Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island Switch

Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island is the sixth main installment in a series of jRPGs with roguelike elements originating from 1995. It was developed by the Spike Chunsoft.

Plot

The protagonist of Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island is the titular Shiren. One day he sees a vision of an unknown girl held captive by a horrible monster and decides to save her. His adventure leads him to the Serpentcoil Island, rumored to be a hiding place for immensely valuable pirate treasures. Shiren is not alone on his journey, as he's accompanied by his faithful ferret Koppa and other allies with their own goals.

Mechanics

Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island makes use of the top-down perspective. The player must traverse the titular dungeon, search for loot, useful items, avoid traps and fight enemies. Combat is turn-based, requiring skillful use of the party's abilities and their equipment. As we progress through the game, we upgrade our characters, acquire better gear and face greater challenges.

As in all previous installments, death means permanently losing all our belongings and experience. Each time we start the game anew, the procedurally generated dungeon changes, and so do the enemies, traps and items. We can still be saved and revived by another player... if they happen to stumble upon our corpse.

Technical aspects

Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island features simple, though colorful manga-like visuals.

Last updated on 07 November 2023