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Ah yes, the Mystery Dungeon series. For those not in the know, this is a Japanese adaptation of the Western roguelike format that was popular on home computers back in the day. (Spike) Chunsoft used to be the developer behind the Dragon Quest series, and in 1993 they developed a little spin-off titled Torneko's Great Adventure, which laid the groundwork for their future titles and would go on to be quite successful in its home country. If you happen to be a Pokémon fan, you might also recognize the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series, which was also made by them and likewise shares a lot of the same gameplay mechanics.
Shiren the Wanderer, however, is the only series to feature original characters, being set in a fantasy version of feudal Japan. Unfortunately, the series, despite dating back all the way back to the Super Nintendo in 1995 remained Japan-only for a long time, and even after the first title was localized in 2008, English releases were few and far between, although this has changed recently, with the fifth game becoming quite popular with streamers, and this very title finally seeing an international release close to its Japanese launch - just a month later, in fact!
Plot-wise, the game is set right after the 2nd Gameboy entry, although knowledge of other games in the series isn't required to understand anything, which is good because said title was Japan-exclusive as well. Instead, the returning characters and their motivations are all accurately explained to the player, making you feel right at home. The story itself concerns Shiren and his talking ferret sidekick Koppa exploring the titular Serpentcoil Island, on whose mountains a mysterious maiden is imprisoned by a monster, and she keeps calling out for adventurers to save her. In a nice twist, you actually begin the game during the final boss fight, but chances are you will lose to the onslaught of foes from all sides. Then, Shiren reawakens in a small town next to the harbor and has to start his journey all over again, sans his memories. Naturally, things aren't quite as simple as they seem; not only are there other adventurers out to save the maiden, but also several groups after the island's many riches or even following their own, completely separate agendas.
Truthfully, deep, involved storylines have never been the series' strong suite. It does somewhat make up for this with some clever and engaging writing that helps bring the characters to life. Koppa himself acts as a mouthpiece for the otherwise silent Shiren, and his brash attitude does tend to get them into trouble multiple times. And then there's the whole rivalry between the two pirate fractions searching for the island's many treasures, with their humorous interactions being a particular highlight, and in a clever bit, they also often subtly provide tutorials for new mechanics during their bickering, which is a neat and non-intrusive way to ease players into the adventure.
Beyond the main quests, there are also several subplots to go on, all of which open up gradually as you play, and they all come with their own little rewards for those who engage in them, such as unlocking new potential party members or items that will later show up in the dungeons, so it's worth it to go after them, especially because some of these side-stories are quite adorable.
Gameplay-wise, the game is a roguelike through and through, and not one of the particularly forgiving variety either. This means you enter a 31-floor randomized dungeon and engage in turn-based shenanigans. Every step you take, every item you use, every attack you execute counts as a turn, which is easy to remember and naturally also applies to your foes. The first three or so floors contain only a handful of weak enemies and some starting gear and items. However, caution when navigating should be applied at all times, because even the starter enemies can make quick work of you if you're not careful - if you get surrounded, you'll likely die in a few hits. For this reason alone, it's always best to move to the more narrow corridors and take the enemies on one by one.
Level-grinding is also greatly discouraged, and there are several measures in place against it: for one, Shiren has a hunger meter. Any action you perform will cause it to drain, eventually forcing you to consume a food item, which do not come in infinite supply. Secondly, pure levels aren't all that helpful, as they mostly increase your HP and one random stat by one point, so it's much more important to keep your equipment up to date. Finally, each floor has a set turn limit, after which you get blown out of the dungeon, which counts as a loss. Don't worry, though, as said turn limit is generous enough to not occur during normal gameplay, and more serves as punishment for level-grinders.
Items are the heart and soul of the game; with the game boasting a truly staggering list, and Shiren himself being a normal person who can't use magic or fancy skills. There are herbs that can heal you, cure (or inflict) status effects, staffs that have various effects on enemies and can be waved from a distance, rocks and arrows that can be launched from afar for damage, scrolls that have various, typically room-wide effects such as inflicting all enemies with sleep, incenses which cause floor-wide things to happen and, of course, the various pots you can find. Said pots serve to store excess items, because your base inventory is limited, and the storage function is appreciated, although not all pots are actually used for this purpose, as some can also be used to hide yourself in them or douse enemies in water.
