Pandora's Tower (Wii) - Reviews

(4.7)

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3.7.2012

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.

3.5.2012

Info:- this review is free of spoilers but touches on the basic plot line which is revealed at the very outset of the game.- i have played almost half way into the gameReviewEvery game is different so for this one I will review it based on what I think stands out.Artistic StyleThis game looks good. The camera angle at times is so scenic that you just have to stop and take a good look at the screen. The environments are varied and nice to look at the artistic style of the characters is anime style and done very well. The enemies are cool too. The environments are not cartoony- they look really good and the dynamic camera angle really helps bring out the variations in the environments and addsto the fun.Overall setupThis is quite a unique game in terms of its story and actual system of gameplay - that you are constantly fighting against time. You don't have an extreme sense of urgency that you can't enjoy the different areas but you will feel pressured if you spend too long in one of the towers and will have to return to the protagonists sweetheart to save her from a horrible fate. The timer is on the lower left of the screen and it takes I would say at least a good 20- 30 minutes to reach almost empty so you will know exactly how quick you have to get moving. Fighting bosses with only a tiny bit of the timer remaining is actually quite exciting and really builds tension.GameplayIf you have watched any videos of the gameplay for this game you might be in two minds. I think the game FEELS a lot better to play yourself rather than watch. You will get a number of different weapons. These weapons all have only one standard combo. However there is also a strong hit which you do by holding the a button. This strong hit can be powered up as your character levels up. When you combine this basic combo and strong hit with the rest of the features : dodge, block and most importantly the chain weapon - the fighting becomes much more enjoyable. The chain has a number of uses in battle. Firstly you can chain up enemies faces to blind them or their bodies or even their legs to stop them in their tracks. If you chain up their face, they will swing their arms wildly to hit you. Its actually quite cool. The way you chain up enemies different parts is by aiming the wii remote at the screen and holding b which slows time a little and allows you to aim. What is good is that when you hold b the cursor will zoom in allowing for even better accuracy. You will learn new moves as you progress into the game such as grappling an enemy and swinging them around. You will need to use these various moves to beat the harder enemies you encounter later in the game as the basic combos just won't suffice against too many enemies or really strong enemies. Probably the main feature of the chain is chaining directly to an enemy and pulling on the chaining by moving your character away whilst the chain is grappled on them or by holding the c button which will make your character pull on the chain whilst standing still. This builds up chain tension and if you swing the remote to retract your chain when tension is full, you can dish out a big amount of damage. Things like this make the combat system fun and unique. This technique is essential for bossesPuzzle ElementsThe towers all have a puzzle element to them. You have to work out how your going to get passed something or do something to get to a new area. This might sound like Legend of Zelda style but its not exactly. They do it in their own way. The puzzles are not mind boggling but they are a little challenging and fun enough.BossesThe bosses in this game are very cool. They are quite big and designed very well. They remind me a little of the colossi from a certain PS2 game - but I have to be fair - they are unique. They feel varied and enjoyable. Each boss so far has required a different fighting strategy and the environment where i fought the bosses required a different strategy in themselves. Ultimately you have to finish off the bosses in a very similar way but you will see this for yourself and it is integral to the story.RPG elementsThis game will have you finding different materials throughout. Some of these can be equipped or used to make new materials by your witch-like friend who is quite a mysterious but cool looking character... Also, your girlfriend will have chats with you and also accept gifts from you. This helps to build some kind of a relationship meter which I think means that she will give you stuff. You can't really choose much to say but you can prompt questions. The main RPG element comes from the fact that you are finding all these various items and have to be selective about what you equip and what you choose to make new items. ALSO, there is a day and night system and only at certain times of the day can you find certain items in this game which your witch-like friend will advise you on! I thought this was a cool addition. You have beds in your base of operations which is like a watch tower looking over the towers, sleeping will regain your energy and also push time forward.Music + Sound effectsThe music in this game is very good and sets the mood well whether your at your base, or having a fight or boss battle or just exploring the towers... Sound effects are very good also, such as bosses roaring or enemies or clashing of metal in a fight.Voice actingThe voice acting in this game is very good. Not the best but its definitely not annoying like in other games. You can skip the talking once you have read the text anyway. But overall the voice acting is good enough and I haven't wanted to disable it. (English voices by the way - not American - which is cool for a change).Overall commentsThis is a unique game. I can understand why some reviews say that it borrows bits and pieces from here and there. But I wouldn't exactly say that it borrows stuff because the game is cohesive and works very well. The designers set out to achieve a certain type of game and they did exactly that. The level design is great. I am not bored by this game one bit if that is what you are worried about - the variation in environments, level design, puzzles, item organisation, and bosses keeps this game fresh and enjoyable. Its not RPG or Action heavy - its a balance of both and most importantly is a fun game.I give Pandoras Tower 8.8/ 10 because it is a really fun game and cool looking game.

