Pandora's Tower focuses on Aeron's travels into thirteen towers to break a curse on Elena that is transforming her into a beast, using his magical sword and chain. A certain set of these monsters are referred to as beasts, as their flesh can be used to temporarily reverse the effects of the curse. The primary objective of the game is to acquire the "Master Flesh" from each tower's master beast, as this is the only way to break the curse. Players only have a certain amount of time in the towers before Elena's curse worsens (displayed as a meter on the player's screen) and the player is forced to exit the tower in order to give Elena flesh; thus it is important for the player to take shortcuts in order to reach the top as well as to go back.
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Overall this is the weakest out of all the Operation Rainfall games, but still great in its own right. It has stunning visuals, great music, cool dungeons, the monster design is great. And the story overall is compelling, with you feeling connected to Elena and her plight.
It has dating sim esque mechanics with her, but they are welcome and help you care about her more.
For whatever reason, every physical version of the game is just hard coded with a game breaking bug. The last 2 dungeons frequently crash the game and you must access them by doing very specific things, like sleeping or entering through another dungeon. It dosent crash only if you do it in a certain way. Big issue since it nearly ruins saves files. Keep in mind I got a new copy as well and it had this problem..
It is also fairly repetitive. Once you do like 4 duengons it is a pretty one note experience.
Still, hard not to like this. It was great for one playthrough. If you love last story and Xenoblade there is a lot to like here.
It has dating sim esque mechanics with her, but they are welcome and help you care about her more.
For whatever reason, every physical version of the game is just hard coded with a game breaking bug. The last 2 dungeons frequently crash the game and you must access them by doing very specific things, like sleeping or entering through another dungeon. It dosent crash only if you do it in a certain way. Big issue since it nearly ruins saves files. Keep in mind I got a new copy as well and it had this problem..
It is also fairly repetitive. Once you do like 4 duengons it is a pretty one note experience.
Still, hard not to like this. It was great for one playthrough. If you love last story and Xenoblade there is a lot to like here.
This review contains spoilers
Disclaimer: The game does have a glitch that crashes the console, I have included information and the solution I used at the end of this review.
Pandora's Tower is perhaps my favorite of the three "Operation Rainfall" games. Sadly, Pandora's Tower and The Last Story have been forgotten and are stuck on the Wii. These are two fantastic Wii games that deserve to be made available on modern machines at least, like Xenoblade Chronicles is. I sadly made the mistake of not getting physical copy of this game years ago when it was cheaper, but was able to get a digital copy on the Wii U eShop before it shut down.
Artistically, the game can be quite stunning with vast backgrounds in outdoor areas and a surprising variety in how stone towers look from the inside. The graphics are, of course, less than was expected at the time (2011), but the art design and character models more than make up for that. The menus and general UI are also quite nice and compliment the game's style. The music is quite beautiful as well and really sells the tender and emotional moments, as well as the the darker ones.
In terms of gameplay, it is a mix of a dating sim that takes place in a safe hub area and a series of Legend of Zelda style puzzle dungeons with enemies and a boss throughout. Calling it a dating sim is a bit of a reduction, but the relationship between Aeron (the player) and Elena is core to the game structure. While exploring the dungeons to reach the boss, you are on a time limit because of a curse on Elena. You must return to her with the flesh of monsters to stave off the curse while you defeat all of the bosses, and at times you will have to pause your dungeon exploration to run to the exit and return to the hub to give Elena flesh. This could be an annoying mechanic, but the game handles it quite well. Returning to Elena offers the chance to chat with her to build bonds or give her gifts to raise affection. Because of a day-night system, with 24-hours for an in-game day, the player may witness different events and get to interact with Elena in various parts of the hub, having unique conversations. Even reaching the end of the game and dedicating many hours to speaking with Elena, I'm don't think I saw everything.
The moment to moment gameplay is quite good, each weapon has its combo string, as well as a charge attack. It is not overly complex, but satisfying enough. The main feature here is the Chain of Oraclos, which serves both a combat and navigation purpose. The Wii remote acts as a pointer on the screen and you can press the B button to attach it to an enemy, swing point, lever, climbing point, etc. When using the chain for combat, you are able to pull on an enemy to build up tension to deliver a large amount of damage.
The story hooked me. The worldbuilding is very impressive, with scattered notes telling of past events and mentioning different cultures/factions and locations that are not seen in the game. It really convinces the player that there is indeed a bigger world, much in the same way Dark Souls or Robert E. Howard's Conan stories do.
