Customer Reviews

Shiren The Wanderer

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Is Shiren the Wanderer worth dusting off your Wii? Yes!

The game is a roguelike; don't let the publisher tell you any different. It boasts random dungeons, a cohesive story and a unique assortment of items, equipment, status effects and upgrades to keep your interest. It's a throwback to the old-school approach to gameplay: the graphics are nice but they are just there to get you involved long enough to learn the mechanics. The sound stands on it's own and is quite good.

Unlike the DS version death doesn't mean starting over from scratch. If you are playing on Easy mode you keep your level and all your stuff. If you are playing on Normal mode you keep your level but lose everything that wasn't in the bank/storage. You can then replay some of the old dungeons to replenish your stock, much like starting over worked in the DS version. Having the option to march straight back into the place you died unprepared almost seems moot, but then again if you put some nice things in the bank you might not want to bother backtracking. Regardless, the fact that you can save anywhere on the main map and freely return to the storage/shop/bank areas from any overland map area makes it much friendlier.

The difficulty steadily ramps up. The dungeons start out like tutorials but after a few hours they become quite pleasantly hectic. You'll learn the rules the hard way in this game, but trial and error is a great deal of the fun. Once you beat about 5 bosses you'll start feeling confident, and then the real game starts. Will you really be prepared?

Good luck, and consider investing in rice balls whenever possible.

Shiren the Wanderer isn't like most RPGs out there; you can't just level grind and expect to get by. There are practically no easy battles in the later dungeons, you've always got to be on your toes and think one step ahead. Item management plays a central role.

This is my first roguelike, and although I've not played one before, I can tell that it's the real deal, not a "roguelike on training wheels" as some were fearing. While you can keep your levels for most of the main story, the post-game dungeons are a different story. And even when only your items are lost upon death, it's still more challenging than 95% of RPGs out there. (I should mention, though, that it's never challenging in a frustrating way. There's always a drive to go right back into that dungeon you just died in and try again.) No two dungeon trips are ever the same, so the game looks to be endlessly replayable.

I believe Chunsoft have accomplished what they probably sought out to do: Satisfy the hardcore roguelike faction while also opening doors to the general RPG fan. Wii owners don't have much of a selection when it comes to any sort of RPG, especially those of the turn-based type. Thankfully, we now have at least one excellent title in the genre to cherish.

Easily one of my favorite Wii games. The Shiren series and roguelikes in general usually isn't easy for everyone to pick up. This one can easily be picked up and played by anyone to get a feel for the series, however. The alternate difficulty levels are a nice addition even though I play it 'classically'.

The graphics and story are wonderful. The music is top notch and catchy like all Shiren games. If you're a fan of Roguelikes this title simply must not be missed.

Thanks, Atlus for bringing this one to NA. This and Baroque have been such blessings.

I'm a huge fan of Shiren on DS and was delighted to discover the game was coming to the Wii. From what I played, all the magic that made the DS game great made it to the new version, but it was crippled by a number of poor implementation decisions.

First, the camera is zoomed too far in. You can only see 3 tiles in any direction. On the DS, this felt acceptable because of the size of the sprites, but on a larger television it feels silly. The game is about making the correct response to your surroundings, and when you can see so little of your surroundings, it makes the game feel frustratingly difficult.

Second, the minimap is drawn over the game world. In the DS version it was nicely placed on the other screen, but in the Wii version you spend all your time looking at the giant map rather than paying attention to what's going on in the screen. To make matters worse, the map becomes more transparent near the center of the screen where your character always sits. Makes sense, except when you're moved on the map to the center of the screen it is confusing because you no longer appear on the minimap.

I really wanted to like this game was disappointed in how the implementation got in the way of some great game design.

I'm a 41-year old fan of roguelikes. I enjoyed the original Rogue, Hack, Moria, Angband, Larn, you name it. I adored "Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer" for DS and contributed extensively to the player community wiki for that game. I'm about 10 hours in to Shiren for Wii, and I expect I will be hooked for a long time to come. I review from this perspective.

For those who aren't familiar with the term, roguelike is a sub-genre within RPG. Roguelikes are randomly-generated, replayable, turn-based dungeon crawls. They're often punishingly difficult but have very deep gameplay that rewards skillful play. They also often have a wide variety of items available to manipulate to help you on your quest, far beyond the basics of simply weapons and armor found in most RPGs. By way of comparison, the Diablo series could be thought of as roguelike except Diablo games are not turn-based and are a bit less open-ended than most roguelikes.

Shiren for DS is my favorite roguelike of all time, and I've played many. Shiren brought a lot of innovation to the traditional roguelike format. Specifically, there's a more traditional RPG metagame on top of the pure roguelike dungeon crawl. Though you will die many times exploring the dungeon, you will also advance the main storyline, and as you do so, you will gain advantages that make dungeon crawl runs easier and more profitable. Eventually, as your skill goes up and you unlock more of the story, you can unlock the really advanced dungeons. I enjoyed hundreds of hours of fun with Shiren for DS and I consider going back to it frequently.

Shiren for Wii did not immediately appeal to me. There were several small things that turned me off. First, I wasn't happy with the dungeon map. By default, it always shows overlayed on top of your main screen. Worse, it's dimmed in the middle making it hard to use, and there's no quick key to toggle the map on/off using the normal Wii controller. Second, the game seemed too easy -- I was able to beat 7 mini dungeons and the first 5 bosses without dying once. Third, I would have much preferred this to be a DS title, with zero load times and ultimate portability.