Also, the game has swords, shields and accessories for Shiren to equip. The former raise attack, the latter defense, and accessories can do all sorts of things. Almost every piece of gear has a secondary effect, though, such as a shield that slows down your hunger decay or weapons that are effective against specific types of enemies - furthermore, there's a synergy system in place, granting you a special bonus if you equip a sword and shield of the same type. However, not all items are immediately identified, with most of them requiring appraisal first, usually by reading a scroll or finding an NPC who can do this for you. Before an item is identified, the only way to find out what it does is use trial and error and use it, which can screw you over if you're not careful, or at the very least make you miss out on some good stuff that would've been useful for later. However, the game also does encourage you to actually use your items instead of hoarding them, as especially during the latter half of the dungeon, fighting from a distance or exploiting status effects is preferable, as Shiren still can't take too many hits.
Now, with such an amazing array of items, you may wonder where the game's actual difficulty lies, and it's quite simple: if you die at any point, you're sent back to square one, lose your level and all of your items on-hand, including gear, making your next run fresh. This means that being resourceful and clever is rewarded, while careless button-mashing is harshly punished. The only exceptions are the various warehouses you come across as you travel, where you can drop off some items to retrieve on a later run - in general, don't expect to beat the game on your first run and do leave some stuff there to make your next time a bit easier. Note that even if you do successfully complete a run (or use an optional scroll to escape), you get to keep your items, but will still lose your level.
Naturally, the enemies you face will be the source of many a death. What's remarkable about this series as a whole is the fact that the enemies aren't tough because they have inflated stats, but rather because of their unique behavior patterns and attacks, which you'd do well in memorizing in order to survive. Some enemies will reflect anything thrown at them, others will warp you elsewhere and surround you, some have an unlimited supply of rocks to throw at you, some may hide and attack you when you approach, and so and so forth - with the exception of the very basic Mamel monster, no enemy is as simplistic as just walking up to you and attacking you, and a big source of the game's trial and error nature is remembering what each enemy does. In addition to this, enemies can also level up, which happens if they either manage to kill anything else, whether it's a party member, you or a fellow monster or by getting possessed by a ghost. Unlike Shiren's level, a monster gaining one is extremely bad news, as their stats increase exponentially, and you better run away or defeat it ASAP if you got the means.
In a select few areas, you can also come across giant, cursed monsters, dubbed Roaming Behemoths, which spawn from a randomly placed portal and will steamroll you if they catch up. Luckily, they will also despawn after a while, so it's as simple as avoiding them for several turns, but woe betide you if you get stuck in a dead-end. Furthermore, there are invisible traps strewn about the dungeon. You can unveil these by attacking an empty square in front of you, but more often than not you'll trigger them by accident. Trap effects range from mild inconveniences, such as being unequipped, to getting warped to a completely different location on the floor you're on, all the way to triggering an alarm that draws all nearby monsters towards you. Another type of trap is the classic monster house: basically, a room that, upon entering, spawns a huge amount of enemies and starts playing frantic music, and beating these is no easy task, but the rewards are worth it - not to mention the stairs will occasionally spawn inside these too. As a general rule of thumb, if you find a particularly large room with a lot of items inside, there's a high chance it's gonna be one of these.
It should be noted, however, that failure is completely normal and expected by the game. Many events in the areas in-between the dungeon only unlock on later runs. These usually result in certain side paths being activated; for example, you can explore a cave full of ninjas instead of going through the usual forest path. Sometimes these detours are easier, other times they're harder but yield better rewards. Also, if you're having a tough time, it's worth it to go out of your way to recruit the additional party members, which are conveniently also locked behind these events. Once unlocked, they can randomly show up in the dungeon and will offer to join, and they are generally a huge help in keeping you alive. In many ways, these allies could be considered the game's easy mode, but that doesn't mean you should be careless, because they can still die if you make rash decisions - I myself managed to get myself killed on floor 30, and it still haunts me.
And with all of that already said, I am still barely scratching the surface of the game's many, many elaborate systems. For one, weapons and shields can be upgraded and synthesized, new items with their own gameplay mechanics show up as you go along and if you dare to steal from a shop, you will incur the wrath of the shopkeeper, and much, much more. Even beyond the initial 31 floors, there's oodles of post-game content to sink your teeth in once you're done, naturally including a dungeon that is so hair-pullingly difficult that it leaves no room for a single mistake, so if you really wanna declare yourself the master of the game, this is your place to be.
