Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer

"The Mystery Here is "Why aren't more people playing this game?""

Mysterious Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer is a port of an old Super Famicom game from 1995. Thirteen years later it sees release on the Nintendo DS after the popularity of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon introduced many North Americans to the concept of the roguelike or "Mysterious Dungeon" genre that has proven to be very popular in Japan.

Chunsoft has been making Mysterious Dungeons since 1993 with Torneko's Great Adventure for the Super Famicom being the first. Featuring Torneko (better known as Taloon in the US) who was the often silly shop keeper from Dragon Quest IV, it launched successfully and paved the way for other Mysterious Dungeon titles. Shiren was released two years later and was the only roguelike from Chunsoft to feature original characters. Other notables include Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon and, of course, Pokemon.

Some of you, new to the genre, may be wondering about the term "roguelike." Basically, in 1980, there was a computer game released called Rogue which featured a simple interface of randomized "dungeons" that were explored by your character. (who was, at the time, the @ symbol) Each floor of the dungeon was created by taking a sample of rooms and connecting them with corridors. Items and monsters would be scattered throughout. The goal was to reach the bottom of the dungeon and claim the treasure. The genre expanded with other games that were either direct sequels or which borrowed a lot of gameplay elements and were essentially a lot like the game Rogue. Hence the term roguelike.

But enough with the vocabulary lesson.

Shiren the Wanderer takes place in Feudal Japan. The wandering samurai, Shiren, is on an adventure with his companion, a talking weasel named Koppa, to find the fabled Golden City, which is home of the legendary Golden Condor. After many travels, they finally reach Kobami Valley, home of Table Mountain, a towerlike mountain of sheer cliffs on all sides, upon which sits the Plains of the Sun, the supposed location of the Golden City. So begins your adventure, as you take control of Shiren and wander the roads and dungeons of Kobami Valley.

After a brief tutorial dungeon you make your way to Canyon Hamlet, the gateway to Kobami Valley. This is where you will return when you've been killed by wild monsters or have starved to death. There are a few facilities you can make use of in Canyon Hamlet and you will come to know them well.

From there, you depart to the Old Cedar Road and so begins the perilous trek to reach the Plains of the Sun.

The story is fairly straightforward and 90% of it is available in the opening cutscene. The friendly NPCs found in towns and dungeons generally only speak one line of dialogue, which is usually some form of much needed advice. A few other NPCs may offer small sidequests with rewards in the dungeons, but don't go beyond that. With the core element of this game's story being the quest itself, there isn't much in the way of character development or stunning plot twists. Shiren doesn't do any speaking, instead choosing to be represented by Koppa should the situation arise.

All in all, it's a typical story found in just about any dungeon crawler. Go into the dungeon, defeat the beasts that live there and get the treasure. The presentation and setting of the story wins a few points, but it's still just your average story. 7/10

As far as graphics and sound, the game wins in both departments. Each of the dungeons and towns you visit, as you make your way across Kobami Valley, look real and fleshed out, while still maintaining a cartoonish charm. You'll see tall forests and mountain streams. These dungeons will still be randomly chosen rooms connected by corridors, but exploring them will be a treat instead of a bore. This will not just be boring rooms and halls that all look the same, save for a tileset swap. Exploring Kobami Valley will make you feel like you're trekking through a living and breathing world.

The colours are bright and vibrant and the characters are detailed and unique. Animations are crisp.

The score of this game is also well done. Lovely tunes that range from simple melodies to far reaching fanfares. In some dungeons the music is turned off in favor of only ambiance. Running water, birds chirping, all of which sounds realistic and makes good use of the DS' sound capabilities.

I, literally, cannot find anything worthy of complaint in the graphics and sound department. I guess I could complain that the game is not in 3-D, but being a thirteen year old port, coupled with my inherent bias towards 2-D adventure games, I won't complain about it. In all honesty, for what the game promises, Shiren the Wanderer gives you a perfect presentation of graphics and sound. This is how it's done. 10/10

So now we get to the meat of the review: The Gameplay. This game is the perfect representation of a roguelike. Your navigate your character on a grid system, moving through rooms and corridors until you reach the exit, which takes you to the next floor of the dungeon. Along the way, you will find items lying on the ground, which range from food, to healing herbs, to weapons and armor and possibly some unidentified magic goods like wands and magic spell scrolls. You're also likely to be constantly assailed by wandering monsters, which will target you the minute you come into view.

Every time you take an action, like moving, attacking or casting a spell, all the monsters in the room will act, one at a time, until it is your turn to move again. In this way, the game is turn-based. When you encounter a monster, press the A button to swing your weapon. This will damage the monster directly in front of you. You can also acquire a bow and arrows, to shoot enemies before they reach you, and you can cast spells from scrolls or use items to heal yourself.

