History VideoGame / ShirenTheWanderer

The flagship RPG series of Chunsoft, the Japanese publisher/developer who are most famous worldwide for ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon''. ''Shiren the Wanderer'' features [[RogueLike roguelike]] gameplay, which is set against a fantasy version of feudal Japan. Most of the games have you control Shiren, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a wandering adventurer]] who wears a distinct 'kasa' hat. [[NoExportForYou Only two games in the series have been released to Western audiences.]]

* UsefulNotes/ImportGaming: The only way you'll get to play any of the games besides the first and third if you're not Japanese. But it is surprisingly easier to import this particular game, as even if you understand Japanese, it's mostly just trial and error; and most of the games are on the region-free DS. [[http://shiren.wetpaint.com/ (And there are translations on this website.)]]

* ''Shiren the Wanderer 5: Fortune Tower and the Dice of Fate'' (2010, UsefulNotes/NintendoDS) -- Utilizes the ''Shiren 4'' engine.
** Shiren the Wanderer 5+ (2015 (JP) 2016 (US), UsefulNotes/PlaystationVita) -- An enhanced remake of ''Shiren 5'', and the first game in the series to be released in the U.S. since Shiren 3.

* ''Shiren the Wanderer 5: Fortune Tower and the Dice of Fate'' (2010, UsefulNotes/NintendoDS)
-- Utilizes the ''Shiren 4'' engine.

* ''Shiren the Wanderer 5: Fortune Tower and the Dice of Fate'' (2010, UsefulNotes/NintendoDS) -- Utilizes the ''Shiren 4'' engine.

For the first in the series, there is a SNES version (which was never released outside of Japan) and a DS version. [[http://agtp.romhack.net/project.php?id=shiren Aeon Genesis has been kind enough to provide a translation patch for the SNES version.]] The lone Wii installment was most recent ''Shiren'' to be released outside Japan, [[NoExportForYou so don't hold your breath for more]]. Meanwhile, ''Shiren 5'' had a December 2010 release, less than a year after the previous game. It was the first ''Shiren'' in a while to be published directly by Chunsoft themselves.

* ''Shiren the Wanderer [[GaidenGame Gaiden]]: The Swordswoman Asuka!'' (2002, [[UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast Dreamcast]], PC) -- Asuka, from "Shiren 2", and Koppa have their own little adventure in Tenrin County, where they encounter ninjas and some sort of plant demon. Also, there's a massive post-game. This is notable for being the only Shiren game where he isn't the player avatar.

* ImportGaming: The only way you'll get to play any of the games besides the first and third if you're not Japanese. But it is surprisingly easier to import this particular game, as even if you understand Japanese, it's mostly just trial and error; and most of the games are on the region-free DS. [[http://shiren.wetpaint.com/ (And there are translations on this website.)]]

* ''Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer'' (1995, [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem SNES]]) (2006, UsefulNotes/NintendoDS) (titled Mystery Dungeon 2 in Japan; Mystery Dungeon 1 was the Super Famicom game based around Torneko from VideoGame/DragonQuestIV) -- Shiren journeys to the Golden City on Table Mountain, where the Golden Condor resides.

* FriendInTheBlackMarket: Tao, the part-time guide in Shiren 5. If you have her in the party, whenever you find yourself in any kind of trouble (strength down, zero food meter, etc), talk to her and she'll sell you the proper recovery item. Just be prepared to shell out 3x-5x the standard price.

** Except in one part of "Shiren 3", but [[spoiler: that's because a dragon god possesses Shiren and speaks through him]]. Later in Shiren 3, for the game-loading narration post-game, Koppa tries to get Shiren to talk, fails, and then pretends Shiren is talking and complimenting him.
* {{Highly Visible Ninja}}: However, Oboro makes up for it by transforming into someone you would never expect; like a shopkeeper. Of course, when she's not disguising herself, she is ''quite'' visible.

** In "Shiren 3", there's an optional Easy mode that lets you backtrack to a recent save instead of losing everything. "Shiren 4" also introduces some kind of insurance system for gear and items.

* FailOSuckyname: Master X and [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ Mobile Mamel ZZ]], according to Koppa.

* ''Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer'' (1995, {{SNES}}) (2006, NintendoDS) (titled Mystery Dungeon 2 in Japan; Mystery Dungeon 1 was the Super Famicom game based around Torneko from VideoGame/DragonQuestIV) -- Shiren journeys to the Golden City on Table Mountain, where the Golden Condor resides.
* ''Shiren the Wanderer 2: Oni Raid on Ft. Shiren!'' (2000, [[NintendoSixtyFour N64]]) -- Natane Village keeps getting invaded by [[{{Youkai}} Onis]], and the townfolk beseech Shiren to build them a fortress.
* ''Shiren the Wanderer 3: The Sleeping Princess of Karakuri Mansion'' (2008, {{Wii}}) (2010, [[PlaystationPortable PSP]]) -- Shiren and friends seek the Karakuri Mansion. [[GambitRoulette Things get complicated]].
* ''Shiren the Wanderer 4: The Deity's Eye and the Devil's Navel'' (2010, NintendoDS) (2012, [[PlaystationPortable PSP]]) -- An island adventure, complete with monkeys and bananas and tiger people.
* ''Shiren the Wanderer 5: Fortune Tower and the Dice of Fate'' (2010, NintendoDS) -- Utilizes the ''Shiren 4'' engine.

