Pokemon Ranger Shadows of Almia

Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia (ポケモンレンジャー バトナージ, Pokemon Renjā Batonāji, “Pokémon Ranger: Vatonage”) is an action role-playing video game developed by Creatures Inc., published by The Pokémon Company and distributed by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS video game console.

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. It was released on the European Wii U Virtual Console on June 9, 2016, and was released on the North American Wii U Virtual Console on August 4, 2016.

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

Gameplay – Pokemon Ranger Shadows of Almia

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 the 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).

Synopsis – Pokemon Ranger Shadows of Almia

Setting – Pokemon Ranger Shadows of Almia

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 – Pokemon Ranger Shadows of Almia

See also: List of Pokémon characters and List of Pokémon

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 their 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.

Peace returns to Almia and its inhabitants, and the characters enjoy a concert originally planned for Altru (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. In an epilogue mission, Kincaid reorganizes the remnants of Team Dim Sun under his own leadership.

Now dubbed Team Debonairs, the revived organization attempts to revert the Luminous Crystal back into the Shadow Crystal by removing the Tears of Princes from their positions around it. With Darkrai’s aid, the player thwarts Team Debonairs, ends Kincaid’s ambitions and ensures a peaceful future for all of Almia.

Reception – Pokemon Ranger Shadows of Almia

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.”. Pokemon Ranger Shadows of Almia

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 DS game of December 2008 in the United States.^[13]Pokemon Ranger Shadows of Almia