Pandora's Tower: Limited Edition (Wii) - Reviews

(4.4)

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30.6.2012

As the Wii approaches its end, original role playing games seem to be landing left and right. Xenoblade has its grand vistas, The Last Story has its amazingly natural dialogue, and Pandora's Tower well it has Elena. The aim of the game being to prevent a curse from turning her into a monster. To stop the curse you take control of the semi-silent protagonist Aeron; for the most part he's a bit like Link from the Zelda series or the vault dweller from fallout 3 but in scenes with drama he does talk. It's a nice halfway house that sets out to give you the immersion of playing the part of the character while at the same time allowing for dramatic scenes to feel fluid and not like a series of button prompts.Armed with the mystical oraclos chain, given to you by a creepy old woman named Mavda you are instructed to collect the flesh of beasts from the towers for Elena to chow down on. You soon find out that said beast flesh is only a temporary solution; it only delays the effects of the curse for 30 or 40 minutes. The only way to truly break the curse and save the day is to obtain flesh from the masters lying in wait at the top of each of the thirteen towers.The aforementioned towers are guarded by enemies and puzzles, in order to reach the final room of each tower the plucky hero must first unseal the rooms containing the dangerous creatures known as the masters. This is achieved by destroying a handful of pedestals which ground the chains barring entrance to the final room of a tower. As you begin scaling the towers you will notice two things, the first is that each tower corresponds to an element a bit like The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of time's fire temple, water temple, forest temple etc. This is great for the first five towers as it keeps things fresh both in terms of art direction and game mechanics, the second half of the game isn't quite so interesting due to tower 6 to 10 repeating the themes of 1 to 5. Nobody really wants to go through two water temples. The second thing you will notice about the towers is that you are not going to manage to get through them in 30-40 minutes, most will require at least two trips back to the observatory. This could have easily made the whole experience a lot more tedious, to the developers credit though they have done an amazing job making backtracking bearable. Each tower has shortcuts you can open up in the form of unlocking barricaded doors and dropping down ladders, which make traversing to the top of each tower a quick and painless task. Also included is an item that instantaneously transports you back to the observatory, these are particularly useful in getting the most out of your time in the towers.The unique concept of having to come back at regular intervals to prevent the damsel in distress from mutating horrifically is quite gripping. On the one hand you want to fully explore the Towers and discover the mysteries behind them but on the other you don't want to watch Elena Gag as she eats raw oozing purple monster flesh. There aren't too many games that make you feel guilty for wanting to explore every nook and cranny. One of the thing the game does really well is make you want to protect Elena and get back before the curse takes hold. There's a kind of morbid curiosity at the start of the game where you want to see what happens when you leave it to the last minute to get back to Elena. Once you've watched that scene once, you will never want to see it again, probably the darkest thing you will ever see in a Nintendo published game.When you eventually reach one of the towers masters you will immediately be reminded of the colossi from Team Ico's epic shadow of the colossus, in the sense that each of the boss battles feels like a puzzle rather than a challenge of your reflexes or combat proficiency. It feels a lot more brain over brawn. The idea behind these master battles is to hook onto the glowing weak point with the oraclos chain and perform some abrupt, unwanted keyhole surgery. The difficulty comes from trying to figure out how to reveal the masters weak point and get off a fully charged yank. Generally if you impale something with a metal spike, they are not likely to sit there and wait for you to remove their aorta. So before going for their Achilles heel you will need to stun them, figuring out how to stun them is the important bit. It's a really interesting dynamic combined with the constantly draining hourglass, the pressure doesn't come from beating the boss but beating the boss in a timely fashion so as not to see Elena horribly deformed.The main focus of the combat is not the sword but the chain. Before the game was released, people seemed to believe Pandora's Tower was a Devil May Cry clone. That's a pretty massive misconception, the only thing Pandora's Tower has in common with Devil May Cry is fixed camera angles, which are surprisingly not all that intrusive. The key to success in combat is making good use of the oraclos chain, be it as a projectile, a whip or as