something that all characters has is hope in hopeless situations.

Of course, the best character arc is the growth of Grovyle and Dusknoir, whose evolutions will be mostly linked to their emotional growth and maturation, and although everyone who has played the original game knows the outcome, this game is the definition of "The treasure isn't at the end of the adventure, but in the journey", they will simply leave you speechless.

--Game vibe:

This prequel game captures the essence of the original, you will once again be a child who played PMD for the first time without knowing the adventure that awaited you and how it would mark your life forever.

Honestly, I consider The Special Chapter 0 canon, and from now on I will recommend the original game and this game as duos, because it is simply impossible not to recommend as a pair.

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And that's it, I'm sorry it's been so long, I hope you're encouraged to play it, and I thank Canete16 for creating this masterpiece. Have a nice day<3