Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity — Paradise and Magnagates

A smaller opening choice defines this adventure

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity reached Europe in 2013 on Nintendo 3DS. Its starting choices are Pikachu, Snivy, Tepig, Oshawott, and Axew. Like other Mystery Dungeon adventures, it puts the player into a Pokémon-led story with a partner and changing dungeons. Post Town and Pokémon Paradise provide a particular home for that partnership, separating this journey from the settings of Rescue Team and Explorers.

A limited starting group can be useful when choosing a game because it gives the opening a clear identity. Our editorial view is that the choice should be approached as the beginning of a partnership rather than a contest to select the strongest familiar name. Ask which companion interests you and what kind of adventure surrounds it. The number of starters alone does not describe the rest of the journey.

Paradise makes a home part of the project

Pokémon Paradise is a place the player develops alongside the dungeon adventure. Nintendo’s description connects the community and its growth with the exploration structure. The game therefore moves between journeys outward and work on a place to return to. This is a different emphasis from treating every successful expedition only as another cleared floor or another addition to a species collection.

Players who enjoy a visible home project may find this distinction more informative than a roster comparison. Consider what you like to see after an outing: a story development, a new relationship, or a change in the place your team occupies. Those preferences can guide a choice between Mystery Dungeon entries without ranking them by a single score. Paradise is a reason to investigate this particular title on its own terms.

The camera opens Magnagates

Gates to Infinity uses the Nintendo 3DS camera to recognize round objects and open Magnagates into additional dungeons. Nintendo’s developer interview discusses this connection between a real object and a game space. The feature belongs to the original handheld’s cameras and software, so it should not be described as an activity that automatically works through a modern phone or an unrelated Pokémon game.

The idea is interesting because it adds discovery before the expedition begins. An everyday shape becomes something to investigate rather than a decorative image on a menu. When comparing unusual Pokémon mechanics, distinguish the input from the adventure it opens: looking for a usable object and navigating the resulting dungeon are two different activities. That distinction also helps explain the feature accurately to someone unfamiliar with the Nintendo 3DS.

Local cooperation and retired store access

Nintendo describes local cooperative play for up to four players and StreetPass-related assistance. Those original local functions should be separated from digital-store access. New purchases from the Nintendo 3DS eShop ended on March 27, 2023, so a historical page advertising a download or demo does not guarantee that a new account can obtain it today. The hardware and release format remain important practical considerations.

If you are comparing older Mystery Dungeon titles, Gates to Infinity is worth reading about for its settlement project and camera experiment. Those features give it a distinctive purpose within the series. Our Super Mystery Dungeon guide follows the later Nintendo 3DS approach, while the series overview explains how each adventure differs. Understanding the structure first is more useful than collecting old promotional promises as though they were current service guarantees.

Sources & further reading

• Nintendo Gates to Infinity game profile · Checked 2026-10-04
• Nintendo European release announcement · Checked 2026-10-04
• Nintendo Iwata Asks: the system and the story · Checked 2026-10-04