Shiren 3's clockwork bosses

by JC Fletcher { Jun 2nd 2008 at 10:15AM }

Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer 3's setting, the Clockwork Palace, has given developer Chunsoft license to pit Shiren against some supremely freaky-looking mechanical monsters. Just the very existence of monsters in a Mystery Dungeon game is cause enough for fear, as any single one of them can kill you and erase all your progress. It almost seems like overkill, then, to design enemies that actually look creepy at all.

Famitsu has revealed some of the boss creatures found in the dungeon, including the five Ikusa Oni, a sort of Power Rangers-type organization, but made of monstrous samurai, and the Clockwork Kasha, a flaming cart with a Noh mask.

The Clockwork Giants aren't particularly frightening, but they're certainly weird. Both are mechanical heads with one pair of appendages each; one has hands and the other feet, and both have totally metal eyebrows.

Tags: chunsoft, mystery-dungeon, roguelike, rpg, sega, shiren-the-wanderer, shiren-the-wanderer-3

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Inanimate @ Jun 2nd 2008 10:37AM

I want metal eyebrows...

LordGek @ Jun 2nd 2008 10:48AM

Yes, they do look messed up and it sounds like you get to beat on a LOT of different boss guys in this one!

But, if you hadn't already heard, the main game will be NOTHING like the hardcore Shiren DS, for the most part for two BIG reasons!

1) Your characters have persistent levels! In this game's main adventure mode, which judging by the inclusion of a big overhead map, will be a lot more like PMD2 where you are clearing out a lot of small but ever increasingly difficult dungeons as opposed to just one epic one. Also, just judging by the latest Torneko and PMD2 games, they'll probably even have some sort of "Escape Item" like the Moria/Angband "Word of Recall" Scroll.

2) The game offers you an "Easy" difficulty option in which no items are lost when you die (there is still the "Normal" difficulty as well, no clue how the game compensates you for taking on the extra challenge of more traditional item loss at death).

As much as a let down as this is for the harcore among us, fear not, as the game offers up a "Dungeon Anywhere Mode" which is supposedly accessible from almost the very beginning. This Dungeon Anywhere Mode will exist sort of outside of the main story and allow you to take on any of the story dungeons you've accessed so far in the more traditional starting at first level kind of deal. These will clearly have to be re-worked from their main story counterparts as it would be pretty impossible to take on a late story dungeon starting at first level normally, but I'm assuming they'll play by the same rule tweaks or at least type of baddies but scale things a little more appropriately. So as to make adventuring in this mode not completely pointless it sounds like you'll be able to take items you've gained from the main story mode into these dungeons and take items found in this other mode back into the main mode.

LordGek @ Jun 2nd 2008 10:55AM

Shoot, having read the linked article via my cheesy translator, some of the baddies can occupy up to 9 spaces! So these bosses can be HUGE!

Mr Khan @ Jun 2nd 2008 12:48PM

I'm liking this art style

psyborg @ Jun 2nd 2008 3:30PM

I can't wait to play Mysterious Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer 3: The Sleeping Princess in Karakuri Mansion. I love the artstyle in Mysterious Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer 3: The Sleeping Princess in Karakuri Mansion. I hope Mysterious Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer 3: The Sleeping Princess in Karakuri Mansion is fun.