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.