A major factor in my enjoyment of the story is that I really did grow to care for Elena quite a bit. All of the little conversations with her, where it goes to a first person perspective and will occasionally allow the player to select a dialogue option, did so much to immerse me. By the mid-point of the game, I felt that Aeron and I were on the same page about our motivations.
Overall Pandora's Tower is, maybe, my favorite Wii game. It is a shame that the developer Ganbarion never got another chance to make more original titles, and are instead stuck making licensed One Piece games. I hope they get another shot at their own creation soon. NINTENDO PORT PANDORA'S TOWER AND THE LAST STORY TO MODERN HARDWARE!
Information about the glitch/crash.
Very minor spoilers for a dungeon gimmick.
There is a bug in this game that crashes the console. Apparently it is only for the North American version. After completing the 10th tower, the player can go to towers 11 and 12. When the player exits tower 11 and tries to re-enter the game will crash to a black screen, where I could not even turn off the console. I had to unplug the console completely.
The solution at the following link allowed me to work around this glitch and continue the game, thank you to Eternalclaw for posting it: https://pandorastower.fandom.com/wiki/The_11th_and_12th_Tower_Glitch_(NA_Version)
Basically, any time you wish to re-enter the 11th or 12th tower you must do the following: go to Sheerdrop Spire, return to the observatory, run all the way to the end of the ledge, wait for Aeron's running animation to stop, open the menu and go to tower 12 (Dusk Tower). This will allow you to go to tower 11 as well via the portals that are part of these two tower's gimmicks.
Pandora's Tower is perhaps my favorite of the three "Operation Rainfall" games. Sadly, Pandora's Tower and The Last Story have been forgotten and are stuck on the Wii. These are two fantastic Wii games that deserve to be made available on modern machines at least, like Xenoblade Chronicles is. I sadly made the mistake of not getting physical copy of this game years ago when it was cheaper, but was able to get a digital copy on the Wii U eShop before it shut down.
Artistically, the game can be quite stunning with vast backgrounds in outdoor areas and a surprising variety in how stone towers look from the inside. The graphics are, of course, less than was expected at the time (2011), but the art design and character models more than make up for that. The menus and general UI are also quite nice and compliment the game's style. The music is quite beautiful as well and really sells the tender and emotional moments, as well as the the darker ones.
In terms of gameplay, it is a mix of a dating sim that takes place in a safe hub area and a series of Legend of Zelda style puzzle dungeons with enemies and a boss throughout. Calling it a dating sim is a bit of a reduction, but the relationship between Aeron (the player) and Elena is core to the game structure. While exploring the dungeons to reach the boss, you are on a time limit because of a curse on Elena. You must return to her with the flesh of monsters to stave off the curse while you defeat all of the bosses, and at times you will have to pause your dungeon exploration to run to the exit and return to the hub to give Elena flesh. This could be an annoying mechanic, but the game handles it quite well. Returning to Elena offers the chance to chat with her to build bonds or give her gifts to raise affection. Because of a day-night system, with 24-hours for an in-game day, the player may witness different events and get to interact with Elena in various parts of the hub, having unique conversations. Even reaching the end of the game and dedicating many hours to speaking with Elena, I'm don't think I saw everything.
The moment to moment gameplay is quite good, each weapon has its combo string, as well as a charge attack. It is not overly complex, but satisfying enough. The main feature here is the Chain of Oraclos, which serves both a combat and navigation purpose. The Wii remote acts as a pointer on the screen and you can press the B button to attach it to an enemy, swing point, lever, climbing point, etc. When using the chain for combat, you are able to pull on an enemy to build up tension to deliver a large amount of damage.
The story hooked me. The worldbuilding is very impressive, with scattered notes telling of past events and mentioning different cultures/factions and locations that are not seen in the game. It really convinces the player that there is indeed a bigger world, much in the same way Dark Souls or Robert E. Howard's Conan stories do.
A major factor in my enjoyment of the story is that I really did grow to care for Elena quite a bit. All of the little conversations with her, where it goes to a first person perspective and will occasionally allow the player to select a dialogue option, did so much to immerse me. By the mid-point of the game, I felt that Aeron and I were on the same page about our motivations.
