I love role-playing games, but I am not a huge fan of dungeon crawlers. Don’t get me wrong, if done right (Persona 3 FES), they can definitely be engrossing and addictive, but more often than not it seems like developers care more about frustrating difficulty than interesting battle mechanics or a cohesive plot. Shiren the Wanderer, an upcoming Wii game coming to North America from localization masters Atlus, strives to be something different—an accessible dungeon crawler heavy on story. From what I saw today, they might just be able to pull it off.

The Shiren series apparently has a long history, but I am completely unfamiliar with it. The last Shiren game in North America was Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer. Published by Sega, this game was described by another person in the demo as “painful”. Though this is actually Shiren 3 in Japan, Atlus chose to reuse the title Shiren the Wanderer because they think it’s a great jumping-on point in the series, and again, they want it to be accessible. Unlike past games under the Shiren name, this one is not being described as a “roguelike”; it’s far more forgiving. There are two difficulties, Easy and Normal, but the only real difference is that if playing in Easy mode, you won’t lose your items if you are killed. You also start the game with some resurrection items in your inventory, and if you can manage to save them until later in the game, when the going gets tough, they can literally be life-savers.



With a basis in Japanese culture and mythology, Shiren the Wanderer focuses on the titular character and two party members, though he can only bring one into a dungeon with him at a time. As the player, you can take full control of your additional party member, or just give him general commands to follow, like automatically attacking enemies or healing you when your HP depletes. Everything inside the dungeons is turn-based, but doesn’t actually feel like it; in fact, it feels more like a real-time game. Fights don’t go into a separate battle screen, but each action taken by you, your party member, or an enemy counts as a turn, which should hopefully lead to some interesting strategizing. I really like RPG battles that are more than just hitting a button to attack over and over again; some sort of strategy and variety is necessary to keep a game like this interesting.

Like most dungeon crawlers, the dungeons, as well as the loot contained within, are completely random. Collectible scrolls will unveil more of each dungeon’s map, and these scrolls also allow you to learn and cast spells. In addition to a 40-60 hour campaign, there is more post-game content that is said to be significantly more difficult than the rest of the game, which should keep the hardcore dungeon crawler fans coming back for more. Additionally, there are 46 in-game achievements, some of which are silly in nature and are awarded for dying in ridiculous ways. I know it’s not the same as adding to your Gamerscore on the 360 or Trophies on the PS3, but these achievements should add some extra value to the game.



From what I saw today, I’m not entirely convinced that this is going to be the game to get next year, especially since it will likely be overshadowed by bigger RPGs like White Knight Chronicles and Final Fantasy XIII. This could be because very few dungeon crawlers have managed to win me over, but it has been done before, and could be done again. I like the idea of the battle system, but have yet to try it out for myself, only getting a look at today’s web demo. I’m going to need some hands-on time before I make any conclusions about this one, but I like what I’ve heard and seen so far.

Shiren the Wanderer will be out on February 9, 2010, exclusively for the Wii.