History YMMV / ShirenTheWanderer

* FanficFuel: The plot of ''Shiren 3'' turns out to have been orchestrated by [[spoiler:Jofuku, who existed ''in real life'' before he mysteriously disappeared. The extent of his 2,000-year-old scheme (specifically, from 210 BCE to 1790 CE) implies that he meddled in all sorts of other events during the interim]].

* HilariousInHindsight: The FinalBoss of ''Shiren 3'' is revealed to be [[spoiler:Izanami]]. In Japan, this actually predated ''VideoGame/Persona4'' using the same twist by one month (June 5, 2008 vs. July 10, 2008); in the US, where both games were published by {{Creator/Atlus}} USA, the latter predated the former by more than a year (December 9, 2008 vs. February 9, 2010)!

* AdaptationDisplacement: Gets it coming and going -- many players, unaware of the [[NoExportForYou Japan-only]] Super Famicom release, make the logical-but-wrong assumption that ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon Rescue Team'' came first and therefore started the ''Mystery Dungeon'' series. Some of those who ''are'' aware make the equally logical (and equally wrong) assumption that Shiren on SFC started it all. In fact, the ''true'' first ''Mystery Dungeon'' game was a ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' spinoff.

* AntiClimaxBoss: The Tainted Insect, the FinalBoss of the original game. It has extremely high HP and Attack and gives off an amazing amount of EXP, but [[FakeUltimateMook it is otherwise a vanilla monster]] that falls to a Staff of Sloth as easily as nearly every other monster in the game. If you got to this point, you've already dealt with much worse, and the status-inducing Skull Wraiths surrounding it are far more deadly than the Insect itself. In the UpdatedRerelease, [[KingMook its queen]] is even more anticlimactic since she's in a room all by herself and also has no special abilities.
* BrokenBase: The third game. Fans are divided over the addition of an easy mode (which, due to party mechanics, you HAVE to pick if you don't want it to be incredibly frustrating to the point where it's not even fun); the splitting of the game into multiple small dungeons as opposed to one segmented one; the retainment of levels after death; and, most of all, the game's grand story, abundance of {{Unskippable Cutscene}}s, and fleshing out of Shiren's background (as opposed to an ExcusePlot and Shiren being a FeaturelessProtagonist). Some enjoyed it, while others found it quite tedious.

** The Armband of Sight, which allows you to see items and monsters on the map. Despite being a staple of the entire Mystery Dungeon series, this removes much of the "mystery" and thus challenge since it mitigates the risk of item hunting and getting ambushed by dangerous monsters. Experienced players consider even [[BrutalBonusLevel Fay's Final Puzzle]] in the first game won if you obtain this (and getting [[RegeneratingHealth Recovery Armband]] makes you win more). The one balancing factor is that it's a very rare item and one that generally only shows up in later floors.
** Bufu's Cleaver in the DS rerelease of the first game[[note]]since by the time you get it in the original Super Famicom game you have nothing else to use it on, while the DS version gives you three extra dungeons that permit the Cleaver[[/note]]. It randomly drops meat from any monster you defeat, said meat allowing you to transform into said monster. While you need to go through a difficult reset dungeon (Kitchen God's Shrine) to get it, it also teaches you just how busted it can potentially be when you take it out of the dungeon and meld it to a stronger weapon. Some of the monsters' abilities guarantee virtual invincibility under player control, especially since they are unaffected by traps. For instance, the Death Angel / Death Master can move and attack twice as fast while passing through walls, and monsters cannot fight back if you attack them while in a wall tile unless they can also pass through walls. Even the weaker Pacorepkin family can be broken just because it has the last ability as well. Even better, the Air Devil family makes you invisible, which means monsters will never attack you while you can slaughter them to your heart's content. The disadvantage of meat is that you can't use other items until you revert, but considering you already have a free pass to the stairs for one floor, this can be moot with the right monster. Because of this, it was nerfed in the third game, making it a breakable weapon, and Meat was removed entirely in the fifth game.
* 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... and at higher levels, many of them become outright DemonicSpiders as mentioned above.

