Topic: Pandora's Tower Launching On North American eShop Tomorrow

[Shaymin]

The last of the Rainfall trio has a few firsts associated with it

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/40939/pandoras-tower-launching-on-north-american-eshop-tomorrow

Nintendo's game listing has updated to announce tomorrow's Virtual Console release will be Pandora's Tower.

The late-era Wii game, the last of the three major Operation Rainfall games, originally came out in North America in April of 2013. The game will launch on Wii U with tomorrow's eShop update at $19.99 US or $24.99 Canadian.

XSEED is still listed as the publisher for the game, meaning the Wii U has its first 3rd party Wii VC game outside Japan, and the game also supports playing with just the GamePad through its emulation of a Classic Controller. Note that the Wii U Pro Controller does not work in this fashion.

[TOPHATANT123]

BUY THIS GAME! It's awesome, played through it twice in a row with no regrets, probably my game of the year so far.

[broodwars]

Good addition, though I'm going to wait for a potential sale someday. I already bought this game twice on the Wii (once imported & the 2nd time on the domestic release) & the game just doesn't control well without the Wiimote pointer so Gamepad controls are kind of a useless feature for me.

[lolmonade]

This is exactly the kind of games I look forward to seeing on the virtual console/e-shop.  Obscurities that are difficult to obtain without spending an arm and a leg.  This and Metroid Prime Trilogy are both games I'll be sinking my teeth into.

[ejamer]

Any word on whether the (not quite game-breaking, but potentially serious) bug from the North American release is included?  Is it possible for them to just release the EU version instead?

[ejamer]

Good addition, though I'm going to wait for a potential sale someday. I already bought this game twice on the Wii (once imported & the 2nd time on the domestic release) & the game just doesn't control well without the Wiimote pointer so Gamepad controls are kind of a useless feature for me.

This is a good point - Xenoblade would be a much better candidate to have released on Wii U because it would actually take advantage of the Gamepad controls in an excellent way.  *sigh*


NoA is awesome though. I bow to their awesomeness and ask for more.

[TOPHATANT123]

Good addition, though I'm going to wait for a potential sale someday. I already bought this game twice on the Wii (once imported & the 2nd time on the domestic release) & the game just doesn't control well without the Wiimote pointer so Gamepad controls are kind of a useless feature for me.

This is a good point - Xenoblade would be a much better candidate to have released on Wii U because it would actually take advantage of the Gamepad controls in an excellent way.  *sigh*


NoA is awesome though. I bow to their awesomeness and ask for more.

Xenoblade works better with a Wiimote + Nunchuck in my humble opinion since you can control movement on the battlefield and movement along the arts palette simultaneously. Although given the choice between better controls and off tv play I would still choose off tv play.

[Ian Sane]

Cynical theory: NoA is trying to follow NoE's lead by releasing Xenoblade on the eShop but they're so indifferent to the Operation Rainfall games that they accidently uploaded the wrong one.

[Luigi Dude]

Any word on whether the (not quite game-breaking, but potentially serious) bug from the North American release is included?  Is it possible for them to just release the EU version instead?

This is what I want to know as well.  I'd hope since this is an eShop release and the bug was well known that NOA either fixed it or is just releasing the EU version that didn't have it.  Even though I own the Wii game, being able to play the game without having to reset over 20 times just to play the 11/12 tower would easily cause me to rebuy it on the eShop.

[Soren]

The game isn't worth double dipping, even with the bug fix. I will say if the patched version is the one that ends on the eShop, that's the one you'll want to get.

[Mop it up]

I already have this on the Wii, but this is a good candidate for release since people may have missed it.

[Enner]

I doubt it, but I hope the hard locks that happen when loading the last tower are fixed.

[ejamer]

Despite my comments above, I'm still glad to see this game getting released.


It's flawed, but interesting and still worth trying. There are better Wii games they could have picked - Xenoblade and Trauma Team in particular come to mind - but seeing Pandora's Tower on Wii U is still pretty cool.

[Leo13]

Is this game really that good? I bought and LOVED Xenoblade (then bought it again on New 3DS), but Pandora's Tower didn't look or sound fun to me. Isn't it a rogue like?

[Adrock]

My Wii copy is still shrink wrapped. At this point, I'm more curious to see how long I can go without thinking about it. Maybe in 2035, I'll rummaged through some boxes and say, "Hey, I rememb- wait, what the hell is that? When did I buy that game?"

[ejamer]

Is this game really that good? I bought and LOVED Xenoblade (then bought it again on New 3DS), but Pandora's Tower didn't look or sound fun to me. Isn't it a rogue like?

More of a third person action game than RPG or rogue-like. It does make good use of pointer controls though (and you'll probably want to play using Wii remote+nunchuck because of that fact).


Is it "that good"?  No... but it's decent and somewhat unusual. I'd argue that it's clearly the least from the so-called Rainfall trilogy of games released.

[TOPHATANT123]

Is this game really that good? I bought and LOVED Xenoblade (then bought it again on New 3DS), but Pandora's Tower didn't look or sound fun to me. Isn't it a rogue like?

The idea is that there are a number of towers that must be explored in order to gain beast flesh that you feed to your vegetarian girlfriend so that you can slow the curse. The curse works in real time so it's a bit like Majora's Mask where you need to manage your time. It's not a rougelike but more like a Zelda game with an actual story and RPG mechanics; you level up, you forge new weapons and collect materials to create potions and armour. Combat involves simple combos and correct timing to activate special attacks, there is also your chain which can be used in a variety of different ways. For example it can be used as a whip or projectile type weapon, you can chain two enemies together so that striking one will damage both at the same time, you can immobilize enemies with it, use it to open doors and swing across gaps. There is also a Resident Evil-ish inventory system where you have to manage equipment in slots for maximum efficiency.


It isn't as good as Xenoblade in my opinion but still a damn good game.

[ejamer]

Interesting note: NoA wouldn't publish the game on Wii, leaving it to XSeed. However, there was recently a note from XSeed stating that they have nothing to do with the digital release.

[Luigi Dude]

Interesting note: NoA wouldn't publish the game on Wii, leaving it to XSeed. However, there was recently a note from XSeed stating that they have nothing to do with the digital release.

Hopefully that means it's the EU version being put on the eShop then since Xseed was only involved with the American one.  Considering how nasty the bug is and how well known it became it wouldn't surprise me if NOA is putting that up since it's cheaper and easier then having to fix the glitch in the existing American version.

[Leo13]

Is this game really that good? I bought and LOVED Xenoblade (then bought it again on New 3DS), but Pandora's Tower didn't look or sound fun to me. Isn't it a rogue like?

Thanks ejamer and tophatant for the info. I might give it a try.