* ''BS Shiren the Wanderer: Save Surara'' (1996, {{Satellaview}})
* ''Shiren the Wanderer GB: The Monsters of Moonlight Village'' (1996, [[GameBoy GB]]) (1999, 2002, {{PC}}) (2011, [[AndroidGames Android]]) -- Shiren encounters the Dragon's Maw and a seemingly quaint village. [[spoiler: The villagers transform into monsters at night]].
* ''Shiren the Wanderer [=GB2=]: The Bedeviled Castle'' (2000, [[GameBoy GBC]]) (2008, NintendoDS) -- This time, there's a creepy desert castle and some kind of SealedEvilInACan.
* ''Shiren the Wanderer [[GaidenGame Gaiden]]: The Swordswoman Asuka!'' (2002, DreamCast, {{PC}}) -- Asuka, from "Shiren 2", and Koppa have their own little adventure in Tenrin County, where they encounter ninjas and some sort of plant demon. Also, there's a massive post-game. This is notable for being the only Shiren game where he isn't the player avatar.

MasatoKato is the scenario writer for the third game and was also involved in the fourth.

* TakeThat: Koppa makes one to MobileSuitGundam: After beating Mobile Mamel ZZ he goes on to state that NewMediaAreEvil... [[OrphanedEtymology despite the new media in question not even having been invented yet]], [[HypocriticalHumor and the fact that this is a video game...]]

* ImportGaming: The only way you'll get to play any of the games besides the first and third if you're not Japanese. But it is surprisingly easier to import this particular game, as even if you understand Japanese, it's mostly just trial and error; and most of the games are on the region-free DS. (And there are translations on [[http://shiren.wetpaint.com/ this website]].)

* ''Shiren the Wanderer 3: The Sleeping Princess of Karakuri Mansion'' (2008, {{Wii}}) -- Shiren and friends seek the Karakuri Mansion. [[GambitRoulette Things get complicated]].
* ''Shiren the Wanderer 4: The Deity's Eye and the Devil's Navel'' (2010, NintendoDS) -- An island adventure, complete with monkeys and bananas and tiger people.

* ''BS Shiren the Wanderer: Save Surara'' (1996, Satellaview)
* ''Shiren the Wanderer GB: The Monsters of Moonlight Village'' (1996, [[GameBoy GB]]) (1999, 2002 {{PC}}) -- Shiren encounters the Dragon's Maw and a seemingly quaint village. [[spoiler: The villagers transform into monsters at night]].

* ''Shiren the Wanderer GB: The Monsters of Moonlight Village'' (1996, [[GameBoy GB]]) -- Shiren encounters the Dragon's Maw and a seemingly quaint village. [[spoiler: The villagers transform into monsters at night]].

The flagship RPG series of Chunsoft, the Japanese publisher/developer who are most famous worldwide for ''PokemonMysteryDungeon''. ''Shiren the Wanderer'' features [[RogueLike roguelike]] gameplay, which is set against a fantasy version of feudal Japan. Most of the games have you control Shiren, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a wandering adventurer]] who wears a distinct 'kasa' hat. [[NoExportForYou Only two games in the series have been released to Western audiences.]]

One notable thing about ''Shiren The Wanderer'' is that it's the only ''Mystery Dungeon'' game that uses original Chunsoft characters, as opposed to characters from ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' or ''{{Pokemon}}''.

* ''Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer'' (1995, {{SNES}}) (2006, NintendoDS) (titled Mystery Dungeon 2 in Japan; Mystery Dungeon 1 was the Super Famicom game based around Torneko from VideoGame/DragonQuestIV).
** Shiren journeys to the Golden City on Table Mountain, where the Golden Condor resides.
* ''Shiren the Wanderer 2: Oni Raid on Ft. Shiren!'' (2000, [[NintendoSixtyFour N64]])
** Natane Village keeps getting invaded by Onis, so the townfolk beseech Shiren to build them a fortress.
* ''Shiren the Wanderer 3: The Sleeping Princess of Karakuri Mansion'' (2008, {{Wii}})
** Shiren and friends seek the Karakuri Mansion. [[GambitRoulette Things get complicated]].
* ''Shiren the Wanderer 4: The Deity's Eye and the Devil's Navel'' (2010, NintendoDS)
** An island adventure, complete with monkeys and bananas and tiger people.
* ''Shiren the Wanderer 5: Fortune Tower and the Dice of Fate'' (2010, NintendoDS)
** Utilizes the ''Shiren 4'' engine.