** Bufu's Cleaver in the DS rerelease of the first game[[note]]since by the time you get it in the original Super Famicom game you have nothing else to use it on, while the DS version gives you three extra dungeons that permit the Cleaver[[/note]]. It randomly drops meat from any monster you defeat, said meat allowing you to transform into said monster. While you need to go through a difficult reset dungeon (Kitchen God's Shrine) to get it, it also teaches you just how busted it can potentially be when you take it out of the dungeon and meld it to a stronger weapon. Some of the monsters' abilities guarantee virtual invincibility under player control, especially since they are unaffected by traps. For instance, the Death Angel / Death Master can move and attack twice as fast while passing through walls, and monsters cannot fight back if you attack them while in a wall tile unless they can also pass through walls. Even the weaker Pacorepkin family can be broken just because it has the last ability as well. Even better, the Air Devil family makes you invisible, which means monsters will never attack you while you can slaughter them to your heart's content. The disadvantage of meat is that you can't use other items until you revert, but considering you already have a free pass to the stairs for one floor, this can be moot with the right monster. Because of this, it was nerfed in the third game, making it a breakable weapon.

** In both the Super Famicom and DS version, the Armband of Sight, which allows you to see items and monsters on the map. Despite being a staple of the entire Mystery Dungeon series, this removes much of the "mystery" and thus challenge since it mitigates the risk of item hunting and getting ambushed by dangerous monsters. Experienced players consider even [[BrutalBonusLevel Fay's Final Puzzle]] won if you obtain this (and getting [[RegeneratingHealth Recovery Armband]] makes you win more). The one balancing factor is that it's a very rare item, and in the DS version, one that only shows up on the later floors in shops (for instance, halfway through Fay's Final Puzzle).

* GameBreaker: Bufu's Cleaver in the DS rerelease of the first game[[note]]since by the time you get it in the original Super Famicom game you have nothing else to use it on, while the DS version gives you three extra dungeons that permit the Cleaver[[/note]]. It randomly drops meat from any monster you defeat, said meat allowing you to transform into said monster. While you need to go through a difficult reset dungeon (Kitchen God's Shrine) to get it, it also teaches you just how busted it can potentially be when you take it out of the dungeon and meld it to a stronger weapon. Some of the monsters' abilities guarantee virtual invincibility under player control, especially since they are unaffected by traps. For instance, the Death Angel / Death Master can move and attack twice as fast while passing through walls, and monsters cannot fight back if you attack them while in a wall tile unless they can also pass through walls. Even the weaker Pacorepkin family can be broken just because it has the last ability as well. Even better, the Air Devil family makes you invisible, which means monsters will never attack you while you can slaughter them to your heart's content. The disadvantage of meat is that you can't use other items until you revert, but considering you already have a free pass to the stairs for one floor, this can be moot with the right monster. Because of this, it was nerfed in the third game, making it a breakable weapon.

** ''Shiren 3'' introduced the Full Control mechanic, which allowed the player full control over Shiren's party at any time (except when stealing from dungeon shops). Later games didn't bring it back, not even as a 100% completion reward (since by then there'd be no challenges left).
** Completing the postgame arc of ''Shiren 3'' also allowed challenging the postgame dungeons solo as Shiren, Asuka, or Sensei, ''without the other two as mandatory allies''. This also has yet to make a reappearance.

** Completing the postgame arc of ''Shiren 3'' also allowed playing solo as Shiren, Asuka, or Sensei, ''without the other two as mandatory allies''. This also has yet to make a reappearance.

* UnderusedGameMechanic: ''Shiren 3'' introduced the Full Control mechanic, which allowed the player full control over allies at any time. Later games didn't bring it back, not even as a 100% completion reward (since by then there'd be no challenges left).

* UnderusedGameplayMechanic: ''Shiren 3'' introduced the Full Control mechanic, which allowed the player full control over allies at any time. Later games didn't bring it back, not even as a 100% completion reward.

* HilariousInHindsight: The FinalBoss of ''Shiren 3'' is revealed to be [[spoiler:Izanami]]. In Japan, this actually predated ''VideoGame/Persona4'' using the same twist by one month (June 5, 2008 vs. July 10, 2008); in the US, where both games were published by {{Creator/Atlus}} USA, the latter predated the former by more than a year (December 9, 2008 vs. February 9, 2010)!

* HilariousInHindsight: The FinalBoss of ''Shiren 3'' is revealed to be [[spoiler:Izanami]]. In Japan, this actually predated ''VideoGame/Persona4'' using the same twist by one month (June 5, 2008 vs. July 10, 2008); in the US, where both games were published by {{Creator/Atlus}} USA, the latter predated the former by almost two years (December 9, 2008 vs. February 9, 2010)!

