OFFICIAL BLOG #3 — Story and Characters

[AtlusAram]

What better way to ring in the new decade than with a new Shiren blog, right? Well, I know many of you are busy getting dressed to run out and pre-order Shiren with the gift cards you got for the holidays, and if so, please continue. For those that need a little more information, take a minute to read this and we’re sure you’ll be ready to head out and reserve your copies as well.

That’s right, Meh Kappa. Shiren’s going to smack that apathy off your FACE!

I’m Clayton S. Chan, Editor on Shiren the Wanderer, the upcoming RPG for Wii™ slated to wander into stores on February 9, 2010. (Scott Strichart, the Project Lead, also pitched in with editing. I don’t want to sound like I’m taking all the credit. Also, the “S” does not stand for “Shiren”.) The fact that there’s a need for both an editor and a Project Lead on this game should be your first sign that this isn’t your run of the mill Shiren title. In most of the past Shiren games, the gameplay and the adventure took center stage, and the plot was more of a secondary thing. That’s not the case in Shiren the Wanderer, as story plays a huge role.

What do we know about Shiren from past games? The guy loves to wander in dungeons, he always wears a bamboo kasa, he’s a silent hero, and he’s got a wise-crackin’ animal companion. The guys at Chunsoft decided that wasn’t quite enough of a backstory for a franchise character and in Shiren the Wanderer, they dig deeper into Shiren’s past.

Awesome hat? Check. Hot female sidekick? Check. Talking ferret? Check. Set a course for adventuuuuuuure!

As Scott mentioned, you’ll be controlling two characters from Shiren’s past that reunite with him for this adventure. You’ll learn a bit about Shiren’s relationship with them, and you’ll also learn quite a bit about Shiren’s father and the ancestors of both Shiren and Koppa.

Why would Shiren’s ancestors be involved? Well, that’s the sort of thing that happens when your main plot goes back 2000 years. That’s right. Two whole millennia of plotting. Can you handle that?

At the crux of the plot is a giant mythical place known as the Karakuri Mansion. (“Karakuri” is the Japanese word used to describe a contraption, mechanical device or other assorted gewgaw.) Supposedly, nobody’s ever seen the Mansion, but out of the blue Shiren’s old teacher, Sensei shows up and hands Shiren the key to the place. Shiren’s obviously not just going to pass up an invitation like that, so he sets out to find it. As soon as he sets foot in the vicinity, he’ll be beset by bandits, ninjas, demons, and come across a princess who’s been asleep for 1,000 years...and that’s only the beginning.

Ninjas...The cause and solution to all of life’s problems.

And that’s just the main plot. Once you get through the all the ninjas, demons, bandits, and possible ex-girlfriends that the first part of the game has to offer, you’ll get access to some pretty awesome side-stories that unlock once you beat the game. Granted, they are more lighthearted in nature, but they’re still my favorite parts of the game.

“They have Spy Tech!” “They KNOW!”

So if you’re looking for a game that weaves a pretty grand tale and actually has a pretty satisfying conclusion (unlike, say, some of the games I’ve played recently.) then you’re going to want to finish getting dressed to go out and get that pre-order for Shiren the Wanderer placed!

You don’t want to disappoint her, do you?

Have a happy and prosperous 2010, everyone!

—by Clayton S. Chan, Lead Editor

[jeffx]

This is gonna rule!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[TenRX]

I'll wait for this !!! :3

[ryanbrandes]

This is already the life I live, looking forward to hearing more about my future travels... coincidentally, I got a "wanderer's hat" off eBay just a couple days ago... Am I ahead of the game, or what?

[Enzeru]

[quote=AtlusAram;166409]kasa[quote]
HOW COULD YOU??? WE ALL KNOW WIKIPEDIA IS THE DEVIL SPAWN AND IS THE MOST UNRELIABLE AND EVIL RESOURCE EVER!!!

...And besides, the first sentence talks about how the word becomes "gasa" when the proceeding word describes the type of kasa it is.

[Manly Biceps]

[quote=Enzeru;166818][quote=AtlusAram;166409]kasa

HOW COULD YOU??? WE ALL KNOW WIKIPEDIA IS THE DEVIL SPAWN AND IS THE MOST UNRELIABLE AND EVIL RESOURCE EVER!!!

...And besides, the first sentence talks about how the word becomes "gasa" when the proceeding word describes the type of kasa it is.

Yeah, but the sentence doesn't have anything declaring a type or style. Just the material it's made of. Don't question the robot! He'll kill you!

[Zoltor]

Just nitpicking/poking fun here, but doesn't Kappa mean Demon in Japanese lol, so that monster's name is effectively "Meh Demon"(or more like: Demon, meh) lol.

Needless to say, this doesn't help the matter any, on how I don't feel threatened by non bosses in Shiren lol.

[Rednusander]

I think an accurate translation of "kappa" would be "water imp." Remember when a character named Kappa showed up in Final Fantasy VI to explain how Gau works? He even jumps into a little pool of water at the end as I recall.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kappa_(folklore)

But yes, that monster is effectively called "Meh Water Imp." The team put a lot of work into making the monster progressions make sense to those who paid close attention, so make sure to look out for the rest of his type.

