Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate Reviews

Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate is ranked in the 71st percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
Jul 27, 2016

This may be an entry in a highly specialized and generally unfriendly genre, but you'll be hard-pressed to find a better example of the type. Heartless, demanding, infuriating, yet seemingly boundless in the depth of its content and mechanics, the latest Shiren the Wanderer adventure wraps taxing game design in just-one-more replay appeal. Think of it as the Wolverine of console roguelikes: It's the best there is at what it does, and what it does isn't very nice.

Read full review

Jul 31, 2016

At its heart, this is a game for the masochist players who, like me, keep trying to reach just one level further. Sure, we’ll be slaughtered, and there’s little we can do to fully prepare for every enemy that finds our soon-to-be-rotting corpses on the battlefield. But there’s something still cute about how dangerous an overpowered shadowy beast can be. I literally cheered when I survived my first night cycle (and was immediately slain in the daytime), but then I started back up again from the beginning, no progress having been made. This genre is almost a fetish for certain players, and this game presents as fervent an example as any can be. And that’s honestly its downfall, because it’s otherwise a good kind of challenging. I just wish it could feel like there was no way to get “good” at the game itself. You know, make it more "fun" instead of an instrument of pain tolerance.

Read full review

8 / 10.0
Aug 14, 2016

Though I wouldn't consider it the best entry in the series, I absolutely enjoyed my time with Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate. It's a beautiful, challenging quest with a pleasing soundtrack I wouldn't mind having in my iTunes. With all the love I have for it in mind, I don’t know if I can recommend the game to anyone who isn’t already familiar with the series. Even if you’ve played the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon spin-offs, this is another beast entirely. It’s a game you can play for 20 hours and feel like you didn’t make any progress at all. That’s a type of punishment some gamers just can’t handle. For me, it’s a type of punishment I can’t get enough of.

Read full review

8.5 / 10.0
Aug 23, 2016

Shiren The Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate is one of the best roguelikes available on any platform and it happens to have some of the best pixel art I’ve seen in a long time.

Read full review

8.5 / 10.0
Dec 3, 2020

A thoughtful and rewarding classic Roguelike, Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate is incredibly satisfying if you put the time into it.

Read full review

85 / 100
Jul 28, 2016

Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate is an old school roguelike JRPG with a ton of replayability and a great visual style.  With its randomized levels, densely related mechanics, and deceptively simple combat, it’s a game that still manages to be fun even twenty hours in.

Read full review

ZTGD
Top Critic
7 / 10.0
Aug 9, 2016

What I was hoping for when I booted up Shiren the Wanderer was another anomaly – a title in the roguelike genre that I would enjoy, and that wasn’t what I found. Instead, what I got was a fairly standard entry in the genre- crafted well by a developer that’s been making these kinds of games for years, and even though I did not find the title to my tastes, I could easily see why someone else might.

Read full review

6 / 10.0
Aug 2, 2016

Shiren wandered into my life ready to take me on a grand adventure, but instead all we did was go camping in his backyard.

Read full review

Wccftech
Top Critic
8 / 10.0
Jul 28, 2016

For those willing to put their life on the line and set foot in the mysterious dungeons, Shiren the Wanderer marks one of the finest entries to date.

Read full review

7 / 10
Dec 4, 2020

Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate is an interesting game. It does a lot of things right and is the prototypical mystery dungeon title. And if that's all you want, then look no further. But I suspect most people are going to find the dungeons frustrating and the permanent death mechanic infuriating. This is an acquired taste that you'll either love or hate. Unfortunately, my personal feelings fall closer to the latter.

Read full review

Aug 3, 2016

Shiren's latest adventure is a rewarding one. It offers up an enjoyable dungeon crawl, one that is not only challenging but also surprisingly inviting. Just don't expect it to feature constant progression, as players will fail far more times than they succeed.

Read full review

4 / 5.0
Jul 27, 2016

Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate is an excellent starting point for players looking to get into rogue-likes. Its grueling difficulty combined with the satisfying gameplay hook loop of failing and getting up to fail again is addicting (oddly enough).

Read full review

8 / 10.0
Jul 27, 2016

Been yearning for something a little more challenging and unforgiving than usual? Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate might just satisfy your craving. Polishing up the Mystery Dungeon formula, Spike Chunsoft’s latest entry in the roguelike series has all the procedurally-generated dungeons, randomly-dropped loot and tough monsters you could ask for. You might not want to play it for long sessions, but that makes its place on Sony’s portable all the more appropriate, and the appealing simplicity of its game design makes it perfect to pop out whenever you’ve got some free time.

Read full review

8 / 10.0
Jul 30, 2016

Thanks to a dynamic and challenging play experience, there are plenty of reasons to get back up after you meet your untimely end in Shiren the Wanderer. Fans of this genre know exactly what they’re getting into and fans of RPGs in general may find the formula fresh, fast, easy to pick up and exciting to play. The lack of online support may render the co-op useless for many, but even without it the game’s rather enjoyable.

Read full review

4 / 5.0
Sep 8, 2016

“Shiren the Wanderer: Tower of Fortune and Dice of Fate,” is a classic either-or proposition. You either get it or you don’t, with rarely any middle ground in between. Folks who don’t like retro roguelike gameplay will find the dungeon crawling tedious, outdated and unforgiving. Gamers who appreciate old-school roguelikes, however, will love its sprite art and the diverse challenge the game provides. If you have a soft spot for classic dungeon crawling, you’ll be quite pleased after rolling the dice on Shiren.

Read full review

7 / 10
Dec 6, 2020

Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate is one of those releases that could really go either way. If you don't mind repetition and you're not afraid of some tough difficulty spikes, there's a lot of depth and content here to keep you busy for quite some time. If those caveats do raise concerns for you, there are a couple of other Mystery Dungeon titles on Switch that may offer a more palatable experience. Wherever you may fall, Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate is certainly worth your time, and we'd encourage you to give it a look.

Read full review

90%
Aug 14, 2016

One of the best games you can own on the Vita.

Read full review

RPG Site
Top Critic
8 / 10
Jul 25, 2016

An exceptional roguelike with a great artstyle and synergy between gameplay systems, Shiren the Wanderer stands tall among its peers.

Read full review

9 / 10.0
Aug 6, 2016

Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate is a must buy for roguelike fans that own a Vita.

Read full review

4.5 / 5.0
Jul 31, 2016

Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate is one of those games that has a built-in audience.

Read full review