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'Shiren the Wanderer' is a tale of Katakuri Mansion and the one boy who could unlock its mysteries and treasures. The game is named after our hero, Shiren, a young boy who has yet to discover he is the "chosen one". No tale like this would be complete without a supporting cast of typical and slightly off-color characters. We have: Koopa , a cute ferret sidekick whose only job is to interject dialogue into non-fight sequences; Sensei, the alcoholic uncle and mentor who slashes foes and refuses to wear a shield; and Askura, the token female warrior. 'Siren' is a throwback to the 1980's style of RPG with 2-dimensional overhead viewing, stilted movements, non-panoramic camera angles, repetitive music ditties, and, as hard as this is to believe, polyphonic blips and bleeps during fighting sequences to indicate damage.  Improved graphics are the only enhancement this game has over anything created during the long-gone Atari age. Perhaps the experience is more acceptable on the PSP but this game's format did nothing to take advantage of the Wii's movement interface (Isn't that the whole point of playing anything on a Wii?), but rather it made poor use of the controller in a traditional fashion. For example, one button is used for swinging your weapon and the joystick is simply to move. Because fighting was both turn-based and action-oriented, the sequences were choppy, inaccurate, frequently frustrating, and always quite boring. The villages have buildings and characters you can interact with. The main town features a single merchant who offers a limited amount of goods for sale. Fortunately, you don't need to pay inflated prices for weapons or shields, as these are found in the dungeon layers. There isn't much valuable interaction in the village though. Once you've met someone and clicked your way through the pre-defined dialogue, there is no need to talk to them ever again – they will just repeat themselves. There is only one real storyline to follow, and there are shallow, almost meaningless side quests to conquer. For the adventure portion of the game, it's all about survival as you move through layers and layers of dungeons. Don't die! If you perish, you lose all of your items and are tediously forced to hack your way back down the maze. Each floor has one set of stairs for moving deeper into the dungeon but there is no option to return to a level that you just passed. Taken right out of a 1980's game style, the dungeons are 2-D mazes that you walk through to find treasures and fight creatures. The enemies you face seem to have been imagined during someone's acid trip, and they include: mice that appear to be wearing bonnets; Chinese lanterns with long tongues; angry flowers (yes, angry); cat-like creatures that look like pudgy water balloons; and some other unusual creatures. Some advice, you lose your weapons and shields if you die; so store a few extra in the city. You will have plenty of storage space as you frequently find sacks capable of reducing on-hand inventory.  While wandering around the dungeon, you get hungry. When the hunger pangs hit, you need to eat a food item; either rice balls or herbs will work. If you don't eat something, your life rapidly drains and you die; therefore you – the real you – are tortured by having to restart at your previous save point, and forced to endure much of the game again in order to get back to the point you were previously at. After progressing through various dungeon levels, you are finally set in front of a boss. After mere moments of considering the movement pattern of said bosses, they become easy victims. The greatest challenge in this game is overcoming the boredom, not the enemies.  After defeating them, travel back to town to sell things and refill your healing herbs. Another word of warning: You're only able to save your progress at two points in game play; after defeating a boss, or before traveling to a location on the map. Be sure to save before descending into a new dungeon. Aside from the Uncle (your alcoholic mentor), this game would be appropriate for young people with little-to-no gaming experience. There is no graphic violence and foes are anything but scary. They're just weird. 'Shiren The Wanderer' would have seriously rivaled the action/adventure games of the 1980's but why a developer would want to challenge such games in 2010 is a mystery to me.   'Shiren the Wanderer' Format: Wii, PSP Publisher: Sega (Japan) Atlus (North America) Developer: ChunSoft ESRB Rating: T for Teen Official Site: http://www.atlus.com/shiren/ Rating: 3 / 10

 

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G4 Canada (formerly TechTV Canada) launched in September 2001. G4 is the one and only television station that is plugged into every dimension of games, gear, gadgets and gigabytes. Owned Rogers Media Inc., the channel airs more than 24 original series. G4 is available on digital cable and satellite. For more information, see www.g4tv.ca.