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Topic: Pandora's Tower Discussion

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iKhan

If this topic already exists please point me to it.

I'm really loving this game. It's challenging without being punishing, the story is interesting, and the combat offers so much diversity that it manages to stay fresh. While the dungeon design isn't Zelda caliber, I'd still say it's pretty good, and I wish Zelda had bosses as good as these.

It got mixed reviews, but I really have no idea why.

What are your thoughts on the game?

Currently Playing: Steamworld Heist, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Tales of Graces F

SKTTR

At first I had a problem with the time limit, as it made exploring at your own pace hectic and sometimes unpleasant because you overlook things.
Felt like having just 15-20 minutes for exploring, puzzle solving, fighting (for exp, gold, items, and lvl ups), getting to grips with the dungeon design and map layout, finding flesh for the girl, and opening up a shortcut before going back. It's a real challenge because battles can be hard in the beginning (with monsters destroying your equipment and items and can corner you to death) and puzzles get very tricky!
Fortunately the time limit dissolves before the final boss of the game so you can return to all places for collecting and grinding.
I didn't like that some items only spawn at certain locations at certain times. Rare items (needed for forging even rarer items) also seem to be extremely rare drops. The game could have told me to take notes and make a list for it.

I liked the game still, and beat it, but it was tough.

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Magikarp3

Reviewers just didn't like the camera and the graphics. I think they were expecting too much after The Last Story and Xenoblade - Pandora's Tower is nowhere near as epic in scope as those two games

anyway I'm working my way through but it's taking a long time. I would actually prefer to just read the plot in novel form tbh

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always thought I'd change to Gyarados after I turned 20 but hey, this is more fitting I guess. (also somebody registered under the original Magikarp name and I can't get back to it anymore orz)

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Kaze_Memaryu

I think Pandora's Tower is more about the atmosphere. Most of the game mechanics aren't too tough on their own, but the strict time limit turns the whole game into a relentless marathon. And while that certainly works against the gameplay, it heavily reinforces how difficult and seemingly hopeless the entire situation is - and, in that sense, the game's designers made a very admirable sacrifice.

Jollykarp wrote:

Reviewers just didn't like the camera and the graphics. I think they were expecting too much after The Last Story and Xenoblade - Pandora's Tower is nowhere near as epic in scope as those two games

I guess that's true. But keep in mind that while there is something big going on in Pandora's Tower, it's intended to have a much more personal narrative than Xenoblade and The Last Story, mostly focusing on Ende (Aeron) and Elena.

<insert title of hyped game here>

Check some instrumental Metal: CROW'SCLAW | IRON ATTACK! | warinside/BLANKFIELD |

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iKhan

SKTTR wrote:

At first I had a problem with the time limit, as it made exploring at your own pace hectic and sometimes unpleasant because you overlook things.
Felt like having just 15-20 minutes for exploring, puzzle solving, fighting (for exp, gold, items, and lvl ups), getting to grips with the dungeon design and map layout, finding flesh for the girl, and opening up a shortcut before going back. It's a real challenge because battles can be hard in the beginning (with monsters destroying your equipment and items and can corner you to death) and puzzles get very tricky!
Fortunately the time limit dissolves before the final boss of the game so you can return to all places for collecting and grinding.
I didn't like that some items only spawn at certain locations at certain times. Rare items (needed for forging even rarer items) also seem to be extremely rare drops. The game could have told me to take notes and make a list for it.

I liked the game still, and beat it, but it was tough.

Here's why I don't have an issue with the time limit:

  • The game gets hard, I usually end up needing to either restock, heal, or put items in my trunk by the time the timer runs out, so it's really a "kill two birds with on stone kind of thing
  • The initial dungeons are wonderfully condensed even without shortcuts, so it's really not that much of a hassle to leave and come back
  • Combat is really fun, so I don't mind fighting off more enemies.
  • It partly because of consistently revisiting the dungeons that I can discover the time specific items.

Rare items aren't that bad, as you just need to figure out which enemies drop them and from where on their corpses you need to pull to get them. For example, Minotaurs drop diamond. I thought the overall scarcity of items and money though really presented a resource management challenge that I enjoyed.

That all said there there are a few issues. In most other games, graphical issues wouldn't be that big an issue. But this is a game that has a central mechanic that revolves around hitting specific parts of monsters bodies. So weaker graphics and a fixed camera can get in the way of that. Same with the lower precision of the Wii Remote (hence why I think Nintendo needs to update it to be more robust). And yeah, the game not mentioning where in dungeons the timed items would be could sometimes get annoying.

While I won't say it's as good as Xenoblade, which had a far greater scope, it's definitely one of my favorite games at this point. Does anyone else think Zelda should borrow a bit from this game? For example a decent crafting and money system that doesn't become completely unnecessary 10 hours in, a half decent story, and a more robust combat system?

Currently Playing: Steamworld Heist, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Tales of Graces F

Banker-Style

Game was hugely underated, twas a interesting and unqiue game.

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Octane

It's in my stack of ''still need to play these'' games. I've heard good things about it. Plus, it came in a black Wii cover, when I saw that, I was immediately sold. I really need to play this game some day. Can anyone tell me how long the game is? If it's a pretty long game, I might wait till I have some more time to play it.

