Various Shiren The Wanderer (and Mystery Dungeon) games have been recommended to me many times, but I haven’t played any of them yet. I probably won’t play the next one either. Shiren The Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon Of Serpentcoil Island is coming to PC via Steam Soon.
The Mystery Dungeon Of Serpentcoil Island is very similar to the previous games in the series. These are classic roguelike games where you drop into a random dungeon divided into multiple floors and try to delve deeper and deeper using the resources you find along the way. It also has some useful online features, such as the ability to save or be saved by other players if you fall on a certain floor, so you can continue playing with that character.
Serpentcoil changes the setting, introduces some primitive 3D graphics, and modernizes the UI a bit, but otherwise should be familiar to anyone who’s played previous games in the series.
Shiren’s last game was The Tower Of Fortune And The Dice Of Fate, which you might think is a relatively novel game considering it was released on PC and Switch in 2020. Sadly no, it was first released on the Nintendo DS in Japan in 2010 and in the west on the Vita in 2016. This makes Serpentcoil Island the first novel game in the series in 14 years.
Serpentcoil Island also released on Switch in January this year, which means you can explore every detail of the game if you’re so inclined. It was quite well received, with Famitsu giving it 38 out of 40 points.
Why don’t I play? Because I’ve noticed that my patience for classic roguelike games has waned lately. I was able to dive into my latest procedural dungeon. Whatever appetite I have left, I’m saving for the much more ambitious and wild Caves Of Qud, which will be released in version 1.0 on December 5. However, I still enjoy hearing others wax lyrical about these games, so if you think I’m wrong and should give Shiren his due, comment with a passionate ode.
