History YMMV / TheTowerOfDruaga

* AmericansHateTingle: While it has its fans outside Japan, especially with its inclusion in several ''Namco Museum'' compilations and more readily available guides, the original game did not enjoy much success for its GuideDangIt nature and mandatory treasure chests needed to reach the game's ending -- contrasting with most early 80s arcade titles that were easier to grasp and relied on high scores more than solving riddles and reaching a definitive end point. The series being exclusive to Japan for more than a decade didn't help either.

* AmericansHateTingle: While it has its fans outside Japan, especially with its inclusion in several ''Namco Museum'' compilations and more readily available guides, the original game did not enjoy much success for its GuideDangIt nature and mandatory treasure chests needed to reach the game's ending--contrasting with most early 80s arcade titles that were easier to grasp and relied on high scores more than solving riddles and reaching a definitive end point. The series being exclusive to Japan for more than a decade didn't help either.

* ScrappyMechanic: The requirements for revealing most of the treasures are extremely vague or likely something a casual player would not consider doing. Most treasure chests are simply revealed by killing enough enemies, but then you get requirements that require killing enemies in a specific order, breaking down a random number of walls with the Pickaxe, walking over two specific parts of the map, or blocking a number of spells with your shield. Mess up and you must either suicide or continue on without the item, likely making the game unwinnable. More aggravatingly, certain treaures are, for all the trouble you have to go through for them, ''harmful'' instead, taking away much-needed upgrades. This game seems to have been built on the expectation that players will discover the game's secrets on their own and then share them with other players in some sort of community, like an arcade guestbook (online forums and guides weren't really a thing in the early 80s yet).

!!The anime

* EvilIsSexy: Even if [[spoiler:Shadow Gilgamesh]] is worse than he was in the games, you can’t deny he is pretty hot. It helps that he has both a scene where he’s shirtless and a scene where he’s bathing.

!!The game

* VindicatedByHistory: Sort of. While still remaining an obscurity outside of Japan (unless talking about how [[NintendoHard legendarily difficult it is]]), many Western gamers who grew up with ''Namco Museum DS'' remember this game more fondly, possibly in no small part due to [[AntiFrustrationFeatures having a hint system to mitigate some of the obtuseness of finding the items]]. Even still, some at least credit it for inspiring later [=RPGs=] like ''The Legend of Zelda'' and ''Final Fantasy''.

* ValuesDissonance: Quite possibly why the game is far more successful in Japan than everywhere else. Japanese gaming culture is more communal and more open to players sharing strategies at arcades, which was vital if players wanted to complete the original game, especially before the age of publicly-available, fast, and affordable internet coupled with sites like [=StrategyWiki=] and Website/GameFAQs. In many western countries, mainly in the U.S. during the arcade era boom, the concept of arcades as social environments is generally lost on players, so players weren't as willing to collaborate to figure out how to find the next treasure. This is made worse today with [[StopHavingFunGuys the idea that using guides and asking other players for help makes you an idiot who shouldn't be playing the game]], especially among American players.

* ScrappyMechanic: The requirements for revealing most of the treasures are extremely vague or likely something a casual player would not consider doing. Most treasure chests are simply revealed by killing enough enemies, but then you get requirements that require killing enemies in a specific order, breaking down a random number of walls with the Pickaxe, walking over two specific parts of the map, or blocking a number of spells with your shield. Mess up and you must either suicide or continue on without the item, likely making the game unwinnable. This game seems to have been built on the expectation that players will discover the game's secrets on their own and then share them with other players in some sort of community, like an arcade guestbook (online forums and guides weren't really a thing in the early 80s yet).

%% * TearJerker: Done in episode 7

* VindicatedByHistory: Sort of. While still remaining an obscurity outside of Japan (unless talking about how [[NintendoHard legendarily difficult it is]]), many Western gamers who grew up with ''Namco Museum DS'' remember this game more fondly, possibly in no small part due to [[AntiFrustrationFeatures having a hint system to mitigate some of the obtuseness of finding the items]]. Even still, some at least credit it for inspiring later [=RPGs=] like ''The Legend of Zelda'' and ''Final Fantasy''.

