When demonstrating this game to the press, Atlus repeatedly rejected the notion Shiren the Wanderer was a rogue-like; perhaps they didn’t want it to be associated with the genre’s reputation for unfair difficulty. What they should have emphasized is that Shiren the Wanderer tones down the worst of that genre’s abuses, resulting in a dungeon-crawling RPG that is usually fair (or at least not completely cruel) and quite fun.
For those not familiar with this type of game, Shiren the Wanderer revolves around controlling a small party on a square grid, exploring dungeons that you only have partial maps for; it’s up to you to figure out the rest of the layout, defeat enemies, and find treasure. The best explanation I can offer is a mix of basic Tactical RPG play with ’loot and explore’ RPGs like Diablo, and even that isn’t really an exact match but it should give you the overall idea. Interestingly enough, the monsters in each dungeon aren’t your biggest concern but rather resource management is. The player must be sure to bring enough weapons for each party member (plus back-ups; weapons can be stolen or broken), food (so your party doesn’t go hungry), healing items, miscellaneous trouble-shooting items like magic scrolls, and more. The problem is that you only have so much inventory space, so you have to think ahead on what you’ll likely need for each trek. Loot in the dungeon can help to some extent, but since you’ll find random items each time you don’t know what to expect.
Set in a world that seems to be inspired by Japanese mythology, Shiren the Wanderer initially has you just seeking out treasure and slaying bandits, but the plot gets much wider in scope as you go. This is actually one of the game’s strong points; unlike some Rogue-likes, this title has a fairly developed and character-driven plot. The story is unapologetically Japanese, invoking mythological creatures like the tengu and using bits of traditional music in conjuction with the normal soundtrack, so it helps to have even a cursory grasp of the language and culture. On the other hand, it isn’t essential; you’ll simply be missing out on a few plot details, but they are rarely vital ones.
The developers took steps to prevent the worst of the genre’s abuses, succeeding to varying degrees. Many Rogue-likes will either kick the player all the way back to the start of the game if their character dies, or revert them to their last save but with no equipment whatsoever. Shiren the Wanderer’s normal difficulty takes the latter approach, but this game also offers an Easy Mode. The name is misleading; the game is not easier per se, but simply lets you revert to your last save upon death and keep all your equipment. In other words, you lose perhaps 10 to 20 minutes of play time upon dying rather than losing hours. This change alone does wonders to make Shiren the Wanderer more accessible to those who would enjoy Rogue-likes if not for their tendency to be very harsh to the player.
On the other hand, Shiren the Wanderer doesn’t pull many punches in other areas. It’s entirely possible for random monsters to steal some of your money, destroy an important weapon, or split your party by teleporting half of it clear across the dungeon. Random, often invisible traps are also hidden in some squares and while you might avoid them on some occasions you will get hit on others; this aspect is not fun, given you’re being punished for doing what the game wants you to do by exploring the dungeon. Thankfully most traps aren’t too severe in their effects, so while the game can be pretty rough to the player at times it’s only rarely cruel. It would have been nice to see a little more refinement on the Rogue-like formula, but Shiren the Wanderer still does a lot to make itself enjoyable to newcomers to the genre while still being reasonably challenging to veterans.
Upon returning to previously cleared areas, you will discover that dungeons are randomly generated. This is done on a ’per visit’ basis rather than ’per game’, so many of the floors in that dungeon will be randomized on repeat visits even if you were just there all of ten minutes ago. This takes a little bit of the repetition out of any level grinding you may have to do (not often necessary, but if you really do need that little edge in one area it’s certainly possible to do this). The more optimistic might say this provides theoretically infinite replay value, though since any given dungeon functions about the same no matter its exact form there is only so far this really works. Still, it is a nice touch.
As a single-player RPG with fairly straightforward production values and design, Shiren the Wanderer probably didn’t cost all that much to develop or localize. Atlus is aware of that, and wisely opted to price Shiren the Wanderer at around $40 (MSRP $39.99). Is it worth that? I think it is; between good length, decent RPG mechanics, and a passable plot, Shiren the Wanderer provides an accessible Rogue-like that can be mean to the player if you want it to be but can also be much more reasonable, letting you pick what kind of experience you want. With that in mind, I can heartily recommend Shiren the Wanderer to anyone interested in a ’loot and explore’ style RPG.
