The term ‘roguelike’ came from the classic ASCII game Rogue, where the objective was to get through the adventure without dying, and every time that did happen, your progress was brought back to zero and you had to try again. The idea became so popular that an entire genre was built around it, and thus the term we normally use today became the norm. One of the biggest names in roguelikes has to be Shiren the Wanderer, an often referenced franchise that I’d bet a lot of money not a whole bunch of people have actually played. We’re talking about one of the primordial roguelikes, one that’s known for its inscrutable nature and high level of difficulty.

I was among that group of people, who always heard it being mentioned but had never touched an entry of, because honestly, I’m not a huge fan of this style of game, one that can easily be a sinkhole for my ever more precious time on this Earth. But having had the opportunity to review the latest entry in the franchise, Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island, I can in fact say that I could very well start liking these.

To all those concerned, Serpentcoil Island  (I’ll start abbreviating the name, so bear with me) is as traditional an entry as they come to Shiren the Wanderer. In it, playing as the titular hero, you wake up at an inn after losing the battle against the main baddie in this adventure, a huge monster full of scars that emptied your HP bar just as quickly as you got to it. It’s now a matter of starting from the very bottom, as usual, and making your way back in order to defeat it, and in the meantime, discover just what the heck is going on in the island. And for that, you’re gonna have to master the whole deal in regards to what a Mystery Dungeon game is all about.

The basic gist is that, yeah, you do have to restart all over every time that you die, but differently from your usual roguelike, everything in Shiren the Wanderer is very methodical. You can only move one square at a time, and every time that you do, your enemies do so as well. For every attack, a response from whatever it is that you are fighting, and so it goes. Starting off in the lush jungles that surround the inn you wake up in, you’ll move from screen to screen, leveling up the more battles you win, looting all manner of treasure as you climb up the rankings as a nobody into a somebody. It’s the sort of game that is instantly repetitive and will likely not please the more hot-blooded player who wants to make progress with every minute of play. But for those who are patient, there’s plenty of reward.

Those prizes come in the form of interactions with the other denizens of the island who are also navigating its dangerous corners alongside Shiren. Talking with them and sometimes lending a hand can yield significant upgrades to your equipment, as well as provide a lot of the development you’d otherwise not see by simply marching ahead from level to level. While I wouldn’t necessarily call any of that as significant of a content as I would any of Hade’s excellent dialog, for instance, which happened in between every run, what there is to be seen in Serpentcoil Island is significant enough as a reward as you’re likely to get here. In many ways, this new entry in the series definitely feels like a game from a bygone era, where simplicity meant that you’d need to find your own reasons for trying to beat an RPG like this.

Maybe that could be the bragging rights for finishing it in X number of tries, or for having reached a certain level, or, in my case, for trying to play it enough in order to form an opinion about it so I could write this review. And surely, having had absolutely no experience with any of what’s come before it, it was quite a task trying to brave through the game under a moderately timed window. Then again, there are worse ways to be gaming nowadays, and even though I wouldn’t exactly call this an example of a comfort game, there’s something to be said about being aware of the ice-cold approach of the basest of roguelikes such as this one. I never had to worry about whether or not something I was carrying would carry over because nothing actually did so.

Having a game experience like this can be very freeing in a way since there are no worries to be kept in check. On the other hand, this feeling might be my personal way of coping with the fact that there’s an 8-foot tall wall standing in my way and that there’s no way through other than my sheer will and drive to scale it. For as bloodied and sore as I’ve gotten up to this point, that obstacle is still there and will remain so until I either surpass it or give up, and that somehow kept me coming back. A parallel to Dark Souls could be drawn here, and that’s one reason why I probably have managed to keep at it with this game as far as I have. While it would be off the mark to call those games roguelikes per se, there are similar paths that both soulslike and roguelikes thread that serve as the overall enjoyment of those that love them, one that’s built on repetition, attrition, and most importantly, the wish of seeing what comes after.

Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island certainly succeeds at providing just enough clues of what’s possibly at the other end of the wall to make the arduous journey to climb it one that you’d want to partake in. It’s the sort of game where your investment won’t necessarily equal a tangible result no matter how much to kick and scream at it. Instead, it’s something that feeds our curiosity, and in that, there’s something to be said about having this be your entryway into this, one of gaming’s obscure and at the same time most influential of series. After having played it, I can finally add Shiren the Wanderer to my resume all the while keeping a bookmark at it and eventually circle back to it for another go.

Graphics: 7.0 is game reminded me of the PS2 era not only in gameplay, but also visually. Its graphics are very simple and colorful, there’s not a whole lot to them, really.	Gameplay: 7.5 Shiren the Wanderer is the sort of game that you are going to have to be in the right mindset in order to enjoy it.
Sound: 5.0 ke the graphics, the soundscape in Serpentcoil Island is very bare. Sound effects are the simplest possible and music-wise, you’ll hear everything there is in the first few minutes of play.	Fun Factor: 6.5 If this is your first Shiren the Wanderer game, it’s going to be a rough ride, but it’s one that can be quite rewarding. In case you are a returning player, you know what you’re in for.
Final Verdict: 6.5

Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island is available now on Switch.

Reviewed on Switch.

A copy of Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island was provided by the publisher.