Enemies range from simple beasts that are easily dispatched to annoying archers with bows that pepper YOU from a distance to real tricky foes like the Pickpocket, who will steal a significant amount of your money, called "Gitan" and then teleport away, leaving your penniless when you reach the next town. So much for buying more food.

The game interface is fairly basic, but make no mistake, this game is not the hand-holding romp in the park that was featured in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon. Should you be killed by monsters or should you run out of food and starve to death, you will be returned to Canyon Hamlet without any equipment and your experience level will reset to 1. The only items you're allowed to keep on player death are items you have stored in the Warehouse, which can be found in Canyon Hamlet or accessed remotely in the dungeon, sometimes, through the use of magic jars.

In this way, the game pretty much demands that you take a few runs at the main dungeon to accumulate an appropriate collection of powerful magic items and weapons before making your final attempt to finish the game. It is very unlikely that a novice player will be able to go from start to finish without dying once. The further you progress, the smarter the monsters become, the more insidious the traps become and the more the game demands from you. In this game, it is not Shiren who needs to gain experience, it is you, the player, who must learn from past mistakes, recognize patterns (Hey, sweet, there's a bunch of items in this ro-- WHERE DID ALL THESE MONSTERS COME FROM!?) and generally become wiser for your efforts. This game will bend you over the couch and smack you around with its Cudgel +6 and you will thank it and ask for another.

In order to power up, you can take the weapons you find in the dungeons and give them to a blacksmith, you will "upgrade" them for you, making them stronger and better at what they do. There are also a few scrolls that will "bless" your gear, increasing its power. You may occasionally find an "armband" which, when equipped, will confer some measure of special power upon you.

Don't be fooled, however, not all the treasures you find lying around are blessings. When you pick up a sword or a wand or a scroll, or, indeed, just about any item, sometimes it will be "unidentified" which is shown by the item name being printed in yellow text. You don't know what the item will do until you use it, read an Identify scroll or until you enter a town, upon which all items are identified free of charge. Some unidentified items are cursed, which could very well cost you your life and your progress.

With all of the danger in Kobami Valley, you may be asking if there is any help to be had. The answer, of course, is yes, and it can come in a variety of ways.

The first is the help of NPC companions who will join you on your quest and fight alongside you. These characters are controlled entirely by the AI and cannot be directly influenced by you at all, but despite their occasional desire to wander blindly into a monster house and get you killed, they have their uses.

The other form of help comes from other players. Shiren the Wanderer features a "Rescue" system that allows you to send for help via the Nintendo WiFi Connection if you should die in the middle of a dungeon. It works by connecting to the WFC and asking for help. Then, a friendly player who has been to the same dungeon as you can accept a Rescue Mission from Hoi the Missionary in Canyon Hamlet and rush off to your aid with a Revival Spell. Your life is saved! It's considered good manners to send a Thank You note, and you can even attach an item to the note, to show your appreciation. Rescues can be performed by WFC or even by simple wireless connection if you've got another friend with a DS right nearby and those without WiFi can post Passwords online to get rescues, but you can't send items via passwords.

The game also features a WiFi ranking. You can make your character very powerful and you can be seen by other players around the world on the WiFi ranking screen. As you become more powerful and navigating the dungeons becomes easier, you can submit your Adventurer Scores to the monthly ranking to see how you match up against other Shiren players.

The game is a fantastic hack and slash adventure, with over 180 monsters to fight (or even become by eating special Monster Meat) a plethora of magic spells to cast and items to wield and even the potential to form mutually beneficial friendships through the Rescue System. Randomly generated dungeons guarantee that no trip into Kobami Valley will ever be exactly the same, and the difficulty will drive you forward, encouraging you to master the game. A brilliant gem from start to finish, in my opinion, and is certainly one of the most entertaining titles released on the DS thus far. 10/10

Don't let the poor box art make you overlook this title. Shiren the Wanderer is a must own game for the adventure game enthusiast. If you love a good hack 'n' slash dungeon crawl, this is the game for you. Fans of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon should also give this game a try, to see what a real roguelike is... like. Even if you just want a casual game to play on the bus on the way to work, or on the plane somewhere, or in the back of the car on a road trip, you might want to give Shiren a second look. Don't let my talk of difficulty turn you off. Despite the game's toughness at times, you'll find that it's not so much frustrating as it is motivating. It's an adventure you will grow to love.

For all intents and purposes, the game is wonderful. I highly recommend you go to the store and pick this game up.

I give this game, as an average of the areas I covered, a score of 9/10.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/12/08

Game Release: Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer (US, 03/04/08)