Pokémon Rumble World, Nintendo's latest dalliance with free-to-play on the 3DS, arrives today - 8th April. Just recently announced, it takes the button mashing brawling series into microtransaction territory and is set to include all Pokémon that we've seen to date, including many Mega Evolutions.
It's already available, at the time of writing, in Europe, and the in-game economy revolves around either purchasing or earning Poké diamonds; these are needed in order to purchase travel balloons (areas), tackle special levels with more collectibles, or a range of other items.
Pricing in Europe is as follows (thanks, Serebii):
50 Poké Diamonds (Limited offer): €0.49 / £0.49
200 Poké Diamonds (Limited offer): €1.79 / £1.59
50 Poké Diamonds: €0.69 / £0.69
100 Poké Diamonds: €1.29 / £1.19
200 Poké Diamonds: €2.39 / £2.19
500 Poké Diamonds: €5.49 / £4.99
1000 Poké Diamonds: €9.99 / £8.99
1750 Poké Diamonds: €15.99 / £14.39
We're currently working on a review and will be checking this out. Have you downloaded this yet? If so, what do you think?
Comments 42
Wow those prices are a far cry from the rip off prices I've seen in Dungeon Keeper Mobile. Nintendo seems to have nailed the pricing structure very well in my honest opinion, also here to their new venture into mobile gaming hoping that they can clean up that cesspit of F2P crap that has plagued the mobile market for years and make the likes of EA go out of buisness.
Is it available in NA right now?
@RedBeanPorridge No the censors are checking for Natzi symbols and other offensive material that might corrupt the kids like for example the lack of guns.
Nice. I'll give it a download. Still not buying anything though.
If it is well implemented as Pokemon Shuffle I may end up playing this game a lot! I will download it today to at least give it a try.
£14 for 1750 poké diamonds sounds fair, the question is, how far does 1750 go? Does the player even need that many?
I'll find out when I start playing it later.
Soon I'll be dowloading this as well to go with my collection of F2P games on my 3DS which include Steel Divers: Sub Wars and Pokemon Shuffle, still want Rusty's Real Deal Baseball to the EU E-Shop though but I fail to see why it would take so long to localise it the UK market?
Is the buisness modal or the sport in question? cos if it is the buisness modal then I'm not buying it as there are loads of crappy F2P games being made and released without so much as a single glance being issued by the EU.
Does this game have co-op in any way?
Can't wait to try this game out! Loved Pokémon Shuffle so I know I'll love this one! And the prices sound pretty reasonable, but the only way to know how reasonable they really are is to play the game. I'll get right on that after work.
The prices seem generous, considering that balloons, in the trailer provided, cost in the region of 20-50 diamonds. As far as I know, continuing only takes 2 diamonds.
The problem here, going forth, is the multiplayer aspect of things.
@TheWPCTraveler
It could also be that the starting regions are inexpensive, and that the later regions are expensive.
Maybe this model will reward players who play as completely as possible, playing the zones in order will reward however many diamonds are needed to unlock the next zone?
It doesn't seem like this game employs a stamina (hearts) mechanic like Shuffle did, so play appears to be unrestricted too.
its not yet available in the us, at least for me, and im worried, the page on the eshop says "free to start" what this means im only speculating but if it means you get to play to a certain point and then you have to pay its really gonna suck.
@RupeeClock It may very well be so.
Seeing a currency debauched in later region in a game such as this carries a harrowing reminder of price inflation in our times.
I looked into the prices again, and seeing the massive moves in EURUSD (1 EUR: 1.08 USD right now as compared to 1 EUR: 1.40 USD until recently), I'm surprised it hasn't translated into higher prices for Europe.
Well, that or it results in a starting price of 0.49 USD pre-tax (which I doubt)
I cant remember if they are allowed to call them Free to Play anymore after dungeon keepser, All my F2P apps on my phone are called Free to Start ATM.
Even if later parts of the game HAVE to be unlocked as long as the pricing is fair thats perfectly fine. It's like having a free demo that's actually a prequel to the rest of the game and is comparable to IronFall and Telltale's episodic games where the first chapter is free
Oh. In Europe. I see how it is.
@CreativeWelshman Didn't find that amusing one bit!
I'll give this a try.
From what I've read, you have to wait for a hot air balloon to re-inflate after using them to go to an area (each area requiring a different balloon). Don't know how long that takes though.
Game Overview:
3DS eShop Release Date:
8th Apr 2015 (UK/EU)
Let me know when it gets released in the west. Until then - how hard is it to fit the letters "EU" into that already overlong title? Or at least the photo caption?
