The Shiren series has been around since the Super Nintendo; six core games, several in universe spin offs, and countless collaborations with Dragon Quest, Pokemon, Final Fantasy, and others. As one of the first, and main, rouge-like series to come about the longevity of the product was never really in question; instead of asking if one of the titles is enjoyable, asking how enjoyable the title is as the series has long since established a pretty high standard. It is actually great to say that Serpentcoil Island is one of the better installments.
You can also check out our coverage of the Switch version of Shiren Serpentcoil Island HERE.
The Mysterious Dungeon series of games is an interesting Rouge-like, ranging in difficulty from extremely punishing to rather forgiving. Serpentcoil Island, oddly falls on both ends of that spectrum. The main game can be completed fairly quickly, for returning gamers. The challenge becomes in all of the additional dungeons that are included with the game itself. These 30+ dungeons range from near impossible, to fairly simple. The game also offers the option to play through most of them with extra options, like more floors or different limitations.
There is also a paid DLC at launch that allows the players the option to play through certain dungeons as either Koppa or Asuka, as well as including roughly 10 extra dungeons to explore. The DLC itself runs the gambit between more accessible dungeons and painful levels of difficulty. Aside from increasing the content of the main game by roughly 30 percent, the main draw is being able to play through some areas as a different character; not something normally done in Shiren titles.
Shiren 5 was done in fantastic, hand drawn, pixel artwork. While it isn’t unheard of for the series to use 3D characters and environments, it also isn’t the norm. Thankfully, Serpentcoil Island leans fully into the artistic style that invokes the memory of the past titles. It isn’t something that jumps out as soon as the title is started, but it is something that quickly becomes endearing and very much establishes the world. A world where ferrets can talk and gods need rescuing by wandering adventurers.
The Shiren series isn’t something that you play for the plot, but instead of the insanely deep mechanics that force the player to expand just how they play the game. Leaning to heavy into just equipment doesn’t help when different styles of attacks cause a base damage instead of a decreasing amount based on defense. Lean to hard into magical scrolls and receive punishment when they suddenly become near impossible to find due to the random nature of the dungeons. The title relies heavily on the balance of things.
The Shiren series has lived a long and successful life, and with the introduction of Serpentcoil Island it proves that it has more life left in it. This isn’t the best title in the series, or the best Rouge-like, but it should be brought up in those conversations. This is an extremely good entry in the series and a great point for anyone who is new to the genre, or enjoys it. Buy it, beat the game, and then pick up the DLC to have even more content to enjoy. This title is strongly recommended.
RATING
OUR SCORE - 9
9
SCORE
Shiren is just as excellent on PC as it was on Switch. Paid DLC is also available.
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