Gaming Who's Excited for Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer?

[sk3tch]

It's out today. I pre-ordered it yesterday but the store said they may not get it in this week.

Anyway, anyone else getting this? I'm pretty hyped. Old-school roguelike gameplay FTW!

1up review (B+):
http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3166800

IGN review (6.5):
http://ds.ign.com/articles/856/856601p1.html

Let me know if you're going to be playing this game. I could use some wi-fi rescuers.

 

[Awdofgum]

ooh! ooh! I am!

I think it is going to be one of the under-rated games that i enjoy.

 

[Karmatic]

I've anticipated this more than any other DS game since last summer!

here is the response I left to the IGN review:

The reviewer and several of you that have left comments are either crazy or simply dislike the genre; this game is really great!

First, let's clear something up: Shiren the Wanderer is the only commercial roguelike available. Izuna and the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon lack stiff enough consequences for death. Dying in a rogulike means starting over. Just because Izuna and Pokemon have randomized dungeons and are turn-based does not mean they are entirely roguelike; these games simply have roguelike aspects.

Do not let this review sway you - especially if you have enjoyed a roguelike before. If you've enjoyed Nethack or Linley's Dungeon Crawl, for example, this should not disappoint. On a side not: Both Nethack and Dungeon Crawl have homebrew ports for the DS and are entirely free. There is also a homebrew roguelike built from the ground up for the GBA/DS called POWDER and it is very well done - especially for homebrew.

Back to the subject: this really is one of the better roguelikes ever made. If you could imagine a reviewer bashing First-Person Shooter Call of Duty 4 for using guns too much, or for using the mouse to look around, then you can imagine what this review looks like to a fan of the roguelike genre. What I'm trying to say is that the negative rap in the review revolves around the qualities that make this game what it is: a roguelike!

Again; another example for those that aren't following me! A reviewer that hates Real-Time Strategy Games might review Starcraft and claim that all of the small units are annoying and that constructing units and buildings hurts the action - but would that not be a joke of a review that was simply biased against the genre? That is what is happening here with this review of Shiren!

So here's the bottom line: Shiren is an A+ game because it is the best-of-the-best of its genre. It is simply insulting to degrade one of the finest roguelikes ever created because of its roguelike qualities. The reviewer may feel that Shiren is not ideal for the DS but this opinion is based upon pure preference. I, for one, do not think that Mario Kart is ideal on the DS but acknowledge it is an A+ game for people who like the genre.

One last thing: Want to try a roguelike? Try www.Dungeoncrawl.org, www.Nethack.org, or, obviously, just google "roguelike"

 

[Saylient_Dreams]

First, let's clear something up: Shiren the Wanderer is the only commercial roguelike available. Izuna and the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon lack stiff enough consequences for death. Dying in a rogulike means starting over. Just because Izuna and Pokemon have randomized dungeons and are turn-based does not mean they are entirely roguelike; these games simply have roguelike aspects.

Okay... you totally lost me with that, lol. So in this game when you die....you die and have to start over?! That's insanely nuts, can't wait!!!

Anyways, I just found out about this game yesterday on joystiq, and I was impressed by how clean and crisp the sprites are and the details of the dungeon totally caught my attention. Then I realized this was like Izuna. Okay, honestly I didn't have enough patience with Izuna, and I found it one of the most challenging games ever for myself, probably because I really just wanted at the time some beat em up game, and was settling for some RPG like dungeon crawler. I've always told myself I'm going to go back and beat Izuna one day (probably when college is done which is like a long time still). But when I saw this, I kinda forgot about playing Izuna, and just replacing it with this. I'm kinda excited to give this one a try, looks like a quality game from what I can tell, and the challenge is there to keep me in it if I have the time for it.

*goes and googles what Karmatic said.*

*edit:
Ahh... k I think I know what Karmatic was talking about now xD. Anyways just got done reading the review from IGN, is it me or did they bash it for being too hard of a game?

 

[OG LOCC NESS]

Is this like Shining Soul? I loved that game.

 

[sk3tch]

I finally figured out what game Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wander reminds me of.

The Dungeon Revealed (a.k.a. Dungeon of Doom).

Has anyone played this one? Man, I used to love playing this on my neighbor's Macintosh when I was a little kid. Is there any way to play this on PC?