* HilariousInHindsight: [[spoiler:The final boss of ''Shiren 3'' is revealed to be Izanami. In Japan, this actually predated ''VideoGame/Persona4'' using the same twist by one month (June 5, 2008 vs. July 10, 2008); in the US, where both games were published by {{Creator/Atlus}} USA, the latter predated the former by almost ''two years'' (December 9, 2008 vs. February 9, 2010)!]]

* HilariousInHindsight: [[spoiler:The final boss of ''Shiren 3'' is revealed to be Izanami. In Japan, this actually predated ''VideoGame/Persona4'', which was also published by {{Creator/Atlus}}, using the same twist by one month (June 5, 2008 vs. July 10, 2008); in the US, the latter predated the former by almost ''two years'' (December 9, 2008 vs. February 9, 2010)!]]

* 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... and at higher levels, many of them become outright DemonicSpiders as mentioned above.

* AdaptationDisplacement: Gets it coming and going -- many players, unaware of the [[NoExportForYou Japan-only]] Super Famicom release, make the logical-but-wrong assumption that ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon Rescue Team'' came first and therefore started the Mystery Dungeon series. Some of those who ''are'' aware make the equally logical (and equally wrong) assumption that Shiren on SFC started it all. In fact, the ''true'' first Mystery Dungeon game was a ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' spinoff.

* 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... and at higher levels, many of them become outright DemonicSpiders as mentioned above.
* HilariousInHindsight: One of the most powerful items in the game is a [[spoiler:Blank Scroll, on which you can write the name of any scroll you've previously read or, under certain conditions, gain access to two other powerful effects]]. In ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'', the Dragon Scroll is said to provide unlimited power to whomever reads it, and [[spoiler:it turns out to be a blank scroll showing the reflection of its reader]].

* AntiClimaxBoss: The Tainted Insect, the FinalBoss of the original game. Extremely high HP and Attack, and gives off an amazing amount of EXP, but [[FakeUltimateMook it is otherwise a vanilla monster]] that falls to a Staff of Sloth as easily as nearly every other monster in the game. If you got to this point, you've already dealt with much worse, and the status-inducing Skull Wraiths surrounding it are far more deadly than the Insect itself. In the UpdatedRerelease, [[KingMook its queen]] is even more anticlimactic since she's in a room all by herself and also has no special abilities.
* BrokenBase: The third game. Fans are divided over the addition of an easy mode (which, due to party mechanics, you HAVE to pick if you don't want it to be incredibly frustrating to the point where it's not even fun); the splitting of the game into multiple small dungeons as opposed to one segmented one; the retainment of levels after death; and, most of all, the game's grand story, abundance of {{Unskippable Cutscene}}s, and fleshing out of Shiren's background (as opposed to an ExcusePlot and Shiren being an {{AFGNCAAP}}). Some enjoyed it, while others found it quite tedious.
* DemonicSpiders: The Ark Dragon. Its 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 eat meat from the Inferno family. 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, the Hell Dragon, is even worse, as it does 60 damage and is near-impenetrable unless you've upgraded your weapon to near max. 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.
** 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. Also, like the Hell Dragon, it is impervious to all but the most upgraded of weapons.
** Many other monsters are higher-level forms of GoddamnedBats. The Radishes eventually gain the ability to put you to sleep, leaving you a sitting duck unless you have a Sleepless Armband, and its max level form's effect, which turns you into an uncontrollable {{berserker}}, cannot be resisted. The Reapers learn to pass through walls while attacking twice, meaning they will home in on you from anywhere on the floor and if attacking through a wall, you cannot retaliate. The Skull Mages' effects turn from annoying to debilitating when they become third-level Wraiths (including ability sealing, LevelDrain, turning you into a riceball, etc.), and become even worse as appropriately-named Skull Demons at Level 4 (who can drain 3 of your levels at a time, put you to sleep, and even blind you).

