Hands-On Shiren DS 2… Is It Easier Than The First DS Remake?

Tokyo Game Show isn’t the best place to sit down with Mystery Dungeon Shiren the Wanderer DS 2: Demon Castle in the Desert since it’s a mutable experience determined by random dungeons and even more random item drops. This could be the result of blind luck or a simplified demo, but the first stage in Shiren DS 2 presented an abundance of items. And I’m not just talking about essential riceballs or recovery herbs. I was presented with multiple armbands, two cudgels, one sword, and two shields. Shiren was full equipped by the time he reached the second floor. The bountiful artillery let me get through a few floors without a problem.

If you played Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer you should have an idea of what to expect. Like its predecessor Shiren DS 2 is a roguelike which means you make moves, enemies make moves, and don’t die because that means you’ll restart the game. There are some notable interface changes like a blue bar underneath Shiren’s HP gauge indicating his fullness level and an option to switch the top menu screen without going through the options menu. I liked this feature a lot since you can use the top screen as a map and then quickly change it to the text summary of what happened in the dungeon.

Images courtesy of Sega.