 

[JPH]

Shouldn't be long before it's dumped...

 

[stargoonman]

MEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEME

ME!!!!!!!!!!!!


ME!!!!!!



I CAANT WAIT!!! XD

 

[Karmatic]

Okay... you totally lost me with that, lol. So in this game when you die....you die and have to start over?! That's insanely nuts, can't wait!!!

Exactly. Take Izuna, for example. When you died, all you lost was your items and weapons! Having played some very difficult roguelikes, Izuna felt like it was holding my hand. I still enjoyed Izuna, though.

QUOTE(Saylient_Dreams @ Mar 5 2008, 10:52 PM) Anyways just got done reading the review from IGN, is it me or did they bash it for being too hard of a game?

Exactly. I've played Shiren already because a group translated the Jap SNES rom. Anyways, the IGN reviewer LITERALLY ADMITS in the review that he is a noob and that is why he dislikes it! The way he describes his strategies and approaches to the game are the confessions of his noobsauce. An example is when he complains about stair exits spawning in the first rooms of a dungeon. That helps very little because if you don't kill baddies and collect items on the level then going to the next level is a bad choice.

I can't wait for this to drop!!!!

Quick tip for people new to roguelikes: Dying in a roguelike like Shiren means starting over at the beginning. And while the goal is to not die, you're going to. To enjoy such a harsh game you really have to treat death as a learning experience... like "AHhhhh I SHOULD HAVE DONE *whatever could have saved you*" and then start again. Don't get too frustrated!!

FYI - in Shiren, each time you play through, you advance your relationships with the towns people... they have cool personalities so make sure to talk to them!

 

[Hadrian]

I'm mildly interested in it as I sort of remember playing a translation of the SNES version and it seemed good but that was ages ago and we have way too many of these sort of games on the DS now.

I hear Sega don't have plans to port the N64 sequel

 

[Ruri]

I played the SNES version, too. For those who don't know, you can get a translation patch for the SNES version here.

This game is pretty similar to Izuna in some ways, but it had a lot of original things. I liked many of the pot powers, for instance... there are numerous very original abilities. You can send items back to the storehouses in towns by placing them in one sort of pot. Then there's identify pots which you can put items in to identify (but you have to smash the pot to get any of the things you've identified out of it.) And... well, those ones are common, but I won't spoil any others, since discovering them is part of the fun.

The game also had a lot of original monsters with interesting powers. But it was very random, even moreso than most random dungeon games. Some monsters can level up through various ways, and those can become almost impossible to beat.

Also, although dying sends you back to the beginning, you can sort of 'build up' things that help you... for instance, there are towns along the way, and completing quests and so on can improve them, making subsequent runs somewhat easier. And there are the aforementioned storehouses where you can store extra items, grabbing them on a later run.

 

[Karmatic]

we have way too many of these sort of games on the DS now.

It is far, far better than the competition. I really consider it one of the better roguelikes ever created.

Also, for people interested in learning more about this genre, there are a bunch of excellent articles here: http://www.gamesetwatch.com/column_at_play/

From that site there is one about an experience with Shiren here http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2007/07/play_j..._trip_to_ta.php

 

[Killermech]

The 2nd topscreen reminded me of pocky and rocky.. :|
But yea, im mildly looking forward to it since I don't have anything to play atm..

 

[cosmiccow]

i am playing it as well. if someone needs a rescue, let me know. tho i've not gotten far yet... and please use passwords if you want me to rescue. as i cannot use wifi right now

 

[Yugge]

Started playing this because I heared it was a roguelike, and man, this is GOOD. Never seen such a good looking roguelike while maintaining the core gameplay and feeling of one. I love how when you die you can get rescued but you will have to wait for someone to acually go there and rescue you :3

 

[Taziz]

This game is ow some

 

[cosmiccow]

This game is ow some

indeed! i "still" love it

i'm in the third village. if anyone wants to be rescued, just give me a password and a day or two

 

[evilmerlin]

God damn this game is hard! I think I need to level a up a bit before heading out...keep running out of food though..

I'm in need of rescue again....0000-0000-1010

Thanks Korgoth for rescuing me the other day!

 

[snowfcukinwhite]

im pretty excited

 

[Dylan]

Haven't played the game but what is this rescue thing people keep talking about? sounds funny