Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer review

An update of a Super Nintendo Entertainment System title, Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer is an old-school, turn-based dungeon-crawler. It's slow, intense, and unforgiving - all of which might be a turn off to gamers weaned on modern titles - but for those that appreciate old-school sensibilities, Shiren the Wanderer offers dozens of hours of slow-burning fun.

Gamers control a wandering adventurer named Shiren, who is accompanied by his mouthy weasel Koppa. The two are on a quest to the Lair of the Golden Condor. This is all a good excuse to explore randomly generated dungeons, fight monsters, and snatch items. Players will explore caverns (that look like dungeons), forests (that look like dungeons), and mountain ranges (that look like…wait for it…dungeons).

The action and movement in this game are completely turn based, which makes for a slow game. The deliberate pace is somewhat necessary, since players have to be mindful about every step they take - a zig in the wrong direction can make the difference between escaping a dungeon and being devoured by a monster that's way too powerful to defeat.