a tool for blinding, tripping, throwing, spinning or tethering an enemy. Motion controls are used, but before you grumble they're used well and in intelligent ways. If you're one of those strange people who think finding joy in pulling a vital organ out of an enemy with a flick of the wrist runs the risk of turning you into a soccer mom over night, classic controller support is available. The game play revolves around pointing at enemies though so using the classic controller seems counterproductive. Defeating enemies efficiently comes down to using the chain to hinder enemies and leave them open to sword, swords or scythes.Speaking of the weapons there is an upgrade system in place, the weapons can be upgraded by collecting certain items in the tower. In order to get each weapon to its full potential, you will need to visit specific towers at a certain time of day, what time and which tower can be discovered by listening to the not so cryptic hints of a certain old woman. With each upgrade a weapon receives the damage it does increases, every 3rd upgrade the weapon unlocks a new charge attack. Charge attacks allow for extended combos that deal a lot of damage. The problem with the level up system and upgrading weapons is that it really doesn't impact the game that much. You don't get the sense that you need to do it. It just makes battles slightly easier and look a little bit more stylish.Visually Pandora's Tower isn't gonna be winning any awards, that's not to say it looks bad it just doesn't stand out, the towers look good but they're not exactly pushing the hardware to its limits. It does score points for its monster design especially the masters and Elena's varying degrees of mutation. The artwork is also top of the line, so good in fact I wholeheartedly recommend getting the collectors edition for the art book and metal case. The music is good but can get a little repetitive towards the end because they seem to use the same or a similar track in each tower, the highlight of the soundtrack is easily the orchestrated version of Dies Irae. The translation and voice acting is really well done especially Mavda, it would have been nice if the original language track had been included but the performance by the actors is so good I don't think I would have ever used it.Pandora's Tower like all good RPGs has a new game plus, aside from the usual start over and keep all your stuff, it actually gives you a reason to play back through. New gifts are added which means extra scenes with Elena, new reports are added which means more exposition, new rooms in the towers are unlocked so you can find rare items as well as a new weapon. Not to mention the game has 5 endings, all of which are significantly different and worth seeing. The only issue with new game plus is the lack of difficulty, because the chain carries with it the upgrades from your first play through, the first four or so bosses can be beaten in one hit. It would have been the icing on an already delicious cake if boss patterns and health had seen a boost the second time around. It's a minor quibble considering how well laid out it is, for example unlike the majority of games with new game+ Pandora's Tower allows you to skip to various different parts in the story, this is a godsend for a game that features multiple endings, as let's face it who wants to replay the same game 5 times in a row, that's 10 water temples.The story is Ganbarions ace in the hole, as it slowly unravels via reports found in the towers and through the dreams Elena begins to have, you start to question whether everything and everyone is what it seems. There's also a mechanic in the game where you can give Elena gifts to raise her spirits and affinity with Aeron, some of these gifts will result in extra dialogue that often reveals more about their relationship and what happened in the past. It's a nice touch which encourages you to replay the game and buy all the gift items, how many trinkets you give to Elena and how fast you return from a dungeon will also affect which ending you get. The combination of the mystery that is gradually being revealed to you and the many different interactions with Elena, make for some really effective and subtle story progression. The endings themselves are significantly different depending on what you do throughout the game. It's not just a case of max out your affinity and you get the best ending, the other endings are well thought out and some might argue more interesting than the `perfect' ending.These days every JRPG seems to feature a group of seven unlikely heroes saving the world from a generic bad guy on a power trip, it's refreshing to see a developer put some thought and originality into a game's story. The game play is simple but fun, it's well presented, the bosses are great and the towers are well designed. It's not perfect by any means but it is memorable, and I'd take one flawed game with spirit over 50 games that are more of the same but a little better. If you own a Wii and enjoy games like Shadow of the Colossus, Metroid Prime, Castlevania or if you just enjoy an interesting story, check it out.