* VindicatedByHistory: Sort of. While still remaining an obscurity outside of Japan (unless talking about how [[NintendoHard legendarily difficult it is]]), many Western gamers who grew up with ''Namco Museum DS'' remember this game more fondly, possibly in no small part due to [[AntiFrustrationFeatures having a hint system to mitigate some of the obtuseness of finding the items.]] Even still, some at least credit it for inspiring later [=RPGs=] like ''The Legend of Zelda'' and ''Final Fantasy''.

* EvilIsSexy: Even if [[spoiler:Shadow Gilgamesh]] is worse than he was in the games, you can’t deny he is pretty hot.

* ScrappyMechanic: The requirements for revealing most of the treasures are extremely vague or likely something a casual player would not consider doing. Most treasure chests are simply revealed by killing enough enemies, but then you get requirements that require killing enemies in a specific order, breaking down a random number of walls with the Pickaxe, walking over two specific parts of the map, or blocking a number of spells with your shield. Mess up and you must either suicide or continue on without the item, likely making the game unwinnable.

* AmericansHateTingle: While it has its fans outside Japan especially with its inclusion in several ''Namco Museum'' compilations and more readily available guides, the original game did not enjoy much success for its GuideDangIt nature and mandatory treasure chests needed to reach the game's ending- contrasting with most early 80's arcade titles that were easier to grasp and relied on high scores more than solving riddles and reaching a definitive end point. The series being exclusive to Japan for more than a decade didn't help either.

* ThatOneLevel: Floor 13. It contains a treasure necessary to beat the game, that can only be obtained by killing all the {{Teleport Spam}}ming enemies on the floor. [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Also the slimes.]] And this is assuming [[GuideDangIt you even knew what to do]].
* ValuesDissonance: Quite possibly why the game is far more successful in Japan than everywhere else. Japanese gaming culture is more communal and more open to players sharing strategies at arcades, which was vital if players wanted to complete the original game, especially before the age of publically-available, fast, and affordable internet coupled with sites like [=StrategyWiki=] and Website/GameFAQs. In many western countries, mainly in the U.S. during the arcade era boom, the concept of arcades as social environments is generally lost on players, so players weren't as willing to collaborate to figure out how to find the next treaure. This is made worse today with [[StopHavingFunGuys the idea that using guides and asking other players for help makes you an idiot who shouldn't be playing the game]], especially among American players.

* AmericansHateTingle: Or more specifically, Americans Hate GuideDangIt Moments.
* ScrappyMechanic: How in the '''''hell''''' do you find any of these treasures without consulting a guide?!
* ThatOneLevel: Level 13. It contains a treasure necessary to beat the game, that can only be obtained by killing all the {{Teleport Spam}}ming enemies on the floor. [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Also the slimes.]] And this is assuming [[GuideDangIt you even knew what to do]].

* ValuesDissonance: Quite possibly why the game is far more successful in Japan than everywhere else. Japanese gaming culture is more communal and more open to players sharing strategies at arcades, which was vital if players wanted to complete the original game, especially before the age of publically-available, fast, and affordable internet coupled with sites like [=StrategyWiki=] and Website/GameFAQs. In the West, the concept of arcades as social environments is generally lost on players, so players weren't as willing to collaborate to figure out how to find the next treaure. This is made worse today with [[StopHavingFunGuys the idea that using guides and asking other players for help makes you an idiot who shouldn't be playing the game]].

* MartyStu: Jil in the first episode fantasy is blatant parody of one.

* PuritySue: Both Kaaya and Jil both can be argued as fitting the role, with Kaaya doubling as a RelationshipSue for Jil.

* LoveItOrHateIt: A deep dungeon crawler that rewards patience and collaborating with players, or an unsolvable-on-your-own mess that was only designed to suck your wallet dry? Opinions [[AmericansHateTingle tend to be split based on whether you live in the East or West]].

!The anime

!The game

* BrokenBase: Is the game's sheer GuideDangIt nature a clever way to get players to collaborate and help each other out, or is it a steaming pile of FakeDifficulty and deserving of being a [[AmericansHateTingle commercial flop outside of Japan]]?