Also, if you came in from the previous game, you'd likely be surprised that a lot of the extra fluff has been done away with, with the developer describing it as a return to basics, as such, the day and night cycle, skill orbs, the lottery system and the like have all been removed. However, as the previous paragraphs might have clued you in already, none of this means this game is at all simplistic.
In terms of graphical presentation, the game is honestly a bit of a mixed bag. It runs on the same engine as Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX, but unlike that game, features human beings in full 3D, and the super deformed models, while crisp and clean, look nowhere near as good as the 2D sprites employed in the other titles - Shiren 5, despite being already 14 years old, has barely aged due to its gorgeous and well-animated spritework, while this one simply lacks the same fidelity. Which is not to say the game looks ugly - far from it, actually. The environments are very colorful and well-designed, with unique assets in every corner, including areas you're unlikely to spend more than a few minutes in, and even the randomly generated dungeons themselves look varied enough to not feel that way, continuing the trend of resembling little dioramas, which is a great fit. And despite being low-poly, the models do look good and have plenty of animations to convey their emotions, and are still complimented by nice character portraits that help convey the individual emotions of each character.
The artwork, which you can unlock as menu backgrounds, is undoubtedly fantastic, though. Done by Kaoru Hasegawa, it's a very unique style that eschews the standard anime tropes and does more of its own thing, while still looking recognizable. The evolution of his own artwork is especially evident when comparing it to the last game, just compare the key art for both:
Sadly, the series' mainstay composer, Koichi Sugiyama, has passed away in 2021, with his distinctive and whimsical touch being one of the series' most defining characteristics. His replacement, Keisuke Ito, who has also been with Spike Chunsoft for a while, did a remarkable job, however. He does not attempt to straight up copy Sugiyama's style, but rather create his own using the same types of instruments, and it works to fantastic effect, with the town themes being calming and serene, the dungeon tracks varying from optimistic to cautious to outright foreboding, and every cutscene has a fitting score that helps sell it. As a matter of fact, if nobody had told you that it wasn't Sugiyama composing for this entry, you likely wouldn't have noticed. Some of my personal standouts, in no particular order include:
Naturally, Sugiyama will forever be missed. But wherever he may be right now, he can be damn proud that his legacy will be kept alive
by another banger of a soundtrack that is clearly a loveletter to his previous work. Rest in peace.
The sound effects have long been one of my favorite part of any Spike Chunsoft game, as they are extremely good with their usage, and this game is no different - you wouldn't believe that something as simple as menu beeps could induce joy, but this game somehow has it down to a T, with some of the most satisfying sound design out there. From sword-swinging noises, to the magic sound effects of the wands and scrolls, everything sounds exactly how it is supposed to, and it's a joy. Even the absence of any sort of voice acting isn't too notable, as instead each character has a unique "text sound", if you played Undertale you'll know what I mean, which is a small detail that adds a lot of personality to something as simple as scrolling text.
So, does Shiren 6 live up to the expectations? I'd say it does, and goes above and beyond in delivering a roguelike dungeon crawler for hardcore fans of the genre. If you enjoyed Pokémon Mystery Dungeon and want something more difficult, go for it. And hey, on a final note: if you're a livestreamer, the game actually comes with an in-game streaming overlay to make things easier for you, so they even had the foresight to think of that.
UPDATE: so, when the game first launched in February 2024, there was no DLC, nor was there any announcement there would be any. However, this has changed shortly after this review was posted, with a two-part content pack on the horizon, part one of which was released on September 10, the other one is scheduled for October 31 of 2024. I have, in all honesty, very mixed feelings about this - unlike its immediate predecessor, the game launched for a whopping sixty bucks, and while the amount of content contained within the base game is nothing to scoff at, said DLC adds two new playable characters, a total of ten new dungeons and some smaller knick-knacks - not a whole lot for more money. It honestly leaves me with a bitter taste in my mouthn aid I ultimately ended up knocking five percent off of the score I originally gave.
85% - as pure as it gets
Pros:
- Lots of content that is introduced in a digestible manner
- Masterful sound design
- Enjoyable writing and character interactions
- A varied and tough challenge...
Cons:
- ...that will turn off newcomers to the genre
- 3D graphics feel like a downgrade
- Low-value paid DLC for a full-price game
As a final fun fact: the aforementioned hopeless battle where you first get control of Shiren? With knowledge of the game's mechanics and a bit of luck with the item spawns, you can legitimately beat the final boss then and there, which immediately unlocks all post-game content. See it for yourself right here. (The video is spoiler-free!).
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