25.10.2012

Out of the three big JRPG's for the Nintendo Wii this was the only one I heard very little of. It's amazing how out of Xenoblade, The Last Story and Pandora's Tower all get talked about together on the internet that some people mistake them for being part of the same story which couldn't be further from the truth. Even Nintendo gave 3 Coins to anyone who registered buying all three (thanks Nintendo by the way) yet all three games are very different from one another.First off the controls, took me a while to get into because I was using the classic controller like the previous two JRPG's however the game is designed to be used with the nunchuck much like Zelda's Skyward Sword.The Nunchuck is used to move your character, pick up items and release your chain which is a secondary weapon and used to grab out of reach items, swing and entangle enemies while the wiimote can be used to pull the chain back with a slick flick of your wrist. The controls work quite well once you get used to it, `A' is used to attack but one of my biggest issues with the 'A` button is the fact it's also used as action so if you are dodging attacks while fighting enemies and get too close to a door you may find yourself opening the door instead of making an attack!Pandora's Tower dives you straight into the story without much explanation to begin with but stick with it as everything will be explained as the game progresses. You take the role of Aeron who is only accompanied by your friend Elaina who has been cursed, slowly turning into a monster and Mavda a merchant who tags along and seems to know what has happened to Elaina. The idea of the game is to feed Elaina 12 pieces of Master flesh from 13 towers in order to release the curse afflicted upon her.Your main hub is a small building just outside the towers which you will spend most of your time as you have to come back to it quite frequently. This is where any dialogue will take place as once you enter the towers you are on your own without any other characters to interact with. The main hub is where you can store items, save, bond with Elaina and upgrade/buy or make items from Mavda.What most people find annoying about the game is the fact Elaina is slowly turning into a monster and apart from the Master Flesh she is constantly on a timer. The only thing that can delay this is Beast flesh found throughout the towers by yanking it from fallen enemies. You are forced to return to Elaina every 30-40 minutes to feed this too her to delay the curse. At first this is very annoying but for me it became part of the game and as I found I was finding more items then I could carry it was the perfect opportunity to offload some and save. You do get the same cut scene of Elaina eating flesh every time you give her some but thankfully this can be skipped.Your main weapon is a sword but you will find more items along the way, each can be upgraded with the right items which can be found or crafted. You have a limit to for items you can carry or attach to your person, luckily you can increase your bag to attach more items and there is a chest at the main hub where you can store all unwanted items. I found that I never used half the potions I collected along the way and mainly only used the healing ones.The graphics are not stunning but stand up to the grainy sort of games we have seen from the likes of The Last Story. The big disappointment for me is the lack of imagination for level designs, you will find that towers 6-10 have just the same layout as the first 5 and the only big change in the way they are tackled doesn't come until towers 11 & 12. The game is relatively short taking approx. 17-20 hours of gameplay however there is a game play plus mode which unlocks after completion which opens new doors, items and weapons and there are 5 (I believe) different endings to try open.All in all an enjoyable game, all the bosses apart from one are challenging and fun to beat. The game isn't perfect with dodgy camera angles and lack of level design but a break from the norm. An overlooked gem which does have its flaws which is why I can't award full marks.

17.12.2012

I have to say, after excitedly watching the opening cutscene and on edge for amazing Final Fantasy like graphics, i was pretty disappointed that it took me a while to define door from wall. still, you get used to the graphics (it's kinda like legend of zelda twilight princess) it's definitely gonna be in your top ten games!I absolutely loved the game, from the silent but deadly Aeron to the final boss, though some of the towers (especially the water ones) were very irritating, and some of the littler guys can be annoying, especially when your trying to get back to a monster Elena. At first you'd think that the whole pressure thing would be annoying, but actually it really involves you in the game and you end up wanting to help Elena,

2.7.2012

After reading many reviews and review scores, I was expecting this game to be mediocre at best, but bought it anyway to help support the Operation Rainfall cause. Imagine my surprise when I found that this game actually turned out to be quite good!Sure, the controls take a bit to get used to; there's a slight delay when you swing your wii remote for example, but even so, it must've only taken about 10 minutes to get used to it. You can pull of awesome looking combos quite easily and are thoroughly explained through in-game tutorials, if experimenting only gets you so far.The sound design is especially excellent. The soundtrack consists of redone classical pieces, such as Dies Irae,

