QCF: Pandora's Tower

 think it's just about time to call it. The Wii has finally drawn its last meaningful breath. Unless some other game finally makes it to the system that somehow never got its day on North American Shores, this is finally the end for Nintendo's original profitable waggle-wonder. But hold on, that doesn't mean it's time to move on; as it turns out, Pandora's Tower, the final noteworthy word on the Wii, is one that definitely deserves recognition.

Pandora's Tower was the final part of the notorious Operation Rainfall campaign, which sought to get it and two other noteworthy Japanese RPGs (Xenoblade Chronicles and The Last Story) released in North America when publisher Nintendo announced there were no plans to do so, despite the games already being translated and localized in English for Europe. While Nintendo only released Xenoblade on these shores, EXCEED Games was able to pick up the Big N's two other dropped torches and subsequently became a super hero with two of the three releases, which almost didn't happen. While arguably not as polished as Xenoblade Chronicles, Pandora's Tower does some great things with the Action RPG subgenre, taking on a very Zelda-esque feel with a number of dungeons and the need to collect a number of boss-held items. But for every Zelda trope, Pandora's Tower does things in a manner you'll only find in this game.

In Pandora's Tower, you take control of Aeron, a young knight with a mysterious past who, when injured and amnesiac, is taken in by a girl named Elena, who is a songstress. At the city's Harvest Festival, things go awry when a cursed Elena starts transforming into a beast while the city comes under sudden siege. As Aeron chases Elena, he runs into an old merchant named Mavda who, with Aeron, quickly recovers Elena and heads for a great chasm called The Scar. In a secluded observatory at the edge of this infinite rift, it's revealed that Elena must consume the raw flesh of otherworldly beasts to stave off the curse's effects. Furthermore, the only place to get the good stuff is from the masters of a massive fortress called the Thirteen Towers, hung perilously over The Scar by massive chains. From there, your adventure begins.

More action RPG than Zelda-styled adventure, Pandora's Tower incorporates many more stats than Zelda through leveling. While you may not need to grind at any time throughout the game, the experience system presents the option of level-grinding if you wanted to. Increased levels increases the amount of stuff you can equip as well, which is reminiscent of Resident Evil in its implementation. Players can also upgrade their equipment and make new pieces through Mavda as well. Each of the thirteen towers have some interesting puzzles throughout, making the gameplay very interactive and almost on par with the best Zelda games. However, to keep things moving, each tower isn't especially long; this isn't bad though, since Pandora's Tower is more or less a time attack to get Elena's curse under control as quickly as possible. This makes repeat attempts at a better ending -- there are at least five -- much more palatable in the included New Game Plus mode at game end.

The core of Pandora's Tower's gameplay centers around the Oraclos Chain, an artifact of the Vestra Tribe which is bestowed upon Aeron by Mavda fairly early in the game. The Oraclos chain is more or less a hookshot on some intense steroids, allowing for an extremely wide range of actions based on whatever context it's being used. In battle, you can bind an enemy briefly while charging up your weapons attack power to take your opposition out faster and more efficiently. Other times, the Oraclos chain is used in a much more precise manner in order to break off armoured sections to expose weak points. Outside of combat, it's used to swing over breaks in the floor, travel quickly or catch outcroppings for climbing, pulling levers and opening specific doors and even breaking certain materials to be flung into others to solve puzzles and create new paths for travel. You can even snatch items hidden on the walls and other hard-to-reach places. And of course, when it comes to each tower's Masters, the Oraclos chain is what you'll use to inflict mortal damage to these enormous beasts. In short, the Oraclos chain is your quintessential, all-in-one solution, while your main weapon dishes the pain outside of the boss battles.

Combat isn't too shabby, either. It's very calculated, and with the help of the Oraclos chain, even huge enemies fall early on with enough skill. The bigger the enemy, the higher the chance of some prime beast flesh, which is always needed throughout the game. The closer to living, the better, and while a dying enemy lies on the ground pulsing red, using the Oraclos chain often allows you to tear a chunk of flesh right off of them.

The controls work fairly well, too. Whether you use the Wii remote and nunchuck combo for precise Oraclos aim or the classic controller with it's right-stick mapped cursor, there's never really a time that the controls don't feel adequate enough. However, that doesn't mean that there aren't some issues with the gameplay itself. While the layouts are fine and the gamplay itself is smooth, the camera is more or less fixed to how the game wants to show you the playfield. This means that, at times, the enemies that you'll be squaring off against are going to be really hard to aim at or keep tabs on, thanks to being out of view, unless you're trapped in a corner, which can be really bad news for Aeron, since the combat is very precise and technical, requiring a lot more space than you might think. Still, the hangups are thankfully not as frequent as they could easily have been.

The presentation in this game is pretty great as well, complimenting the solid gameplay with decent visual design and fantastic monster design, especially in the case of the Masters. The sound is just as fitting as well with a particularly epic boss-battle theme. One of the more interesting parts of the presentation in Pandora's tower is the choice to have only three characters focused on throughout the whole game. Aeron, Elena and Mavda -- that's it. This keeps things nice and simple, without the possibility of stupid love triangles, complicated political shenanigans or convoluted, intertwining, multi-character, million-branch plots which end up having more holes than Swiss cheese. It definitely keeps the game snappy, and eyerolls to a minimum.

Despite this, the story that you'll experience here really makes you care for Elena in ways I didn't think such a simple setup would. You will notice some shocking changes in her personality throughout your quest; there are going to come times when you're going to feel genuinely sorry for Elena and others when you'll say “WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?!” There's even a relationship simulator between Aeron and Elena that you can put some serious effort into. You can give Elena gifts such as clothing, personal effects and home decor which will boost your affection rating. You can also strike up a conversation, comfort her when she's distraught or worried, ask for translation help with unreadable texts, and improve the bond between them by making sure Elena doesn't regress too far into her beast form. With a higher affection rate, it's possible to get better endings. The New Game Plus mode also allows for more to be done in this regard as well. 

Despite some unfortunate issues with the North American version and a few wonky camera choices, Pandora's Tower is a game you need to have for your Wii. It's a slick action RPG that doesn't take forever, doesn't leave you stuck on super cheap puzzles and keeps things simple with a tiny cast of memorable characters. It's also only seeing a very limited release, so if you want it, snatch it up while you can.