These drawbacks were enough that I put the game down after a few hours and didn't try it again for several months. What a mistake! Now, 10 hours into it, and it's clearly an awesome game, and I predict I will again spend a long, long time playing and replaying this one. In terms of the dungeon map, it turns out the map behavior I wanted is available if I use the Classic controller. (Incidentally, the game has several different control schemes to choose from and can use any of the Wii controller types. I recommend the Classic controller as the best way to play this game.) As for my 2nd objection, the difficulty has started to ramp up and now feels just a tad on the easy side for the main game storyline. Better still, I've confirmed on the official Atlus website that there are a wide variety of interesting "postgame" dungeons included in the game. (As with Shiren for DS, these dungeons are only available after finishing the main storyline and are a lot more challenging and rewarding. I spent 90% of my time with Shiren for DS exploring and beating the postgame dungeons so I'm very much looking forward to that with this game.) As for my 3rd objection, I still would prefer if this game were for DS. The load times aren't really bad by any stretch, but there are no load times on a DS, and you can play it anywhere, plus the 2nd screen is perfect for showing a dungeon map rather than overlaying it on top of the main screen. But, at least you do get the advantages of a Wii -- much larger screen with gorgeous graphics and beautiful sound.

After 10 hours, I'm now officially hooked on Shiren for Wii. It's the best roguelike available on any modern console system, so for that reason alone, it's a must-buy IMO. But over and above that, there are many great innovations in this version. I love the overall world map (not the same as the dungeon map). The world map behaves like a network of mini dungeons to explore and conquer, and is a nice improvement over Shiren for DS. For example, the first "dungeon" is the road between the city and a nearby ruined temple. It's randomly generated, short (only 4 levels), and populated with the easiest foes and least valuable treasures. Once you beat it, you can replay it as often as you want (e.g. to build up more experience and loot) or you can simply move past it on the world map. Plus, each time you conquer an area, the world map extends and you gain access to new areas to explore and new dungeons to dive into. As you might expect, the earlier dungeons are simpler, with easier foes and lesser treasure, while later dungeons provide greater challenge and greater reward. Shiren for Wii also has several innovations in terms of game mechanics and items over the older DS version. For example, you can now configure ally behavior, or take full manual control during especially dicey situations. I was also pleasantly surprised when I found my first "drought" spell and used it to drain the dungeon rivers and reclaim an item that had fallen into the water. Loads of cool new touches in this sequel. Finally, I'll avoid giving plot spoilers here, but I'll just say that the plot of this game is a lot more intriguing than the (vestigal) plot of Shiren for DS.

Bottom line, if you've been tempted to try a roguelike game, this may be the best choice today and is certainly the best choice on any modern living room console system. Fans of other types of fantasy RPGs will also enjoy this game. Graphics and sound are very polished, and the difficulty level is more approachable than that of other roguelikes, yet the game has far deeper mysteries and gameplay than you're used to finding in a typical RPG. I only gave it 4 stars because it would have been better as a DS game IMO, plus the game had enough rough edges that I almost put it down quickly and gave up on it, despite being a fan of roguelikes. That would have been a huge mistake. If the map bothers you, try switching to the Classic controller and turning off the map by default, then you can toggle it on/off as needed. After a few hours, you're likely to get completely sucked in, in which case you can enjoy a normal 30-40 hours of gameplay to beat the main game, or continue on for hundreds more hours beating the advanged postgame dungeons as well.

'Best Game on the Wii' is kind of a backhanded compliment, since nearly every Wii game I've ever played is really awful. But Shiren isn't like other Wii games.

It's a Roguelike. Not a hardcore Roguelike by any means, but it's in the genre. If you're a Roguelike fan who owns a Wii then it is absolutely worth buying. It holds up well, and there's nothing else out there really. If you've never played a Roguelike before, Roguelikes mostly center around randomly generated dungeons that can be replayed, and at the very least, a stern penalty if you die. They tend to be a lot more open and less linear than games like Final Fantasy, so you as a player can do things off the beaten path and the game is OK with you doing that.

As a Roguelike, Shiren the Wanderer is fairly easy. It's tough enough that you can still die sometimes if you're careless (I've died once), but if you die, you only lose equipment, not start from scratch as is typical. Also, unlike other Roguelikes I've played, you can buy 'Escape Scrolls' which will take you out of a dungeon if it looks like you won't be able to survive. I'm on Chapter 8 and so far I've not encountered anything which I've had to run from, and the traps I've encountered are more annoying than actually dangerous.

An interesting thing I've seen is that several of the dungeons I've gone into have required that I start at level 1, then I regain my old level once I leave the dungeon (but I get to keep whatever stuff I found). So those dungeons are more like mini Roguelikes in and of themselves.

Since this is a console title, graphics and music are much better than your average Roguelike, and the plot looks interesting so far.

I haven't finished the whole game, or even know if I need to stop playing this character at a certain point, but I've gone far enough that I can safely give it 5 stars. The Wii desperately needs a couple more innovative titles like this - games that are not gimmicky and are actually interesting to play for more than a few hours.

I have always been a fan of roguelike games since the days of Azure dreams on PS1, but that is not the reason why I liked Shiren on Wii so much.
The game has a good "unpredictable" story! and this coming from a girl who has played and seen it all. You'd expect the boss to die after you kill it and the story proceeds right? everytime I assume something would happen in the storyline the game proves me wrong. It has been a long time since a game did that to me and had me wondering what's next.
The dungeoens and the structure of the game are well made.

My only comment on the game slightly slow loading time (which I hear has been fixed for the PSP version)
If like me you like all games Japanese style (Okami, Muramasa, heck even mystical ninja Goemon!) you will love this game

Although this game lacks in fantastic graphics, Atlus delivers another exciting RPG, something that the Wii is in hopeless need of. Reminded me of the Persona Series in gameplay.

Try it out.