As far as being threatened... appearances and names are deceiving, especially in this game. Nothing more belittling than "Shiren fell to the Meh Kappa."

[LordGek]

The Kappas are nasty little twists in this game! Their favorite trick is to not necessarily go after you but run over to any items in the room and THROW THEM AT YOU! So not only are you likely to take some damage (although with most non weapon/armor items this is pretty negligible) but the item will then disappear (just like when you throw an item at a monster in the game).

[Zoltor]

Originally Posted by LordGek

The Kappas are nasty little twists in this game! Their favorite trick is to not necessarily go after you but run over to any items in the room and THROW THEM AT YOU! So not only are you likely to take some damage (although with most non weapon/armor items this is pretty negligible) but the item will then disappear (just like when you throw an item at a monster in the game).

Lol, damn, I hate monsters that do crap like that.

To Rednusander: (hmm, I thought I posted a reply to your post already) Oh ok.

[LordGek]

Originally Posted by Zoltor

Lol, damn, I hate monsters that do crap like that.

To Rednusander: (hmm, I thought I posted a reply to your post already) Oh ok.

This is what makes Shiren so cool is that MOST of its beasties have some sort of cool unique abilities.

[Zoltor]

Originally Posted by LordGek

This is what makes Shiren so cool is that MOST of its beasties have some sort of cool unique abilities.

No, no, no, I'm not against that, I'm against monsters destroying items.

[LordGek]

Originally Posted by Zoltor

No, no, no, I'm not against that, I'm against monsters destroying items.

See now how should I take that? You don't want stuff like that in the game or more, "that will suck" when they nail your character with it?

Like when I play an arcade game, "dying sucks" but if I didn't have a fear of my character dying in this arcade game it wouldn't be very fun.

If it was more along the line of, "stuff like that isn't fun in an RPG" you might be comforted by the fact that most of those kind of beasties are reserved for the post story dungeons.

In the main story you'll meet a bunch of incredibly DEADLY opponents that can pound you into dust with minimal effort, but it really felt like most of the tricky/annoying monster abilities don't make an appearance in anything but what can best be described as the "optional" dungeons. If you just wanted a good story with fun cinematics and some mildly challenging gameplay, there is the whole main story for you to complete but if you then hunger for MORE, like some of the more traditional freaky bits from the older Shiren games, there is still more for you to discover.

[Zoltor]

To LordGek: You got me all wrong again, I don't care if the monsters were insanely hard to kill or they can one hit you(infact I love games to be very hard, It's so rewarding when you finally win), but I don't want them touching items(especially when you have no idea what the item is, until you pick it up).


PS. I'm no stranger to hard games, not even close to being one. Lets see, I beat Dragon Warrior 2(the original NES version, not the watered down remake, and nothing is harder then that), I beat Faria, 7th Saga, DW3(NES version, not the joke of a remake) with 3 Goof-Off, and the hero, among every other hard combonation just for a challenge, and to beable to say I did it, exc, exc.

It seriously bothers me more to have a item be destroyed, without knowing what it was, then to die by a monster(unless I was like only 1 floor away from completing the area/getting to the boss).

[LordGek]

Originally Posted by Zoltor

To LordGek: You got me all wrong again, I don't care if the monsters were insanely hard to kill or they can one hit you(infact I love games to be very hard, It's so rewarding when you finally win), but I don't want them touching items(especially when you have no idea what the item is, until you pick it up).


PS. I'm no stranger to hard games, not even close to being one. Lets see, I beat Dragon Warrior 2(the original NES version, not the watered down remake, and nothing is harder then that), I beat Faria, 7th Saga, DW3(NES version, not the joke of a remake) with 3 Goof-Off, and the hero, among every other hard combonation just for a challenge, and to beable to say I did it, exc, exc.

It seriously bothers me more to have a item be destroyed, without knowing what it was, then to die by a monster(unless I was like only 1 floor away from completing the area/getting to the boss).

That's what I thought, you appreciate a challenge but dislike games that resort to "cheap tactics" like, "Hey, you know that sword you've been building up over your last 100 runs...well the ooze just swallowed it or the smacker just knocked it out of your hands and into the bottomless pit."

Getting back to the Kappas, at least, they're taking items off the ground to toss at you and, don't worry, you'll get a nice message as to exactly what they tossed at you (assuming you've IDed it already).

When beasties steal stuff from you in the Shiren games the game also is good at providing a nice clear message to the effect of, "The thief just stole you wand of fire (6)!"

I myself LOVE that the Shiren games dare to "mess with your stuff" as, short of the old Roguleikes like Nethack and Moria, few RPGs dare to go there. With the inclusion of monsters that will mess with your stuff, the resetting your level to 1 in the hardcore dungeons, the random dungeons themselves, the Shiren series to me feels a lot more like some clever Card/Board game than a straight RPG.