Come on TW, half this site's fanbase must be US based (judging by the quantity of comments in the ND Livestreams). Well at least the more obnoxious among us.
Watched the vid:
I'm glad they went back to the Wiiware layout rather than the Wii U arena. And the story and shopping looks to add at least a little something.
So free to start seems to be better than an $18 Wii U game, I think we know where Nintendo is heading.
even the trailer makes it look super boring
the story line looks dumb to me, but I like the rumble games. Will have to pick up and play and play more Wii U version too.
I've enjoyed my time with it so far. Managed to unknowingly sink over an hour into it already. Early on the wait for balloons to re-inflate (allowing you to replay a stage from that world) is very short- not even a minute long, but I fear how long these waits will get as you progress. Diamonds (the game's premium currency) also seem to be in generous supply early on, awarding you with enough to buy at least a few balloons (worlds). Overall I can't complain, for my first Pokemon Rumble experience, I can already see the appeal. It's also yet another positive experience I've had with Nintendo's free-to-play movement, and gets me excited for what's to come.
@CreativeWelshman Wanna know what was funny?
Not this.
Oh look, something to procrastinate. I probably shouldn't... but I already downloaded it. Would be a shame not to try it out then, huh?
I'm shocked, playing it now and it is more fun then the WiiU one.
So, looks like no multiplayer which is a shame. Will give it a go, my kids love the Wii (demo) of Pokemon Rumble.
i'll definitely be getting this as soon as it appears in the shop, my guess is 12pm EST, seems to be their usual time of day for shop updates
Hey, Pokemon Rumble World is now available in the US! I'm downloading it right now.
@SurferClock @Marioman64 - Thank you both. I know you eShop always updates st noon, but thsts on Thursday, today is Wed, so I thought we might have to wait until tomorrow.
@aaronsullivan - Soups on, time to make the doughnuts.
Thats my way of letting you know that all 845 blocks of Pokemon Rumble World is in the 3DS eShop waiting to download.
No money down, no amiibo required.
@rjejr
Thanks! Now... about that small SD card in my 3DS. :/
Edit: love that Amazon Prime
Downloading it as we speak.
Game is AWESOME!
@aaronsullivan - Amazon Prime is even better when Amex gives you a year for free.
Funny thing about PRW (being on topic is strange) it has a world hub (actually very similar to Dragonball: Xenoverse) that we've been discussing for the amiibo. Maybe Nitnedo Hit Bits will have such a hub? My Splatoon amiboo can hang out w/ Fox and Link (the only 2 I have.) Though I'll need a wooly Yoshi, just b/c.
Playing the first challenge against the magician... the game has completely frozen twice now :/ the music cuts out and shortly after my New 3dsxl keeps freezing and becomes unresponsive :/ hopefully nintendo fixes this bug
Does it have co-op?
Looking forward to trying this out because Pokemon Shuffle is still really fun to play.
@Link506 - No co-op that Ive found after 3 hours of playing. There is the usual Streetpass stuff as a way to get jewels, and possibly other Mii show up in the hub like Nintendo Land - I have 3 but not sure if yheyre real or not. You can dress your Mii and give it a sidekick so maybe it does travel, but no co-op play.
Still a good chunk of game play for free. Way better than Pokemon Rumble U and a more traditional game like experience than Pokemon Shuffle.
Here's some passwords from the forum Thread if anybody is interested, courtesy of @Late (Hope you don't mind, not everybody reads the forums.)
Two passwords have been revealed for the game.
Europe:
Pancham - 24197410
Smeargle - 35325215
America:
Pancham 18294319
Smeargle 18014401
The prices are certainly an improvement, though I feel Nintendo made one big mistake when they pumped this one out. There's now a super low limit to how many toy pokemon you can have. It starts at thirty, pay GEMS to increase. Never limit the collection size in a game like this that's all about getting crazy massive collections. Ever. It's like if Walmart limited the size of your shopping cart.
I like pokemon shuffle it is fun to play when you have a few mins to spare and I have not spent any money on it. I enjoyed pokemon rumble on the 3ds but in comparison this free to play version is garbage. It just kinda looks unfinished, the environments (Which were never that great in the rumble series to begin with) seem a bit bare bones and it kind of annoys me how some bits are in 3D and others are not. Gameplay wise it is just more of the same which I know some people will love but I wish they would mix it up a bit. I know you can't really complain about the quality of a free to play game but this seems like a step backward from shuffle in my opinion. That being said I can't wait for the next main series game of Pokemon <3
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