Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer

I've been playing this game religiously for about a week now, and even though victory still eludes my grasp I think I've played enough to write a review on this game.

First of all if you are reading this, you like RPGs with random dungeons, and own a DS, go out right now and pick it up so that we can help each other through the game. I say this because of the Wi-Fi option of the game. If you die during an attempt to go through the game you can send out a rescue notification, which you have 3 of for the game. Another person with Wi-Fi connection can then look up to see if there is anyone that needs to be rescued, they can then find the character and once found will send the person a revival scroll. The player with the dead character can then use the revival scroll to continue their journey. This process works a lot better if you have friends who have the game and can quickly find your character, instead of just throwing the rescue out to anyone, and you never know if someone is going to help you, or how long its going to take.

The graphics for the game are your standard DS graphics, when not in one of the couple of cities that are spread out across your quest you'll notice that you have your ever present map up. I did find this slightly annoying, but I was still able to see the action so it didn't affect me all that much. Also you have the directions in which you can go constantly at the corners of the screen.

The game play is pretty simple, everything is turned based. If you don't move or perform an action then nothing will move on the screen. You can use that to your advantage, or get destroyed because of that. There are traps dotted throughout the different levels, and there are characters that will join your party to help you through your adventures. On mechanism that can suck is the fullness indicator. Not only do you have to keep your HP up but you also have to monitor your fullness, if it gets to zero you'll start taking damage every step you take. The thing I find strange about this is that there is almost always an abundance of healing herbs if you search each level, but rice balls, the stuff you eat to keep your character full, are almost damn near impossible to find from time to time. There's been the case where I've had all this sweet gear that I'd picked up along the way, and I'm getting Gitans (Money), and items, but because I'm carrying a weapon and a shield my fullness is falling faster and I can't find any rice balls. In the one store that you'll constantly come across there's no guarantee that you'll be able to find rice balls present in there items.

I think that to a degree hurts the overall game. I like the fact that there is a large degree of randomness, it means that its very unlikely that you'll have the same experience twice in a row, but to not be able to have something that is essential to just getting through a level monsters or not is a bit over the top.

There is a mini-game of sorts in the starting village that puts you into a dungeon in which you have to solve the puzzle. Some of the levels are a bit strange, but I think that it definitely allows me to vent some of my adventuring frustrations. Also by completing a challenge you'll be given an item, I believe that is random as well. Thankfully though, as of late I've been getting rice balls as my reward. Oh that reminds me there is one catch to that place, everytime you accept a challenge your inventory disappears so you have to place anything that you won in a warehouse.

The warehouse can be key because everytime you play through the game, if you got some sweet item but don't need it you can leave it there, and then the next time you come through that town, lets say after you died, you can pick up that sweet item.

I think this game is a great buy, if you can find it and I think that if you're like me you'll enjoy the game. I do think, however, that it is crucial for you to know someone else that has the game, otherwise you are going to want to throw your DS through a wall. So I sadly give this game a 6.8 because of the throwing DS factor.