* GameBreaker: Bufu's Cleaver in the DS rerelease of the first game[[note]]Since by the time you get it in the original Super Famicom game you have nothing else to use it on, while the DS version gives you three extra dungeons that permit the Cleaver[[/note]]. It randomly drops meat from any monster you defeat, said meat allowing you to transform into said monster. While you need to go through a difficult reset dungeon (Kitchen God's Shrine) to get it, it also teaches you just how busted it can potentially be when you take it out of the dungeon and meld it to a stronger weapon. Some of the monsters' abilities guarantee virtual invincibility under player control, especially since they are unaffected by traps. For instance, the Death Angel / Death Master can move and attack twice as fast while passing through walls, and monsters cannot fight back if you attack them while in a wall tile unless they can also pass through walls. Even the weaker Pacorepkin family can be broken just because it has the last ability as well. Even better, the Air Devil family makes you invisible, which means monsters will never attack you while you can slaughter them to your heart's content. The disadvantage of meat is that you can't use other items until you revert, but considering you already have a free pass to the stairs for one floor, this can be moot with the right monster. Because of this, it was nerfed in the third game, making it a breakable weapon.

* HilariousInHindsight: One of the most powerful items in the game is a [[spoiler:Blank Scroll, on which you can write the name of any scroll you've previously read or, under certain conditions, gain access to two other powerful effects]]. In ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'', the Dragon Scroll is said to provide unlimited power to whomever reads it, and [[spoiler:it turns out to be a Blank Scroll showing the reflection of the one who reads it]].

* AdaptationDisplacement: Gets it coming and going -- many players, unaware of the [[NoExportForYou Japan-only]] Super Famicom release, make the logical-but-wrong assumption that ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon Rescue Team'' came first and therefore started the Mystery Dungeon series. Those who do know make the equally logical (and equally wrong) assumption that Shiren on SFC started it all. In fact, the ''true'' first Mystery Dungeon game was a ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' spinoff.
* AnticlimaxBoss: The Tainted Insect, the FinalBoss of the original game. Extremely high HP and Attack, and gives off an amazing amount of EXP, but [[FakeUltimateMook it is otherwise a vanilla monster]] that falls to a Staff of Sloth as easily as nearly every other monster in the game. If you got to this point, you've already dealt with much worse, and the status-inducing Skull Wraiths surrounding it are far more deadly than the Insect itself. In the UpdatedRerelease, [[KingMook its queen]] is even more anticlimactic since she's in a room all by herself and again, has no special abilities.
* BrokenBase: The third game. Fans are divided over the addition of an easy mode (which, due to party mechanics, you HAVE to pick if you don't want it to be incredibly frustrating to the point where it's not even fun), splitting of the game into multiple small dungeons as opposed to one segmented one, the retainment of levels after death, and, most of all, the game's grand story, abundance of {{Unskippable Cutscene}}s and fleshing out Shiren's background. (as opposed to an ExcusePlot and Shiren being an {{AFGNCAAP}}) Some enjoyed it, while others found it quite tedious.
* DemonicSpiders: The Ark Dragon. Its 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, as it does 60 damage and is near impenetrable unless you've upgraded your weapon to near max. 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.
** 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. Also, like the Hell Dragon, it is impervious to all but the most upgraded of weapons.
** Many other monsters are higher level forms of GoddamnedBats. The Radishes eventually gain the ability to put you to sleep, leaving you a sitting duck unless you have a Sleepless Armband, and its max level form's effect, which turns you into an uncontrollable {{berserker}}, cannot be resisted. The Reapers learn to pass through walls while attacking twice, meaning they will home in on you from anywhere on the floor and if attacking through a wall, you cannot retaliate. The Skull Mages' effects turn from annoying to debilitating when they become third-level Wraiths (including ability sealing, LevelDrain turning you into a riceball, etc.), and become even worse as appropriately-named Skull Demons at Level 4 (who can drain levels 3 at a time, put you to sleep, and even blind you).

