There's a nasty cliche making the rounds in gaming circles when it comes to the Wii: that so-called hardcore games don't do well on it. I'm not going to get into sales numbers or profit margins -- that's Michael Pachter's job -- everybody needs to grow a pair before next month. Shiren the Wanderer 3 is coming out next month, and it's nothing if not hard.
I'm not very familiar with the series, but I'm vaguely aware that Shiren is a particularly tough roguelike. If you're not familiar with the term (and most people probably aren't -- roguelikes had their heyday in the 80s, although the genre's made something of a comeback lately), the genre is characterized by randomized dungeons, turn-based RPG combat, and permadeath. Thankfully, Shiren promises a story 2,000 years in the making to soften the blow.
But anyway, back to Shiren. Atlus, who's publishing the game in the United States, has released a new trailer focusing on the bosses. It shows quite a bit of combat, but that's not saying much -- turn-based battles are hardly thrillers. The game's no Crysis, but I like the character design, which carries the graphics a long way.
Atlus has also published the last developer blog devoted to the game, which is a good time to point you to the whole series, which covers an introduction to the series, tactics, story and characters, and bosses. You can check them out here.
Joseph Leray is a founding Destructoid editor and has better hair than you. He speaks French and needs to send us his updated bio in English, preferably.
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This is a great example of why the Wii should offer some demos of games that you can download to and SD card on the Nintendo Channel. This is a bizzare game that people could get into if they could try it out for free. Nintendo isn't attracting the average Wii owner to these type of games at all, and I can't see the casual Wii owner spending money to rent this type of game either.
As it is, hardcore games like Shiren are destined to fail or undersell on the Wii, when Nintendo could make a big difference in that if they offered some free content.
@Benjo - call me crazy, but I think Atlus USA knows what to expect. They don't publish these games in mass quantities, just enough to sell to the people they know will buy them - their own niche.
@mjemirzian : You're going to insult people who enjoy a certain kind of niche game that the game they like isn't niche enough in a very small subgenre?
@ The Silent Protagonist
I agree with you that Atlus has a very benevolent mission of just bringing these games stateside, and doesn't expect huge profits (I want to say I read something that they lose money on almost every game). However, I do think the lack of demos on the Wii are a missed opportunity, especially considering the infrastructure is there through the Nintendo Channel (DS Downloads).
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Contest:
4:00 AM on 01.22.2010
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A Wizardry sequel in the US would be awesome.
As it is, hardcore games like Shiren are destined to fail or undersell on the Wii, when Nintendo could make a big difference in that if they offered some free content.
I second that.
In fact, that announcement was on destructoid not too long ago, I'm pretty sure.
That must be a lonely road you walk lol.
I agree with you that Atlus has a very benevolent mission of just bringing these games stateside, and doesn't expect huge profits (I want to say I read something that they lose money on almost every game). However, I do think the lack of demos on the Wii are a missed opportunity, especially considering the infrastructure is there through the Nintendo Channel (DS Downloads).