* ''Shiren the Wanderer GB: The Monsters of Moonlight Village'' (1996, [[GameBoy GB]])
** Shiren encounters the Dragon's Maw and a seemingly quaint village. [[spoiler: The villagers transform into monsters at night]].
* ''Shiren the Wanderer [=GB2=]: The Bedeviled Castle'' (2000, [[GameBoy GBC]]) (2008, NintendoDS)
** This time, there's a creepy desert castle and some kind of SealedEvilInACan.
* ''Shiren the Wanderer [[GaidenGame Gaiden]]: The Swordswoman Asuka!'' (2002, DreamCast, {{PC}})
** Asuka, from "Shiren 2", and Koppa have their own little adventure in Tenrin County, where they encounter ninjas and some sort of plant demon. Also, there's a massive post-game. This is notable for being the only Shiren game where he isn't the player avatar.

For the first in the series, there is a SNES version (which was never released outside of Japan) and a DS version. [[http://agtp.romhack.net/project.php?id=shiren Aeon Genesis has been kind enough to provide a translation patch for the SNES version.]] The lone Wii installment was most recent ''Shiren'' to be released outside Japan; [[NoExportForYou don't hold your breath for more]]. Meanwhile, ''Shiren 5'' had a December 2010 release, less than a year after the previous game. It was the first ''Shiren'' in a while to be published directly by Chunsoft themselves.

** The third game lets you keep your EXP levels outside of dungeons. There's still a heavy emphasis on customizing and powering up equipment, though.
* BalefulPolymorph: If you step on a Riceball Trap or get breathed on by a Rice Boss, you'll turn into a riceball. In this form your equipment has no effect, you can't use items, and if you hit a Rotten Trap before it wears off, you're dead. You can do something similar to enemies by throwing meat at them. If you hit an enemy with meat from a certain type of enemy, it'll turn into that one. Quite handy if you're dealing with a particularly nasty enemy. In the first game, and the first game only, this works even on bosses.
** The Change Staff does something similar: it transforms the target into a random monster on that floor. The Skull Wizard family can do this to you, but you can revert with the push of a button.

* BigDamnHeroes: In the third game: [[spoiler:Kaguya and her guardians.]]

** [[BonusLevelOfHell No items, no levels, no Gitan, no allies, no pre-identified loot, Big Rice Ball only, Fei's Final Problem.]]

* PaintingTheFourthWall: [[spoiler:Tainted Insect in the third game says to "fire the [[TranslationConvention insect translator]]" after being beaten. Koppa also notices when the music in Karakuri Inn changes.]]

The flagship RPG series of Chunsoft, the Japanese publisher/developer who are most famous worldwide for ''PokemonMysteryDungeon''. ''Shiren the Wanderer'' features [[RogueLike roguelike]] gameplay, which is set against a fantasy version of feudal Japan. Most of the games have you control Shiren, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a wandering adventurer]] who wears a distinct 'kasa' hat. Only two games in the series have been released to Western audiences.

* GoddamnedBats: Where to start? We have undead Radishes that throw status-inflicting herbs at you, those annoying archers/tanks that move away from you while firing projectiles, reapers that move twice as fast and hit hard, skeleton mages that throw all sorts of random effects at you...
** DemonicSpiders: But the Ark Dragon outclasses the rest of the monsters in terms of cheapness. The Ark Dragon's special ability is firing a homing blast of fire that goes through walls, does 50 damage that can only be reduced if you have a Dragon shield, and can target you from anywhere on the floor, even if you're in another room. And they can use it ''indefinitely.'' The only way to survive that is to either use healing items or Invincible herbs until you can find and kill them, or be an Inferno. Seriously, using a Scroll of Removal against them is completely justified. Only in the first game can you use this same power after eating their meat. And their higher-level form, Hell Dragon, is even worse.
*** Good luck surviving the last half of Fay's Final Puzzle, as the Ark Dragon and the other most goddamned of the GoddamnedBats start appearing in droves.
** Not to mention Cranky Tanks, which can attack twice in one turn, deal 50 damage apiece, and have splash damage, which can appear when their lower-level counterparts, Popster Tanks, manage to kill something ally or enemy. Keep in mind Popster Tanks have splash damage, and deal large amounts of damage, making it very easy for a Cranky Tank to appear in moderately crowded rooms.

* {{Dronejam}}: Dealt with in a simple way. You can hold the Run button and move towards an NPC to swap places with them. Very handy, but it causes problems when you have party members with you and you find an NPC plodding through a hallway.
** Recent games don't even require you to hold a button to switch places with [=NPCs=], and "Shiren 4" also solves the latter problem concerning partners.

* ''Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer'' (1995, {{SNES}}) (2006, NintendoDS) (titled Mystery Dungeon 2 in Japan; Mystery Dungeon 1 was the Super Famicom game based around Torneko from DragonQuestIV).

One notable thing about ''Shiren The Wanderer'' is that it's the only ''Mystery Dungeon'' game that uses original Chunsoft characters, as opposed to characters from ''DragonQuest'' or ''{{Pokemon}}''.

** The {{Wii}} Shiren has a dungeon with [[BeyondTheImpossible 1000 floors!]]