Overall Pandora's Tower is, maybe, my favorite Wii game. It is a shame that the developer Ganbarion never got another chance to make more original titles, and are instead stuck making licensed One Piece games. I hope they get another shot at their own creation soon. NINTENDO PORT PANDORA'S TOWER AND THE LAST STORY TO MODERN HARDWARE!
Information about the glitch/crash.
Very minor spoilers for a dungeon gimmick.
There is a bug in this game that crashes the console. Apparently it is only for the North American version. After completing the 10th tower, the player can go to towers 11 and 12. When the player exits tower 11 and tries to re-enter the game will crash to a black screen, where I could not even turn off the console. I had to unplug the console completely.
The solution at the following link allowed me to work around this glitch and continue the game, thank you to Eternalclaw for posting it: https://pandorastower.fandom.com/wiki/The_11th_and_12th_Tower_Glitch_(NA_Version)
Basically, any time you wish to re-enter the 11th or 12th tower you must do the following: go to Sheerdrop Spire, return to the observatory, run all the way to the end of the ledge, wait for Aeron's running animation to stop, open the menu and go to tower 12 (Dusk Tower). This will allow you to go to tower 11 as well via the portals that are part of these two tower's gimmicks.
Me encantó cómo toma el tema de Majoras Mask con el tiempo pero sin ser estresante, así como las relaciones que haces y lo tan entretenido de subir las torres. Así como que los jefes se vencen de una manera diferente, sin duda alguna; una joya del Wii que compraría si le sacaran remake o remaster.
At its core, Pandora’s Tower is about the relationship between two lovers, Aeron and Elena. The story, music, even game design all fall in service towards it, and that is precisely what makes this game so special. As for the story, its main conflict stems from Elena’s curse, which can only be stalled by her eating beast flesh and fully eradicated after eating twelve Master Flesh. This is the most natural of the three, because the story is simply written with the two of them together in mind. Aeron’s motivations are all from his desire to cure her curse, which brings a very nice simplicity to the narrative despite some elements of it being rather convoluted at times.
Next falls the soundtrack, which to my surprise actually has no original music made for it. I first thought the game’s use of Tchaikovsky’s Pathetique was a sort of one-off, but then as I made my way into the Observatory for the first time, a very familiar melody played that I could swear I’d heard somewhere before. This melody is Liebesraum No. 3 by Frank Liszt, more commonly known as Love Dream, and serves as what I would call the main theme of the game, even though that title technically goes to the song in the intro cutscene based on Dies Irae. This song doesn’t just represent Elena, this song is Elena, for she sings on many occasions throughout the game, most importantly during her performance at the Harvest Festival which kickstarts the main events of the story. With the Observatory sharing this melody, it’s almost as if the game is saying that it by its lonesome is not home, but rather only because Elena is there with you too. You’ll find yourself returning back many times throughout a playthrough, and it only serves to further instill this feeling. For the remainder of the tracks, they all carry this sense of grandiose because of the classical pieces they take from, perfectly fitting for the booming nature of the Thirteen Towers. The Final Boss theme in particular is incredible for the way it builds on recognizable melodies by the end of the game to truly leave an impression, and the credits theme is just lovely.
Though perhaps the most important aspect of them all is the way the game design is used to sell the two’s relationship and really make you care for Elena. I have nothing to say on the level design and combat, both of which are serviceable, but instead the timer that ticks down while you’re going through the towers. Whenever you’re not at the Observatory, a timer representative of how long till Elena transforms will slowly go down. There are certain points in the timer that dictate how far of a transformation she’ll undergo, as you take longer and longer to feed her the Master Flesh you get at the end of a tower. In the beginning, I would do a tower all in one go and wonder why the game gave me so much additional beast flesh since I could just get the Master Flesh quickly and bring Elena’s Timer back up to max like that. But around the third or fourth dungeon, it started getting to the point where Elena would transform almost entirely, and at that point I realized how much of a mistake I had made. There was no point in optimizing how fast I could get through the dungeon to get the Master Flesh if Elena would have to transform and suffer every time. This revelation completely shifted how I played the game, and from then on I would never let her transform even to the minimal level. Pandora’s Tower is so good at making you feel a genuine connection with Elena, mainly due to the fact that a good portion of the game(if you choose to do so for the best ending) is spending time with her and giving gifts. There is an absolutely staggering amount of detail put into this almost dating sim aspect, an incredible amount of very specific voiced lines, special cutscenes that only play when you do certain things, and many different places she’ll be during the day. One of my personal favorites is a scene you get after continuously giving her flower seeds and having the time pass until it grows into a whole patch. The game constantly acknowledges your efforts and shows that what you’re doing has an impact on the world and more importantly, Elena. I remember being a bit disappointed when Elena took off a dress I had given her and went back to her normal clothes, only to later realize that she actually switches between all the necklaces, bracelets, and dresses she’s acquired from you. It’s all this and so, so much more that really make this very small area the game takes place in feel so alive. I still find myself wondering if I really understood everything that was going on in the story, but it almost feels like it doesn’t even matter. Whenever I look back on Pandora’s Tower, that’s not what I’ll be thinking of, nor the towers or gameplay. It’ll be the quiet times spent with Elena, sometimes sharing a meal, looking out at fireflies during the night, and listening to her sing an Eternal Blessing.
