At long last, the third and final Wii RPG that Operation Rainfall fought tooth and nail to localize has arrived in North America. With “Pandora’s Tower†release, Wii owners can feel a sense of closure. When all is said and done, “Pandora’s Tower†is not the masterpiece fans expected, but it is worth fighting for.
Players take the role of Aeron, a soldier of Athos, as he traverses “The Thirteen Towers†to try to defeat the masters in each tower and take get their “master flesh.†With these, according to Vestra merchant Mevda, Aeron’s friend Elena can eat, which lifts the curse put upon her before she turns into a monster.
If this sounds like the plot of “Shadow of the Colossus†it is. The only difference here is that the girl is cursed instead of dead and there are actual levels instead of only boss battles. The main attraction to the story is the relationship of the two main leads. Throughout the game, we see Aeron and Elena conversing with each other and their bond grows. This is handled very well in that Elena lends more of an active role with the player and you get attached to her. As the story progresses ,we learn more of their backstory. This makes Elena and Aeron feel more like an actual couple than a plot convenience.
The gameplay side of things is a mixed bag. Each tower has the same objective: Find and destroy the chains that keep the master’s door locked, defeat the master and return the master flesh to Elena. That doesn’t mean the towers don’t have variety in them. Getting to each chain is more of a puzzle and each is cleverly done in that you need to use some inventive thinking to complete them.
Combat in this game is similar to “Devil May Cry†only without the insane combos. The characters attack in a hack-n-slash way starting with a sword and later other weapons. There is also a chain that can be used to bind, throw, drag and rend enemies. Mastering both is essential to survival in this game. Combat is fluid, fast-paced and requires some strategy.
The chain can also be used for platforming purposes. The chain allows players to swing from hooks, pull levers, grab platforms and throw rocks to create platforms. It would work fine if only a couple of issues were addressed. The stationary camera makes looking at certain objects hard to see and some jumps are hard to judge due to the weird camera angle. The other problem is that sometimes the controls are unresponsive. This causes an issue when you’re in a tough battle and instead of attacking or dodging, you just stand there and get hit.
The master battles themselves are all different and ingeniously done. Each master has their own unique look and unique way of defeating them. Finding out how to defeat them is fun to d0 and each battle does not feel the same.
In between dungeon crawling players also spend some time with Elena and growing the leads’ relationship. This can be done by talking to her, giving her gifts and giving her flesh to eat. This may sound like a gimmiky dating sim mini-game, but the rewards that Elena gives you and the interesting conversations with her are worth it.
On the technical side of things it’s a mixed bag. The graphics are passable for a Wii game. There’s nothing groundbreaking or impressive. The masters’ designs are clever and well developed. The voice acting is well done. Elena’s voice is not annoying or ear-retching at all. Aeron’s voice actor is decent, when he talks, which is rarely. The music is well composed and does give atmosphere to the towers. The theme played during a master battle is one of the most epic battle themes to date. It gives an epicness to the battles that gives the player a good rush.
“Pandora’s Tower†may not be a groundbreaking title, but with puzzle like towers, great boss battles and the well written relationship between the leads this is worth checking out.
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