Shiren the Wanderer (2008 video game)

Shiren the Wanderer is a roguelike video game developed by Chunsoft for the Wii. It was released in Japan on June 5, 2008, and in North America on February 9, 2010. A PlayStation Portable version was released later in 2010.

Gameplay
Similar to Torneko's Great Adventure 3, the level is inherited in the main story. However, like past games, dungeons starting from level 1 and high-difficulty dungeons after completing the main story are also available. There are more than 30 dungeons, new monsters and a new tool growth system. The player can choose between easy and normal difficulty levels to make it easier for newcomers of the genre to play. In the normal difficulty, should the player lose in a dungeon, they will lose all of their items. In contrary, they would not lose their items in the other difficulty.

Plot
The game's plot happens one year after Shiren the Wanderer GB2: Magic Castle of the Desert. Shiren and his partner Koppa reunite with his uncle, Sensei, who then leads him to embark on a journey to solve the mystery of the legendary Karakuri Mansion.

Development
Initially scheduled to be released on February 28, 2008, Shiren the Wanderer's initial Japanese release was delayed to June 2008 for quality assurance and bug fixes. In an interview article released by Atlus' business partner Sega, the game's developers stated that they would avoid making use of the Wii Remote's unique motion controls out of a concern that they would not be in line with the original, classic gameplay of prior installments. They thus came up with two control schemes that would heavily rely on analog sticks: a default one that uses the Wii Remote and Nunchuk and an alternate one that employs the Classic Controller, the latter which they recommended.

Releases
The game was released on June 5, 2008, in Japan by Sega, then nearly two years later in North America on February 9, 2010, by Atlus USA. Its PlayStation Portable port was released solely in Japan on January 28, 2010. The latter version was republished as a downloadable game in the Japanese PlayStation Store on May 15, 2012, then once more on July 11, 2013 with the label "Spike Chunsoft the Best".

Reception
The Wii version of Shiren the Wanderer 3 received mixed or average reviews based on twenty-one critic reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. The game received a score of 35 of 40 from Famitsu magazine. It sold 59,000 units in its debut week in Japan.