28.4.2019

I'm a little torn how to rate this game. There's plenty to like but also a few less than desirable points. Let me explain.On the plus side Pandora's Tower is a fairly unique game. It's a third person action-adventure-rpg with some affinity based dating sim-esque elements. You control your character from a third person viewpoint and combat with enemies is in real time. You level up the more enemies you kill, can pick up new equipment and can craft items to upgrade your weapons.The unique gameplay element is the chain mechanic. You use the wii mote as a pointer and can interact with the scenery and enemies. You can zip over to grab points to traverse the scenery, use it to activate switches,solve various puzzles, to tie up enemies and even throw those enemies into each other. It's a cool mechanic that controls really well and is a great use of the Wii controller's motion capabilities. The only sacrifice is the lack of camera control that comes with it. You have a fixed viewpoint, however I didn't find this to be much of a problem as the camera shots used are not as restrictive as they are in, for instance, the earlier Resident Evil games.The graphics are underpowered, this looks like it has the horsepower of a PS2 behind it and is nowhere close to the fidelity of the Wii's most impressive titles. What is missing in terms of power is made up for in gothic and detailed design. Every bit of scenery, no matter how innocuous has an element of design to it, which all adds to the creepy atmosphere.The levels are well put-together. You traverse to the top of thirteen towers, nearly all of which involve challenges of puzzle, exploration and combat. They're great fun and you will find new ways to utilise your abilities as you progress.Now for the problems. Pandora's Tower has an affinity mechanic whereby you must bring back "Beast Flesh" from the towers to give to your love interest, in order to prevent her from succumbing to the curse she is afflicted by.This means that every foray to the tower is on a timer and you will have to backtrack multiple times to prevent her from turning into a monster. This slows down the pace of the game massively as the timer probably needed to be twice as forgiving as it is in order to stop it from ruining the flow of gameplay, which it definitely does.Then there's the added factor of your affinity with your love interest. You can boost the relationship with her by talking to her and giving her gifts that you have found or bought. Again this could have done with being a lot more forgiving. It turns sections of the game into a grind and increases the time you spend away from the towers as you go through a repetitive rigmarole to increase your affinity with her each time you get back to base.Worse, there are several different endings to the game. You only get the best "true" ending by having very high affinity. If your affinity is too low you won't even get the final levels of the game, unless you play through on New Game plus. I ploughed on to get the best ending, but this slowed my progress down a huge deal and I wish I hadn't bothered - but then I might not have got to experience the full game.Going back to the good points - the story is engaging, although again the flow of the story is affected negatively by the pacing issues mentioned above. There are a lot of nice interactions between your character and the love interest that change as affinity increases. The world setting is interesting and you learn more about the land as you progress.The boss battles are mixed, offering varying degrees of challenge from one to the next rather than a steadily escalating pattern. In general they are well designed and require you to use your brain and your reflexes.There isn't a ton of music but what there is is suitably atmospheric and fits the setting.Overall I'm minded to score this higher due to it being a unique experience. This is one of the three project Rainfall games, along with Xenoblade Chronicles and The Last Story where a fan campaign led to the english localisation of each game. Having played the others this is easily the weakest of the three with its notable flaws. That said I'm glad we got this as apart from the pacing issues (if there is ever a re-release - other than the download option on the Wii U, which I believe is just the same game- I hope they fix those issues) this is a solid experience for fans of action adventure, Zelda-esque and RPG games.

26.4.2013

I heard of this game from a group call "Operation Rainfall". Google if you want the back story on this game.I saw the videos and thought it looked interesting, different and Like nothing Id ever played.It starts very well and finished well. My only grip is I spent a lot of time in dungeons towards the end and it was wearing a little thin. The main hook is the gameplay is excellent with the great use of the wiimote and nunchuk. After that is Elena. Someone you will grow to care about. I felt more attached to Elena than Elizabeth. And that's saying a lot.I spent over 30 hours on this and enjoyed 99% of it. The only down fall or negative I would have are:Rushing back from Tower to give Elena "the cure" getting slightly annoying when our try to finish an epic boss battle or get lost.

18.5.2012

I cannot be happier with this game. Admittedly I have not completed it yet bu have got half way through and spend over 20 hours on it so far.Personally I really enjoy this game, the towers are well designed, there is a very good plot and the relationship of the main characters are a joy. The controls are well executed and the use of the motion controls on the Wii remote are arguably the best of any Wii game. The weopons provide different approaches to taking on enemies but the boss battles standout in this game. Better than boss battles in most games including the Zelda series. They are very cleverly designed and each requires a different tactic to defeat.There are also RPG elements,

1.6.2012

I've had this game for well over a week now and find it hard to put down the controller. It is a very good story behind it and by having only a few different characters I found it a lot easier to follow the plot. The way that the towers are done are all different, although there are some elements which are common between a couple of them. It has good game play in that there is the chance to go back to any of the towers and collect any materials you might need to create items and upgrade the weapons which is always handy.positives:+ Different storyline+ Not many characters+ Able to go back to towers without backtracking too much+ Easy to use controls+ Lots of useful extrasNegatives- Poor graphics

11.2.2014

Now this is a videogame. Action-packed, wise story-telling, fun and challenging. This game reminds me of those days where generic FPS were not the masters of the industry and every few months came out a new action game that was innovative or at least different from the rest in some way.Also note that you can play Pandora's Tower with de traditional controller.

15.1.2014

Present for oh and he enjoyed it a lot. Haven't had chance to play myself but looks fun from what I've seen. Good graphics and gameplay according to the oh and seller posted fast. But you CAN get this MUCH MUCH cheaper in some shops like HMV, including the special edition