24.10.2012

The fundamental idea is good, the art and designs are really beautiful and well made, and the music is delightful. But this reminds me the old games of the "8 bit" era, when every time you failed you had to start over from the beginning. Fortunately you can save your progress in "Pandora's Tower", but you will have to try and go back several times as you explore the towers and learn how you can get to the last room faster, and avoid Elena's transformation into a beast.The control scheme is very strange and sometimes I press the wrong button, and the camera not always works well. Game progress is monotone, and some bosses are really annoying (I almost gave up with one of them).So,

24.12.2012

Pandora's Tower is easily one of the best RPG's on the Wii. Visuals are quite nice even though they're not HD and gameplay is somewhat a mixture of Zelda, God of War and even Castlevania to some extent with some interesting boss battles. The story might not be as epic as some RPG's but it succeeds in maintaining the player hooked up until the very end. In my opinion, in some instances, it is more of a dungeon crawler with great replay value since there are several endings to watch, based on our in-game decisions and actions. This particular edition comes with a stunningly beautiful steelbook and an artbook with detailed illustrations and insight on the story, all packed in a steady cardbox.

30.6.2012

I was apprehensive about buying Pandora's Tower at first, only because I wasn't too sure how well an RPG would translate to the Wii. I was very surprised however to find that this game is truly epic, and so worth the money. I absolutely love this game, and from the very beginning I was enchanted by the story woven into it. The gameplay is fantastic, with the chain adding a great edge over just hack-and-slash-press-A-repeatedly, and is not only fun to kill monsters, but to explore too. I enjoy the adventure and I equally enjoy getting to know the story behind the relationship of the two main characters.

28.4.2012

Out of the 3 games Pandora's Tower is the most niche of all. Coming from a company not associated with quality games this game came as a surprise for RPG gamers. The game boasts multiple endings that change depending on your relationship with the heroine Elena. The hack'n'slash combat system is slightly flawed and could do with a few improvements but this does not detract from the gameplay experience. Arguably the best part about this game is it's dark fantasy story line - about a girl who gets a curse which will eventually turn her into a horrific beast leading the protagonist to go looking for the cure which resides in the 13 Towers.Overall I give this game a 9/10 and recommend it for any

30.12.2012

The item was in perfect condition. It Works fine and the offer was imperdible.The package is adapt to the item ad arrived in 7 days.Great solo RPG game.Is kinda repetitive in some point, but definetly is a good game that capable of passing a few dozen of hours of fun. Altrough the graphics are not exceptional, the story is beatifull and , from the beginning, it help to identify with Aeron (the male protagonist) and to become attached to Elena (the female character). At least, but not at last, the collection edition is a "must have" at that price.Racommended to all who love the RPG games.

27.4.2012

I bought this game under the impression that I wasn't going to have a lot of fun with it but I have been surprised by this game developed by the same team behind Jump Ultimate Stars. The gameplay was simple and easy to grasp and it allowed you to get pretty imaginative and the relationship element to the story was a nice touch. Not a stunner graphically like Xenoblade but I still find myself recommending this game.

3.11.2014

I love the concept of this game, I love the gameplay of this game and most of all I love the soundtrack. This game made me feel so much for the characters its unbelievable and althought the Wii holds it back from being a master piece JRPG its definitly worth picking up!Also the special edition is really nice so if you're into collecting them I recommend this one.

8.6.2012

The game arrived in super-fast time, even using the free delivery option. We are into the game now which has superb graphics and a good flowing movement.The Special Edition version comes with a soundtrack cd and steel case which add to the item.All in all an excellent purchase and it looks as if it will give many hours of quality game play.

27.4.2012

Don't understand the 3 Star review below but this game is fantastic! Music suits the game well, the gameplay is fantastic as you explore the 13 towers and personally out of the "Big 3 RPGS" (Xenoblade Chronicles, Last Story and Pandoras Tower) I personally prefer it out of the 3.

2.1.2013

Even if techinically average, the game is very good with intersting gameplay mechanics. Maybe a little bit on the "easy" side, but really really REALLY enjoyable from the start through the end.Definitely one of the best action game of the gen.

15.7.2012

Great game, different story line..most enjoyable.Came with limited edition art work and tin disk box.Good price cheaper than most shops on line.My partner is very happy.Quick delivery too.5/5 :)thank you.

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