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Shiren the Wanderer 3's Japanese release date, adorable bonus revealed
Back in January, Sega announced a delay for the Japanese version of Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer 3, bumping the title back from February into June. Today, Sega announced the official release date, confirming that it (probably) won't be bumped further: June 5th. We're inclined to think that Sega delayed Shiren until production of the limited preorder bonus was finished, but Chunsoft was probably working on the game or something. The two events do happen to coincide, however: along with the release date announcement, Sega sent out a real picture of the Koppa Wii remote stand, which we want almost enough to import the game.
Shiren's dungeon delights and dangers
Despite middling reviews and a limited audience due to its hardcore nature, Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer has established an impressive following, mini-communities of masochists spread about the internet's gaming districts. Of course, the dedicated GameFAQs forum is bustling with dungeon-crawling discussions, but NeoGAF and the Penny Arcade Forums are also fine venues for settling your roguelike affairs. These communities are valuable hubs for not only finding a hero to rescue your felled wanderer, but also for trading stories of Shiren's grand escapes and even grander deaths. It was these sort of tales for the original Super Famicom release that impelled @Play's (a regular column on the roguelike genre) John Harris to seek the game and write up his own playthrough narratives. His accounts in turn inspired many other gamers -- including us -- to try out the Shiren, so you can imagine our anticipation to hear his impressions of Chunsoft's DS port.John's latest @Play article is a must-read for any Shiren fan; he defends the title against misinformed reviewers, provides an introduction for those of you who haven't decided if Shiren is for you, and shares a huge list of tips for surviving your dungeon trip -- like how to decrease your chances of starving to death! Even if you aren't a Shiren fan yet, here's an opportunity for you to become one! Hit the "Read" link below for John's in-depth piece. %Gallery-11488%
Mystery Dungeon solved with Pokemon preorder
As excited as we always are when it comes to free stuff, we're ten times more thrilled with this excuse to reuse our Unsolved Dungeon Mysteries image. What better way to introduce a paranomal Pokémon preorder? To promote the April 20th release of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness, Nintendo is offering a free strategy book to anyone who reserves either edition of the roguelike. The Explorer's Guide will contain game tips, interviews, and an original manga from Ken Sugimori, likely similar to (if not the same as) Ginji's Rescue Team. For the uninitiated, the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games, like Shiren the Wanderer, are all entries in Chunsoft's Fushigi no Dungeon series. Catering to the license's audience, Explorers will be significantly less difficult and punishing than its peers. Having a strategy guide on hand should increase your survivability chances even more! If you're looking to ease yourself into the dungeon-crawl genre, this is the game you'll want to try out. [Via press release]
Metareview: Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer
Blame Shiren the Wanderer's old-school presentation and difficulty for its inconsistent scores -- some critics were able to overlook Shiren's frustrations in favor of its refined mechanics while others found the roguelike remake much too challenging and full of anachronistic elements. 1UP -- 83% (B+): Though Jeremy Parish saw Shiren as a humbling experience, he praised its rewarding depth: "The secret of victory in Shiren isn't brute force but rather a deep understanding of the game's possibilities ... The amount of depth to be extracted from the interaction possible among tools, foes, and random factors makes for one of the deepest portable RPGs you'll ever play."IGN -- 65%: IGN seems to miss the point of the game's randomized dungeons among other features: "Far too often the dungeon's exit would appear in the same room we started, thus negating any need to explore that floor, unless we wanted some items that may or may not be there. It doesn't seem like it'd be hard to program the exit to not be in the room Shiren starts in ..." This is intentional, forcing adventurers to choose whether advancing to the next floor without risk is worth skipping potential treasures and experience points.GameSpy -- 70%: GameSpy recognizes the roguelike's appeal while simultaneously noting the harsh limit of that appeal: "Shiren the Wanderer offers a lot of quality gameplay to a very small audience. What it does, it does very well. We're sure there's a small audience that will adore the game. We're also sure the majority of today's gamers will find it nasty, plodding, and archaic."Our opinion of Shiren the Wanderer? Let's just say that we've barely put any hours into Super Smash Bros Brawl because of our quest to reach the Lair of the Golden Condor.%Gallery-11488%See also: DS Fanboy interview: Shiren the Wanderer
Shiren the Wallpapers
