Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer

Chunsoft’s Mystery Dungeon series is unique among video-game franchises in that each entry stars characters from other company’s games. Characters from Enix’s Dragon Quest series, Square’s Final Fantasy series, and Namco’s Tower of Druaga series have all starred in Mystery Dungeon titles — even Nintendo’s Pokemon have starred in Mystery Dungeon games, the Rescue Team series. Chunsoft has also created Mystery Dungeon games starring their own original character, Shiren the Wanderer, since 1995, but these were never released in America. Now, Chunsoft has teamed with Sega to bring the first Shiren game, originally released on the Super Nintendo, to America on Nintendo DS.

The game’s plot follows Shiren, an adventurer who travels the feudal Japanese countryside with his talking weasel, Koppa. They seek the Golden Condor, a mythical bird who can supposedly grant wishes, and who is said to live high atop Table Mountain. The game begins as Shiren and Koppa reach the foothills of Table Mountain, and prepare to fight their way through the numerous caverns, forests, and mines that stand between them and the Golden Condor’s lair. There are also numerous sub-plots, involving everything from feuding restaurants to Shiren’s irritating little brother, that advance every time you pass through the various towns along the way.

 
The storyline advances mainly through conversations with the various townspeople you meet along the way.

And while there are only a handful of towns in the game, you will pass through those towns plenty of times — because Shiren the Wanderer (like all the Mystery Dungeon games) belongs to the obscure RPG sub-genre known as roguelikes. Named after Rogue, the PC game that invented the genre, roguelikes are known for their punishing difficulty, random level design, and the fact that when you die, you have to start over. As in, all the way over. You return to the first town in the game, you lose all your possessions, equipment, and money, and you are dropped back to experience level 1.  There are some workarounds that you can use to avoid starting absolutely from scratch (like warehouses in each town, where you can store items for your next trip through), but each failed attempt also provides an even more crucial element to your eventual victory — experience (the actual kind, not experience points). After four or five deaths, you’ll start to know the ins and outs of each dungeon floor. As you make each new attempt, you’ll begin to recognize the enemies that populate each floor, and understand their strengths, weaknesses, and what tactics are necessary to beat them. Eventually, as you begin to grasp the myriad ways you can interact with the enemies and the dungeons themselves, you’ll begin to breeze through the floors that used to defeat you.

 
Enemies are numerous and devious, but so are the many ways you have of dealing with them.

And if all else fails, you can always rely on the kindness of strangers. By connecting to Nintendo Wi-Fi, you can send an S.O.S. to the thousands of other Shiren players out there. Any player can accept, and make the trek to where you fell. If they’re successful, they send a revival spell, which brings you back to life, with all equipment, money, and experience levels intact — rescuers can even include a little gift with their rescue. This feature works surprisingly well, and I was saved numerous times by the generous Shiren the Wanderer fan base. Rescuing other players isn’t entirely a selfless act, though; successful rescuers are rewarded with rare powerful items, including some that are only obtainable by performing rescues.

You’d be forgiven for thinking the game looks like a long-lost Super Nintendo title, since that’s exactly what it is. The graphics might not be the flashiest on the DS, but they’re more than serviceable and the whole thing’s got a nice retro vibe. The game’s also got a good art style, and the monsters are consistently interesting and cleverly designed. Shiren’s music consists mostly of classic-sounding Japanese tunes, and while that might not be everyone’s cup of tea, they’re low-key enough to keep from getting irritating.

Shiren the Wanderer is an unapologetically difficult game, but it’s also incredibly fun and ultimately very rewarding. There’s so much variety and randomness here that the game is infinitely replayable, especially considering the assortment of activities that open up upon “beating” the game for the first time. While it’s certainly not for everyone, Shiren the Wanderer kept me up well past midnight for “just one more level” multiple times, and that’s something few games can claim. If you’re easily frustrated, this is probably not the game for you. But if you can appreciate a game that’s deviously clever, unbelievably deep, and genuinely rewarding, then there’s a good chance that you’ll get just as addicted to it as I have.

Gameplay: 9.2
Deep, nuanced, and intricate are just a few of the words I would use to describe this game. There are so many different items, tactics, and tricks to learn that you’ll see something new every time you pick the game up. While it can get frustrating, by the time you’ve played for a little while, you’ll begin to take failure in stride, and see each death the way the developers want you to see it — as a learning experience.

Graphics: 7.6
The visuals don’t push the limits of the DS hardware, but the sprites are well-drawn, the characters and enemies are interestingly designed, and the backgrounds are varied and colorful. Anyone who remembers the glory days of the 16-bit era will feel right at home.

Sound: 7.5
The music is traditional-sounding Japanese fare, which fits the game’s theme and tone well. None of it’s particularly memorable, but it’s certainly not bad. Sound effects are sparse, but environmental sounds add to the immersion.

Difficulty: Hard
You’ll die, early and often, and sometimes the game can get frustrating. Still, the gameplay’s so addictive that you’ll want to brush yourself off and go right back in.

Concept: 8.5
The granddaddy of console roguelikes, Shiren the Wanderer created many of the conventions followed by more recent entries in the genre. Still, few have pulled it off as well as this game does.

Overall: 9.0
Shiren the Wanderer doesn’t coddle its players, but those willing to invest enough effort into the game are rewarded with a game that’s intricate, deep, and infinitely replayable. It’s one of the most addicting games I’ve ever played, and I doubt it will be leaving my DS anytime soon.