Next falls the soundtrack, which to my surprise actually has no original music made for it. I first thought the game’s use of Tchaikovsky’s Pathetique was a sort of one-off, but then as I made my way into the Observatory for the first time, a very familiar melody played that I could swear I’d heard somewhere before. This melody is Liebesraum No. 3 by Frank Liszt, more commonly known as Love Dream, and serves as what I would call the main theme of the game, even though that title technically goes to the song in the intro cutscene based on Dies Irae. This song doesn’t just represent Elena, this song is Elena, for she sings on many occasions throughout the game, most importantly during her performance at the Harvest Festival which kickstarts the main events of the story. With the Observatory sharing this melody, it’s almost as if the game is saying that it by its lonesome is not home, but rather only because Elena is there with you too. You’ll find yourself returning back many times throughout a playthrough, and it only serves to further instill this feeling. For the remainder of the tracks, they all carry this sense of grandiose because of the classical pieces they take from, perfectly fitting for the booming nature of the Thirteen Towers. The Final Boss theme in particular is incredible for the way it builds on recognizable melodies by the end of the game to truly leave an impression, and the credits theme is just lovely.
Though perhaps the most important aspect of them all is the way the game design is used to sell the two’s relationship and really make you care for Elena. I have nothing to say on the level design and combat, both of which are serviceable, but instead the timer that ticks down while you’re going through the towers. Whenever you’re not at the Observatory, a timer representative of how long till Elena transforms will slowly go down. There are certain points in the timer that dictate how far of a transformation she’ll undergo, as you take longer and longer to feed her the Master Flesh you get at the end of a tower. In the beginning, I would do a tower all in one go and wonder why the game gave me so much additional beast flesh since I could just get the Master Flesh quickly and bring Elena’s Timer back up to max like that. But around the third or fourth dungeon, it started getting to the point where Elena would transform almost entirely, and at that point I realized how much of a mistake I had made. There was no point in optimizing how fast I could get through the dungeon to get the Master Flesh if Elena would have to transform and suffer every time. This revelation completely shifted how I played the game, and from then on I would never let her transform even to the minimal level. Pandora’s Tower is so good at making you feel a genuine connection with Elena, mainly due to the fact that a good portion of the game(if you choose to do so for the best ending) is spending time with her and giving gifts. There is an absolutely staggering amount of detail put into this almost dating sim aspect, an incredible amount of very specific voiced lines, special cutscenes that only play when you do certain things, and many different places she’ll be during the day. One of my personal favorites is a scene you get after continuously giving her flower seeds and having the time pass until it grows into a whole patch. The game constantly acknowledges your efforts and shows that what you’re doing has an impact on the world and more importantly, Elena. I remember being a bit disappointed when Elena took off a dress I had given her and went back to her normal clothes, only to later realize that she actually switches between all the necklaces, bracelets, and dresses she’s acquired from you. It’s all this and so, so much more that really make this very small area the game takes place in feel so alive. I still find myself wondering if I really understood everything that was going on in the story, but it almost feels like it doesn’t even matter. Whenever I look back on Pandora’s Tower, that’s not what I’ll be thinking of, nor the towers or gameplay. It’ll be the quiet times spent with Elena, sometimes sharing a meal, looking out at fireflies during the night, and listening to her sing an Eternal Blessing.
every game should have a "look at your girlfriend" button
Интересно играть первые часов 6. Дальше механики особо не эволюционируют и от игры начинаешь уставать. Те крохи лора которые получаешь между боссами не стоят того.