Despite the endless praise Shiren the Wanderer's fans have for the new DS remake, you need only look to the nearest gaming forum to find examples of curious gamers immediately turned off by Shiren's US/EU boxart. Of all the marvelous concept art Sega of America had at its disposal, this is what the publisher decided on?In a post at Jeremy Parish's (of 1UP fame) blog holding roguelikes up as "the quintessential desert-island-game genre," commenter Emilio shared a link to wallpapers fashioned from that official artwork, and, as you can see in the cropped shot above, they are divine.You can grab 1024x768 and 1280x1024 versions by loading up the official Japanese site and selecting the fourth option in the top-right menu scroll. Or you can just page through the wallpapers in our gallery! Make sure to view them in "Hi Res" for maximum effect.%Gallery-11488%See also: 2008's Biggest Blips: Shiren the Wanderer[Via Toastyfrog]
DS Fanboy interview: Shiren the Wanderer
With Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer shipping out to stores tomorrow (March 31st for Europe), we called up Sega of America to chat with producer Keith Dwyer about the roguelike. We spent a good half-hour exchanging thoughts on the genre's appeal and the game's pitiless difficulty before we both wondered out loud, "Wouldn't it be cool if we posted our conversation on DS Fanboy?"Rather than spend the rest of our lives asking ourselves what might have been, we decided to post the Q & A session for you to enjoy, dear reader. After all, this will be the first time the Shiren series sees an official release outside of Japan, and the game is considered by many to be the finest console roguelike in existence, putting all other challengers and clones to shame. Pack a rice ball in your lunch box and venture past the break for our Shiren the Wanderer interview!%Gallery-11488%
Shiren picks up some companions
We've spent a lot of time talking about Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer and the incredible depth of the game (and our love for it). Not sure you believe us? Still on the fence? There's a new trailer available that shows off some of the game's quirks -- and interesting characters -- to their best advantage. Unfortunately, Butafooter is not included, but there is a little lost girl ready to tug at your heartstrings. Surely you can't resist her.See also: 2008's Biggest Blips: Shiren the Wanderer%Gallery-11488%
Sega Asks: Shiren the Wanderer
Promoting next week's release of Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer, Sega has sent out a transcript from a roundtable discussion with the roguelike's development team at Chunsoft. The group goes into detail on specific changes from the original Super Famicom game, differences in difficulty with other games in the Mystery Dungeon series, and Shiren the Wanderer's new Wi-Fi rescue mode.Though it's a very informative conversation on the production and peculiarities of the game, it's also a very lengthy session, so make sure to grab a snack before you jump past the post break for the interview.%Gallery-11488%
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon sees a pair of sequels [update]
Nintendo has let loose news that Pokemon aficionados will get some more games to love in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness. At the outset of the game, players will chose which Pokemon best represents them, from an available roster of 16, and set out for adventure through "a fantastic land untouched by humans." These new games will feature over 490 different Pokemon, and some very nice Wi-Fi functionality. Using Nintendo's Wi-Fi Connect, players can participate in "wireless rescue operations" and send alerts to their friends via email or text message on their cell phone. Sounds like a blast to us! These games will be hitting retail shelves in North America on April 20th. Update: Boxart and a video has been embedded past the break.
Shiren side quests and screenshots
There's a lot more depth to Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer than just traveling through and subsequently dying in its treacherous dungeons. As with its unique monsters, Chunsoft's roguelike offers an interesting variety of companions and side quests to add some spice to your journey.We've posted a new batch of screenshots of Shiren and his talking weasel, Koppa, chatting it up with the locals and getting all up in everyone's business in our gallery below. Apparently, there's a guy named Butafooter running a bungee jumping business on a bridge. That doesn't sound too safe. Also, what kind of name is Butafooter?! Who would name their kid that?! He must have had a hard life, growing up.%Gallery-11488%See also: 2008's Biggest Blips: Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer
Shiren 3 packed with online features
Chunsoft is adding a suite of online features to the newest entry of its revered roguelike series, further distinguishing Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer 3 as more than just "a 3D remake of the original SNES game." Topping the list of online additions is a new versus mode in which you can take a break from having monsters, traps, and other common dungeon hazards kill you -- instead, you can die at the hands of other wandering Shirens.Like the rescue feature introduced in Shiren the Wanderer DS, you can resurrect your friends who've died during their dungeon travels (they can resurrect you, too!) in Shiren 3. Also, online leaderboards and a pot-trading system will be implemented in the Wii version, putting that Nintendo WiFi connection to good use. All that's left to ask for is a US release from Sega!