Octane

iKhan

Octane wrote:

It's in my stack of ''still need to play these'' games. I've heard good things about it. Plus, it came in a black Wii cover, when I saw that, I was immediately sold. I really need to play this game some day. Can anyone tell me how long the game is? If it's a pretty long game, I might wait till I have some more time to play it.

I've heard it's 20-30 hours. Not too long for a JRPG

Currently Playing: Steamworld Heist, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Tales of Graces F

Octane

iKhan wrote:

Octane wrote:

It's in my stack of ''still need to play these'' games. I've heard good things about it. Plus, it came in a black Wii cover, when I saw that, I was immediately sold. I really need to play this game some day. Can anyone tell me how long the game is? If it's a pretty long game, I might wait till I have some more time to play it.

I've heard it's 20-30 hours. Not too long for a JRPG

I see, thank you. That's indeed quite short for a JRPG, fortunately I'm not a huge fan of 100+ hours RPGs.

Octane

iKhan

Finally completed the game. Wow, the S ending is one of the most beautiful game endings I've ever seen. This game really takes advantage of its small scope to masterfully join every element together and deliver a really tight, focused experience.

Currently Playing: Steamworld Heist, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Tales of Graces F

sinalefa

I played the first dungeon and then I never went back to it. A bit bummed to hear there was a game breaking glitch near the end, and most people had no idea what caused it, or how to avoid it. The prospect of playing a long game and never being able to finish it put me off.

I will comment in this thread, never being able to find it again.

iKhan

sinalefa wrote:

I played the first dungeon and then I never went back to it. A bit bummed to hear there was a game breaking glitch near the end, and most people had no idea what caused it, or how to avoid it. The prospect of playing a long game and never being able to finish it put me off.

It's not gamebreaking, it's game freezing, so running into it won't ruin your save file.

And the work around is simple. Before heading to the towers once you've beaten the first 10, save your game, quit, and copy your save file.

If that doesn't work, try triggering a cutscene with Elena by eating a meal with her, then doing the above steps. You should be fine. It's a terrific game, give it a shot.

Currently Playing: Steamworld Heist, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Tales of Graces F

PugHoofGaming

I bought the Steelbook edition of this game at launch, and I still haven't taken it out of the box. One day I'm going to find the time to sit down and play this....

Founder & Video Producer, Pug Hoof Gaming - https://www.youtube.com/PugHoofGaming

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sinalefa

@ikhan

I will give that a try, thanks for the help.

I will comment in this thread, never being able to find it again.

Gerbwmu

sinalefa wrote:

@ikhan

I will give that a try, thanks for the help.

The only reason I never bought this is because of the bug not allowing you to finish. Seems like maybe that bug is over exaggerated? I guess I need to find it and buy it while I can and add it to my collection of games for the Wii I plan on revisiting when my kids are old enough to allow me to game more on my own again.

Gerbwmu

Nintendo Network ID: TheGerbers

Kaze_Memaryu

I love Pandora's Tower for its impressive atmosphere. Not only does the game present both Ende and Selena (or Aeron and Elena in the localized versions) as very likeable characters, their progression also feels very natural. That alone made me actually want to return early and give her some flesh before she starts transforming, instead of returning at the last minute, just so she doesn't have to suffer as much, and also made me think about what items I could need and what is safe to sell so I could get her a present.
The combat system can be a bit one-sided against regular enemies (just constantly use charge attacks to keep them in stunlock), but due to requiring good timing to pull off perfectly, it still requires some learning. The crafting system was a good motivation to fully explore every tower, and the dense atmosphere, combined with the various documents you can find, give the location an impressively eerie note, so it always feels very unsettling, yet satisfying to see new stuff everywhere.

The only gripes I have with the game is the fixed camera, and the repetitive soundtrack. As fitting as it is, constantly hearing the same tunes gets tiring after some time.

I have the Collector's Edition, and the artbook and steelbox look really cool. Just don't peek into the artbook before finishing the game, it's full of spoilers!

Edited on by Kaze_Memaryu

<insert title of hyped game here>

Check some instrumental Metal: CROW'SCLAW | IRON ATTACK! | warinside/BLANKFIELD |

3DS Friend Code: 3136-6640-0089 | Nintendo Network ID: KazeMemaryu

iKhan

Great news for anyone who hasn't gotten a chance to play this amazing game.

http://nintendoeverything.com/upcoming-wii-games-releasing-on...

PT is going to release on the Japanese and European eShops. Awesome boost in publicity. I just hope it'll come to North America.

Currently Playing: Steamworld Heist, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Tales of Graces F

Epona14

iKhan wrote:

Great news for anyone who hasn't gotten a chance to play this amazing game.

http://nintendoeverything.com/upcoming-wii-games-releasing-on...

PT is going to release on the Japanese and European eShops. Awesome boost in publicity. I just hope it'll come to North America.

Um...is North America even gonna get any more Wii games for the Wii U eshop?

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FX102A

This was one of my true Pleasant Surprises of the last generation and I couldn't stop playing it when I started. The characters were fairly likeable (although your character was a bit lacking), the combat mechanics were good and the time mechanics weren't too restricted. I also liked how a lot more details on the story and backstory were slowly revealed as you played through and how more of the female lead's character and story were fleshed out as you interacted.

Thankfully I got the best ending on 1st playthrough.

FX102A

Blast

I wanna buy this game!!!

I own a Wii U and 3DS. I also own a PS4!

Master of the Hype Train

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