* GameBreaker: Bufu's Cleaver in the DS rerelease of the first game[[note]]Since by the time you get it in the original Super Famicom game, you have nothing else to use it on, while the DS gives you three extra dungeons that permit the Cleaver[[/note]]. It randomly drops meat from any monster you defeat, said meat allowing you to transform into said monster. While you need to go through a difficult reset dungeon (Kitchen God Shrine) to get it, it also teaches you just how busted it can potentially be when you take it out of the dungeon and meld it to a stronger weapon. Some of the monsters' abilities guarantee virtual invincibility under player control, especially since they are unaffected by traps. For instance, the Death Angel / Death Master can move and attack twice as fast while passing through walls, and monsters cannot fight back if you attack them while in a wall tile unless they can also pass through walls. Even the weaker Pacorepkin family can be broken just because it has the last ability as well. Even better, the Air Devil family makes you invisible, which means monsters will never attack you while you can slaughter them to your heart's content. The disadvantage of meat is that you can't use other items until you revert, but considering you already have a free pass to the stairs for one floor, this can be moot with the right monster. Because of this, it was nerfed in the third game, making it a breakable weapon.
* 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...and at higher levels, many of them become outright DemonicSpiders as mentioned above.
* HilariousInHindsight: One of the most powerful items in the game is a [[spoiler:Blank Scroll, on which you can write the name of any scroll you've previously read or, under certain conditions, gain access to two other powerful effects.]] In ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda,'' the Dragon Scroll is said to provide unlimited power to whomever reads it, and, [[spoiler:it turns out to be a Blank Scroll showing the reflection of the one who reads it.]]

* AdaptationDisplacement: ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon'' didn't start the series, despite being localized first. Even Shiren was only the first ''original'' Mystery Dungeon game -- the true first game was a ''Franchise/DragonQuest'' spinoff.

** But what truly stands out about the game's DemonicSpiders is that several monsters are savvy enough to attack your inventory. That Shield you melded with multiple buffs, and would otherwise be a reliable defense in most other RPGs? A high-level multiplying Slime can dissolve those buffs away one by one, or an Armor monster can fling it away into another monster. That Herb of Revival you keep out to guard against an unlucky situation? Even the lowest-level Fowl can zap it into nothing, or a Gaze can hypnotize you into eating it. Kept a bunch of items in a Jar? Hope that Item Bandit doesn't turn it into a useless Weed. The Gazes themselves deserve special mention as they can render you helpless for turns on end while other monsters slowly whittle you away.

* HilariousInHindsight: One of the most powerful items in the game is a [[spoiler:Blank Scroll, on which you can write the name of any scroll you've previously read or, under certain conditions, gain access to two other powerful effects.]] In ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda,'' the Dragon Scroll is said to provide unlimited power to whomever reads it, and, [[it turns out to be a Blank Scroll showing the reflection of the one who reads it.]]

* GameBreaker: Bufu's Cleaver in the DS rerelease of the first game[[note]]Since by the time you get it in the original Super Famicom game, you have nothing else to use it on, while the DS gives you three extra dungeons that permit the Cleaver[[/note]]. It randomly drops meat from any monster you defeat, said meat allowing you to transform into said monster. While you need to go through a difficult reset dungeon (Kitchen God Shrine) to get it, it also teaches you just how busted it can potentially be when you take it out of the dungeon and meld it to a stronger weapon. Some of the monsters' abilities guarantee virtual invincibility under player control, especially since they are unaffected by traps. For instance, the Death Angel / Death Master can move and attack twice as fast while passing through walls, and monsters cannot fight back if you attack them while in a wall tile unless they can also pass through walls. Even the weaker Pacorepkin family can be broken just because it has the last ability as well. Even better, the Air Devil family makes you invisible, which means monsters will never attack you while you can slaughter them to your heart's content. The disadvantage of meat is that you can't use other items until you revert, but considering you already have a free pass to the stairs for one floor, this can be moot with the right monster. Because of this, it was nerfed in the third game, making it a breakable weapon.

* BrokenBase: The third game. Fans are divided over the addition of an easy mode (which, due to party mechanics, you HAVE to pick if you don't want it to be incredibly frustrating to the point where it's not even fun), splitting of the game into multiple small dungeons as opposed to one segmented one, the retainment of levels after death, and, most of all, the game's grand story, abundance of {{Unskippable Cutscene}}s and fleshing out Shiren's background. (as opposed to an ExcusePlot and Shiren being an {{AFGNCAAP}}) Some enjoyed it, while others found it quite tedious.

* BaseBreaker: The third game. Fans are divided over the addition of an easy mode (which, due to party mechanics, you HAVE to pick if you don't want it to be incredibly frustrating to the point where it's not even fun), splitting of the game into multiple small dungeons as opposed to one segmented one, the retainment of levels after death, and, most of all, the game's grand story, abundance of {{Unskippable Cutscene}}s and fleshing out Shiren's background. (as opposed to an ExcusePlot and Shiren being an {{AFGNCAAP}}) Some enjoyed it, while others found it quite tedious.