2008's Biggest Blips: Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer
Developer: ChunsoftPublisher: SegaRelease: March 4If you're going to check out a roguelike, you might as well try the best dungeon crawl Japan has to offer -- Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer. Unfortunately, most will find themselves turned off by its intense difficulty, SNES-level graphics, and turn-based battles/movement. It's a game with a very special appeal -- you won't survive Shiren the Wanderer's monsters and hazards by grinding or mashing an attack button; you'll have to rely on your wits and use your limited equipment to their best advantage. It's a rewarding experience, to say the least.Oh, and did we mention that the game is insanely hard? What's worse, unless you've got an online buddy to revive you, every time you die (and you'll die very often), you lose all of your items and equipment, starting over at the beginning town at Level 1. Beginners usually die dozens of times before picking up the rudimentary skills needed to survive the dungeons. To help you in your journey, we've cleared up four mysteries for you, so you won't have to sacrifice a playthrough to figure them out yourself!Mystery #1: How do I approach arrow-shooting enemies without having my face rocked off? Don't attack arrow shooters head-on! You'll want to creep up to them with zig-zag movements, keeping yourself out of their direct line of sight. Unfortunately, this strategy won't work against other ranged attackers like rock throwers and magic users.Mystery #2: What the hell is this dancing polygon monster? That affable-looking polygon figure might not look so dangerous, but he has the power to reduce your Hunger meter by 30% (Hunger meter decreases 1% for every 10 moves), just by dancing his jig right next to you! Once that meter hits 0%, you'll lose 1 HP every turn until you find something to fill your belly with. Don't let yourself get served by this guy!Mystery #3: Why are sleep scrolls so dangerous? While having a Sleep scroll might come in handy when you've got monsters surrounding you, what that piece of parchment doesn't tell you is that once your enemies wake up from their nap, they'll move around with double speed. Make sure you don't dally around!Mystery #4: Why should I let a monster puke on me? We're not sure yet if they've been renamed in this remake, but the original Shiren the Wanderer had Nigiri beasts that would throw up on you, somehow transforming items in your inventory into rice balls. Very useful in case you run into some Polygon Jives later on! Just make sure you don't have anything you'd rather not lose in your inventory. Really, one of the greatest features of Shiren the Wanderer is its unique monsters! Far from generic characters, every one of them seems to have an interesting special ability or idiosyncrasy. Like puking on you.%Gallery-11488% Jake Hunter Back You spoony bard!
We will make you love Shiren
Sega really wants to make sure you notice Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer, and we're firmly on their bandwagon. But we're crazy, sprite-loving masochists around here; we frequently whip ourselves with strips of leather wrapped around old River City Ransom, Ninja Gaiden, and Castlevania carts. We relish the pain. Come March, we'll be fashioning a cat o' nine tails from all the copies of Shiren we'll find lying forgotten on shelves. While we practice a little flagellation, wander into our gallery and check out the latest array of screens from the forthcoming roguelike wonder.%Gallery-11488%
A Bestiary of the Mystery Dungeon
Knowing, perhaps, that we're all about the Mystery Dungeon (or, alternately, that we write about DS games), Sega just sent along a partial list of monster descriptions and tactics for dealing with them. This is, of course, welcome; we've talked about Shiren's difficulty a lot, but we haven't mentioned as much that there are many monster types to be found in this game, all with unique properties. So you'll die in an interesting variety of ways.Along with the tips, we got a bunch of new screenshots, which we invite you to enjoy in our gallery. We've posted the list of tips after the break!%Gallery-11488%
IGN casually reveals U.S. plan for Shiren 3 release?
