Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate

Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fateis aroguelikerole-playing video gamedeveloped byChunsoft. It is the fifth main entry in theShiren the Wandererseries, which is a subset of the largerMystery Dungeonseries. It was originally released for theNintendo DSin 2010 in Japan.
An expanded versionwas released for thePlayStation Vitain 2015 in Japan and in 2016 in North America and Europe. A further expanded version forNintendo SwitchandMicrosoft Windows, featuring additional dungeons, was released in 2020,and a Smartphone port of the latest version was released in Japan in 2022.
The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fateis a roguelike role-playing video game in which the player traverses randomized dungeons and fights monsters.In dungeons, the player can find treasures, as well as items and equipment that they can collect and use.If the player dies, they lose their items, theirlevelresets to one, the dungeons change, and the monsters change positions.Like inShiren the Wanderer 4, the game has a day-and-night system; as the in-game sun sets, the player character's vision decreases, making it impossible to see enemies that are too far away. At some points in dungeons, the player needs to solve puzzles.
The story is set between the events ofShiren the Wanderer GB2andShiren the Wanderer 3, and follows Shiren,a wanderer andsilent protagonist, who is accompanied by Koppa, a talking ferret.The two are climbing the Tower of Fortune, as they have heard legends of a god that can change their fate.The story begins as Oyu, a young girl from a small town, suffers from an illness and Jirokichi, her childhood friend, goes forth towards the tower to change her fate. They are guided through the tower by Tao, a girl in a panda suit,and encounter other characters thorough the story: Okon and Koharu; Gen; and Kojirouta. Shiren and Jirokichi eventually climb the tower to fight against the ruler of fate himself, Reeva.
The game was directed by Yoriki Daigo, keeping the same role as inShiren the Wanderer 4.The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fatewas first teased in August as part ofSega's exhibition titles before theTokyo Game Show2010.The game was released in December of the same year.During an interview withKoichi Nakamura, it was confirmed that this game andShiren the Wanderer 4were developed simultaneously, though it was hard to come up with new ideas for the former title. In that case, they have added back items and monsters originally featured in the latter. This would be re-confirmed by Daigo in a blog posted by the company.Unique to this series is the possibility to play with another player locally in co-op mode, compared toShiren the Wanderer 3who had a similar option exclusively for the versus mode.
Pre-ordered copies of the game were bundled with a soundtrack CD and a booklet about the series' history.As a crossover promotion, a Nonary Game bracelet from Chunsoft'sNine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doorswas included as an in-game item.
In commemoration of the 20th anniversary of theShiren the Wandererseries, a PlayStation Vita version titledShiren the Wanderer 5 Plus, which includes additional dungeons and the ability to look around using the right stick, was released in June 2015 in Japan.A worldwide release byAksys Gamescame a year later in July, with the game titled asShiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate.
Nintendo Switch and Steam ports were directed by Tomoya Shinozaki. The idea of porting the game to other consoles comes from when Sony ended production of the PlayStation Vita in 2019.A Microsoft Windows version was implied to be in development during The International 2019Dota 2Tournament held inShanghaiin August, although no official announcement had been made at the time.In 2020, Nintendo Switch and Steam ports were released worldwide on December 2, a day after the series's 25th anniversary.These versions feature three brand new dungeons, a livestream display and the game being translated in both traditional and simplified Chinese, making it the firstShiren the Wanderergame to have an official Chinese translation.The Live Display HUD option was added to this port because Shinozaki used to watch streamers playing games from the series on live before joining the company. For the Steam version, the team opted for keyboard compatibility as it was harder to add it than the Switch version, the latter having the same button layout as the PlayStation Vita.
AniOSandAndroidports were released in March 2022. These versions can be played in English and Chinese. Some changes include auto saving, the ability to play it horizontally or vertically compared to the smartphone release ofMystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer, among smaller ones.
The game was originally released in Japan by Chunsoft for the Nintendo DS on December 9, 2010. The PlayStation Vita version was released by Spike Chunsoft on June 4, 2015, in Japan, and byAksys Gameson July 26, 2016, in North America and Europe.Since 2020, the game would be released only by Spike Chunsoft, and excludes Aksys Games for its western release. The Nintendo Switch and Steam versions were released worldwide on December 2 the same year, and a day later in Japan.A limited-time, physical copy of the game in English held byLimited Run Gameswas released on January 12, 2021.The smartphone versions were released on March 29, 2022, exclusively in Japan.
The game was well received by critics on PlayStation Vita and Nintendo Switch, according toreview aggregatorMetacritic,where it was the sixth-best reviewed PlayStation Vita game of 2016.
The Switch port of this game exceeded the company's expectation in terms of reputation and sales overall. This success consequently green-lit the development of a newShiren the Wanderergame soon after, beingShiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island, but also gave the series a new title over 13 years after this game.
Across all versions ofThe Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate, it has sold over 500,000 copies as of December 2022, making it selling as many copies as all versions ofMystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wandereraccumulated.The Nintendo DS version sold 65,137 copies by the end of 2011 and an additional 16,573 copies sold from theChunsoft Selectionedition of the same game by the end of 2012, granting a total of 81,710 copies sold in Japan.The PlayStation Vita version debuted on second place onMedia Create's weekly list of best-selling video games in Japan, with 16,224 copies sold;on its second week, it sank to ninth place with 6,060 copies,and on its third it sank to thirteenth place with 3,553 copies sold.By the end of 2015, it was the 168th best selling game of the year in Japan with 25,681 copies.The Nintendo Switch version debuted on twelfth place on Famitsu's weekly list of best-selling video games in Japan, with 19,594 copies sold. This version would also be placed sixth on the Japanese Nintendo eShop's Top 20 best-selling games of December 2020.According toSteam Spy, theSteamrelease has sold over 100,000 copies.