Shiren is, at first glance, just a simplified roguelike. The only stats are Health, Sword and Shield Strength, levels, and EXP. Technically money as well.
As brutally cruel at times as the genre suggests, it is still conquerable with sufficient patience, a little grinding, and some good luck. The first dungeon lasts for 30 floors with rest stops at 4.5, 7.5, 14.5, and 21.5. Warehouses exist at the starter town, the second rest stop, and the third rest stop, each one smaller than the last.
Warehouses allow you to store items, which can be collected on other runs. What makes them so useful, of course, is that items in them do not get deleted along with your inventory upon death. They remain there until collected.
The main dungeon, Table Mountain, as well as Tainted Path, Ceremonial Cave, and Ravine of the Dead all allow you to bring items and levels from outside when entered. Scroll Cave and Kitchen God Shrine disallow items but let you keep levels, while Fay's Puzzles supply you with items to solve a specific task of varying difficulty.
The only dungeon in the game that lives up to the true Roguelike standard is Fay's Final Puzzle - there are 99 floors, and the difficulty of mobs spikes on floor 3 with the addition of slow-capable mobs and ranged fighters. Everything except riceballs - the stock food item - get found unidentified, and you may bring nothing in. You start with a single Big Riceball. Beating FFP is the ultimate challenge of the game.
Personally, I recommend this game. It's got nearly endless replay value due to procedural level generation, as per the genre, and the good feeling of building up the best gear through use of Blacksmiths, upgrade scrolls, and general hoarding behavior is actually pretty fun. You can always self impose challenges to breathe new life in to dungeons that no longer challenge your equipment, or you can stow it away and tackle dungeons that won't let you use it anyway. [Props to anyone who can take down Ravine of the Dead shieldless!]
(I wrote this [rather bad] review because the game doesn't have one. It's a wonderful title that has given me entertainment for years, and I heartily recommend it to anyone seeking a slightly more forgiving challenge.)
A challenging, but ultimately conquerable roguelike.
Shiren is, at first glance, just a simplified roguelike. The only stats are Health, Sword and Shield Strength, levels, and EXP. Technically money as well.
As brutally cruel at times as the genre suggests, it is still conquerable with sufficient patience, a little grinding, and some good luck. The first dungeon lasts for 30 floors with rest stops at 4.5, 7.5, 14.5, and 21.5. Warehouses exist at the starter town, the second rest stop, and the third rest stop, each one smaller than the last.
Warehouses allow you to store items, which can be collected on other runs. What makes them so useful, of course, is that items in them do not get deleted along with your inventory upon death. They remain there until collected.
The main dungeon, Table Mountain, as well as Tainted Path, Ceremonial Cave, and Ravine of the Dead all allow you to bring items and levels from outside when entered. Scroll Cave and Kitchen God Shrine disallow items but let you keep levels, while Fay's Puzzles supply you with items to solve a specific task of varying difficulty.
The only dungeon in the game that lives up to the true Roguelike standard is Fay's Final Puzzle - there are 99 floors, and the difficulty of mobs spikes on floor 3 with the addition of slow-capable mobs and ranged fighters. Everything except riceballs - the stock food item - get found unidentified, and you may bring nothing in. You start with a single Big Riceball. Beating FFP is the ultimate challenge of the game.
Personally, I recommend this game. It's got nearly endless replay value due to procedural level generation, as per the genre, and the good feeling of building up the best gear through use of Blacksmiths, upgrade scrolls, and general hoarding behavior is actually pretty fun. You can always self impose challenges to breathe new life in to dungeons that no longer challenge your equipment, or you can stow it away and tackle dungeons that won't let you use it anyway. [Props to anyone who can take down Ravine of the Dead shieldless!]
(I wrote this [rather bad] review because the game doesn't have one. It's a wonderful title that has given me entertainment for years, and I heartily recommend it to anyone seeking a slightly more forgiving challenge.)