This could be a simple mixup with the DS version, or it could be something awesome. In IGN's writeup of the regrettable Shiren the Wanderer 3 delay, writer Anoop Gantayat made the following statement:"... Shiren is set for US release under the name Shiren the Wanderer 3. As the U.S. version is currently with a TBA release date, expect the TBA to come post Summer."This is actually the first we've heard of any North American release plans for the brand-new roguelike. With the DS Shiren 2 remake coming out in March, localization of further Shiren games seems like a definite possibility, but we haven't heard any announcements from Sega. We would be more than enthused about having a shot at the gorgeous new dungeon game. If we were to get Koppa here as well, even better.
Shiren 3 not out of the development dungeon yet
Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer 3 was originally planned for a February 28 release in Japan. While we'd like for it to be released as soon as possible so Sega can go ahead and announce a U.S. date (please?), we're all going to have to wait a while. The game has been pushed back to June, for good reason: to add more content, as well as improving the general quality of the game.We aren't sure if this was Chunsoft's decision or Sega's, but since the delay was announced concurrently with the delay of Red's Dramatic Dungeon: Sakura Taisen, we suspect that Sega is cracking down on their developers. If you were Sega, wouldn't you be concerned about the quality of your releases? Maybe as a result of the extra time, we'll get an improved game along with an improved Koppa Wiimote holder.
We summon our courage to look at some Shiren screens
As Chunsoft's roguelike masterpiece, Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer, approaches, we have found ourselves overstating our own abilities in our minds. We so want to enjoy this. We read other people's experiences with roguelikes and are utterly fascinated by the complexity and the freedom (in a manner of speaking) afforded by the genre. Maybe this will be the time that we get more than a few floors into a roguelike before becoming overwhelmed and putting it down forever! We're just going to look intently at these new screens and imagine ourselves not failing. And when that gets too difficult, we can let our eyes drift up to the pretty, watercolor-esque map portion.
Shiren trailer: Wondering why you're not into Wanderer
The lack of enthusiasm American gamers have shown for Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer is depressing. Reading the comments viewers left on its GameTrailers page, it's clear that many just don't understand the appeal of roguelikes. Trust us, despite its SNES-level graphics and infamous difficulty, Shiren the Wanderer is an excellent game. As for "the appeal of roguelikes," for us, it's always been about the satisfaction that comes from surviving with limited resources, relying on your wits to escape what initially seem like sure-death scenarios. If you're looking for something with more action (Mystery Dungeon games are all turn-based) and better graphics, you should probably look into an ARPG like Dungeon Explorer instead. Otherwise, expect Sega to ship out Shiren the Wanderer to North American and European stores around early March.%Gallery-11488%[Via Siliconera]
Nintendo dates Wii & DS games for first half of '08
Nintendo dumped a load of dates on us today – 148 to be exact. These dates (some specific, some general) correspond to 65 Wii and 83 DS titles that are scheduled to be released in the first half of 2008. While its obvious that many third-party publishers will continue to shovel their filth onto the systems this year, we've been able to excavate a decent collection of potential gems from an otherwise smoldering pile of manure: Okami (Wii) dated March 25 Wii Fit scheduled for Q2 Pokemon Mystery Dungeon sequels scheduled for Q2 Crosswords DS dated May 5 Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword dated March 25 Professor Layton and the Curious Village (DS) dated Feb. 10 LEGO: Indiana Jones (Wii/DS) scheduled for Spring Super Dodgeball Brawlers (DS) scheduled for April Bangai-O Spirits (DS) scheduled for Q2 Rondo of Swords (DS) scheduled for April and thus far unannounced by Atlus USA [Note: we haven't listed titles with previously confirmed dates (e.g., Mario Kart, Advance Wars, No More Heroes, etc.).] The full list of releases is posted after the break. [Via DS Fanboy]
New Shiren screens wander into sight
A new set of screenshots, plus some lush artwork, popped up today, just in time to get you excited for Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer DS and its March release. Well, new may be a bit of an overstatement; after all, even the new screens look a lot like older titles, but that doesn't mean they don't make us happy. We'll be pleased as punch, in fact, right up until the moment Shiren wanders into the DS, at which point in time we'll start spitting and swearing arbitrarily over the game's difficulty. We do love the punishment factor of a good roguelike. %Gallery-11488%
