My kingdom for an AI

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon friend code – 0688 5570 2384

I’ve been playing Pokemon Mystery Dungeon – Explorers of Time. I like Pokemon, and I really like Roguelikes, what can I say? The game has been great so far. The story is a cut far above the norm for a Pokemon game. The gameplay is pretty unique for a Roguelike with the whole Pokemon move system being thrown into the mix.  And when did Venonat become such a freaking tank!?  My main character is a female Charmander named Ichirin, and my partner is a male Squirtle named Rakuen. The team name is Eternium. And I just cleared the Crystal Cave.

But there’s one problem I have, the AI, specifically the utter lack of pathfinding. Choosing to have your Pokemon set to “Follow me!” is tantamount to suicide because then they won’t move into attack; you’ll have to reposition the enemies for them. If you set them to attack, well, you’re bound to get split up when you walk out of a room or past a crossroad because he’s more concerned about the enemy than what his leader is clearly trying to do. Having them set to run away won’t guarantee that they’ll actually run from an enemy, I watched one of my Pokemon die because he kept crossing back and forth over his own path.

I can, however, deal with Pokemon losing tracking when they’re split up between multiple rooms, since it happens in every other Roguelike, but I’d like to think we’re to a point where characters can remember what path their leader took out of a room.

All I’m asking for is just a little more intelligence. When I engage an enemy, I’d like a little support without having to tell my Pokemon to run off after every little threat. I’d even accept it if they made like a 5 panel radius that they’d move away from me in, just as long as they don’t go completely berserk and end up completely lost. And when I set someone to flee, he should come toward the leader and run past him so I can pull the enemy off. That’s it. Is that so much?