Wolkenkratzer: Shinpan No Tou
released on Mar 01, 1996
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The problem with Wolkenkratzer is not that it's a bad game, but that it's not a great one. A janky 3D fighting game roguelite RPG with incredibly atmospheric stair climbing between battles that was only released on PS1 in Japan practically sells itself. The fact that this didn't get a sequel or two or even become a niche genre is really sad because, jank aside, there's something incredibly compelling about this game that always makes you want to head out on just one more run.
Despite what the game's cover says, to call this game an RPG is a bit of a stretch. There's a post-apocalyptic tower that needs to be climbed and you can talk to a handful of people living in some ruins before heading into the tower. (Think Baroque, but with NPCs that are more traditional 90s anime JRPG than nightmare fuel.) They give you clues and help flesh out the lore but they're not exactly essential. The focus on stats and equipment then might be the main qualifier for the genre. And you'll need to focus on those elements if you plan on making to to the fiftieth floor.
The meat of the game is climbing the tower. Each level has an enemy waiting to fight you which is selected from a random pool depending on what level of the tower you're in. After defeating the enemy, you have the opportunity to heal up or search the floor for treasure. Each time you search you have a chance of encountering the same enemy you fought earlier, likely because it is already loaded up in the PS1 memory, or finding a few pieces of loot. This loot includes better equipment, moves, spells, and various power-up items. If you encounter a foe, you find nothing, but have the chance to search again. Generally it's always worth it to search a floor unless the enemy on that floor is incredibly difficult or you're running out of time.
And if you run out of time, your run is over. The game assigns a time value to various actions, including how long it takes to fight an enemy, or if you rest to restore health. If the time gets too high, you can always leave the tower with your new goodies and make another run. Getting better attacks and equipment, as well as powders to permanently buff your equipment or buff your character's stats for one run, is the main benefit. If you die, you lose everything since your last save. And although you lose your levels when you restart or die during a run, you retain that good old fashioned player knowledge of enemies.
This player knowledge is applied in a unique way as well. As you progress to the next level of the tower, there's a first-person animation of going up a set of stairs. While this animation plays, the sound of the next monster the player will fight can be heard. Additionally, once you reach the door at the top of the stairs you can choose to read a quick description detailing what the character can hear, smell, or see at that moment. Each enemy corresponds to a unique description. Combining this description and the monster's unique cry, the game has a unique and immersive approach to clue the player into what they're about to fight when they decide to open that floor door.
The menu in front of the door also has an option for the player to use items or change equipment. Powders which have been saved can be used to permanently buff equipment or buff the player for the run instead of holding onto them. The player can change out what items are on the quick use menu while fighting. Shields with elemental enchantments can also be swapped out, as some enemies are very difficult to fight without them.
The actual fights are fun, even if the combat is nothing exceptional. It's essentially a primitive 3D fighting game where you can unlock new moves and equip different swords, shields, and spells. A good jump-in or poke is going to be the main move to unlock and spam, spam, spam. The enemy design is enjoyable if you like the 90s lo-poly pseudo-fantasy post-apocalypse aesthetic.
In its own unique way, Wolkenkratzer is a good game. The novelty of the game alone is worth checking out, as it is essentially its own genre. There is limited music, limited NPC interaction, some slightly annoying load times, a combat system that encourages cheap repetition, and some frustrating enemies that can seem impossible to overcome on first meeting. But despite all that, just like the greatest of the Rogue-influenced games out there, it's an incredibly compelling experience where you can easily find yourself hoping to make it to just one more level. Indie game devs looking for a fun underused idea look no further, the world could use a little more Wolkenkratzer.
Despite what the game's cover says, to call this game an RPG is a bit of a stretch. There's a post-apocalyptic tower that needs to be climbed and you can talk to a handful of people living in some ruins before heading into the tower. (Think Baroque, but with NPCs that are more traditional 90s anime JRPG than nightmare fuel.) They give you clues and help flesh out the lore but they're not exactly essential. The focus on stats and equipment then might be the main qualifier for the genre. And you'll need to focus on those elements if you plan on making to to the fiftieth floor.
The meat of the game is climbing the tower. Each level has an enemy waiting to fight you which is selected from a random pool depending on what level of the tower you're in. After defeating the enemy, you have the opportunity to heal up or search the floor for treasure. Each time you search you have a chance of encountering the same enemy you fought earlier, likely because it is already loaded up in the PS1 memory, or finding a few pieces of loot. This loot includes better equipment, moves, spells, and various power-up items. If you encounter a foe, you find nothing, but have the chance to search again. Generally it's always worth it to search a floor unless the enemy on that floor is incredibly difficult or you're running out of time.
And if you run out of time, your run is over. The game assigns a time value to various actions, including how long it takes to fight an enemy, or if you rest to restore health. If the time gets too high, you can always leave the tower with your new goodies and make another run. Getting better attacks and equipment, as well as powders to permanently buff your equipment or buff your character's stats for one run, is the main benefit. If you die, you lose everything since your last save. And although you lose your levels when you restart or die during a run, you retain that good old fashioned player knowledge of enemies.
This player knowledge is applied in a unique way as well. As you progress to the next level of the tower, there's a first-person animation of going up a set of stairs. While this animation plays, the sound of the next monster the player will fight can be heard. Additionally, once you reach the door at the top of the stairs you can choose to read a quick description detailing what the character can hear, smell, or see at that moment. Each enemy corresponds to a unique description. Combining this description and the monster's unique cry, the game has a unique and immersive approach to clue the player into what they're about to fight when they decide to open that floor door.
The menu in front of the door also has an option for the player to use items or change equipment. Powders which have been saved can be used to permanently buff equipment or buff the player for the run instead of holding onto them. The player can change out what items are on the quick use menu while fighting. Shields with elemental enchantments can also be swapped out, as some enemies are very difficult to fight without them.
The actual fights are fun, even if the combat is nothing exceptional. It's essentially a primitive 3D fighting game where you can unlock new moves and equip different swords, shields, and spells. A good jump-in or poke is going to be the main move to unlock and spam, spam, spam. The enemy design is enjoyable if you like the 90s lo-poly pseudo-fantasy post-apocalypse aesthetic.
In its own unique way, Wolkenkratzer is a good game. The novelty of the game alone is worth checking out, as it is essentially its own genre. There is limited music, limited NPC interaction, some slightly annoying load times, a combat system that encourages cheap repetition, and some frustrating enemies that can seem impossible to overcome on first meeting. But despite all that, just like the greatest of the Rogue-influenced games out there, it's an incredibly compelling experience where you can easily find yourself hoping to make it to just one more level. Indie game devs looking for a fun underused idea look no further, the world could use a little more Wolkenkratzer.