Pandora's Tower Wii
User Score
7.8 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 50 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 40 out of 50
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 50
  3. Negative: 5 out of 50

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  1. Lavacore
    Apr 14, 2012
    9
    I´m quite surprised to see so many mixed review of this game, the story has kept me interested so far (about halfway through) and you get to know more about the world and characters as you go along. graphics and music are some of the best on the wii, while it´s true that the textures are pretty low res, the artstyle easily makes up for it with varied and beautiful enviroments. The gameplay itself might not be as smooth as say Zelda, but it does it´s job well enough with one of the most awesome weapons ever. Highly recommend it.… Expand
  2. KongsNutz
    May 23, 2012
    10
    This game has the feel of some great games, Castlevania, ICO and Zelda with the RPGness of Final Fantasy.

    Great Game with good gameplay, definitely worth a look for fans of those series or anyone with a Wii that wants a new game.
  3. VonSeux
    Jun 28, 2012
    10
    This might become the most underrated Wii game. So i'm writing this to say, GET IT!!! It has excellent gameplay, multiple ways and strategies to defeat enemies and bosses. Great creepy story. One of the best soundtracks i've ever experienced. Very rich level design. 5 Different endings. Interesting inventory management and item creation. 13 different Zelda-like bosses, but harder. About 20 hours of exciting gameplay. The only downside are the grainy graphics, but it's the Wii, get over it and enjoy one of the best Nintendo exclusives this generation.… Expand
  4. Gastel71
    Aug 8, 2012
    9
    This game is a masterpiece in my opinion. It blends an original story with a huge load of interesting game-play mechanics. It borrows the best aspects of many different games and mix them together in a refreshing and deep experience while adding its own "personality" to the recipe. I found the graphics very well done and, most of all, very atmospheric and engrossing. This is especially true because graphics are supported by a really great soundtrack. Story-wise the game succeeds in being mysterious and metaphysical while keeping players interest on discovering what's going on. The relationship between the "hero" and the "girl", the two main characters of the game, is also very moving and well presented. Highly recommended to players who loved Demon's Souls, Ico, Vagrant Story or who want a very different take on a dungeon crawler.… Expand
  5. wyvernshido
    Jan 15, 2013
    10
    This game is everything i love about the Wii, i enjoyed it from beginning until end. Aaron & Elena's characters and there relationship was very heart felt and touching; it makes you want to save from her fate. I thought the story was very well written and understandable; the music and level design where akin to the 3D Zelda title (that's a good thing in my book) .... and finally the endings (especially the final one) are beautiful and close all loose ends. It took me 43 hrs. to complete with the best ending; and I'm glad i purchased this game. This has become my favorite of the 140 games i own on Wii.… Expand
  6. JGreenhill
    Jul 16, 2012
    9
    As the Wii approaches its end, original role playing games seem to be landing left and right. Xenoblade has its grand vistas, The Last Story has its amazingly natural dialogue, and Pandora's Tower well it has Elena. The aim of the game being to prevent a curse from turning her into a monster. To stop the curse you take control of the semi-silent protagonist Aeron; for the most part he's a bit like Link from the Zelda series or the vault dweller from fallout 3 but in scenes with drama he does talk. It's a nice halfway house that sets out to give you the immersion of playing the part of the character while at the same time allowing for dramatic scenes to feel fluid and not like a series of button prompts. Armed with the mystical oraclos chain, given to you by a creepy old woman named Mavda you are instructed to collect the flesh of beasts from the towers for Elena to chow down on. You soon find out that said beast flesh is only a temporary solution; it only delays the effects of the curse for 30 or 40 minutes. The only way to truly break the curse and save the day is to obtain flesh from the masters lying in wait at the top of each of the thirteen towers.

    The aforementioned towers are guarded by enemies and puzzles, in order to reach the final room of each tower the plucky hero must first unseal the rooms containing the dangerous creatures known as the masters. This is achieved by destroying a handful of pedestals which ground the chains barring entrance to the final room of a tower. As you begin scaling the towers you will notice two things, the first is that each tower corresponds to an element a bit like The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of time's fire temple, water temple, forest temple etc. This is great for the first five towers as it keeps things fresh both in terms of art direction and game mechanics, the second half of the game isn't quite so interesting due to tower 6 to 10 repeating the themes of 1 to 5. Nobody really wants to go through two water temples. The second thing you will notice about the towers is that you are not going to manage to get through them in 30-40 minutes, most will require at least two trips back to the observatory. This could have easily made the whole experience a lot more tedious, to the developers credit though they have done an amazing job making backtracking bearable. Each tower has shortcuts you can open up in the form of unlocking barricaded doors and dropping down ladders, which make traversing to the top of each tower a quick and painless task. Also included is an item that instantaneously transports you back to the observatory, these are particularly useful in getting the most out of your time in the towers.

    The unique concept of having to come back at regular intervals to prevent the damsel in distress from mutating horrifically is quite gripping. On the one hand you want to fully explore the Towers and discover the mysteries behind them but on the other you don't want to watch Elena Gag as she eats raw oozing purple monster flesh. There aren't too many games that make you feel guilty for wanting to explore every nook and cranny. One of the thing the game does really well is make you want to protect Elena and get back before the curse takes hold. There's a kind of morbid curiosity at the start of the game where you want to see what happens when you leave it to the last minute to get back to Elena. Once you've watched that scene once, you will never want to see it again, probably the darkest thing you will ever see in a Nintendo published game.

    When you eventually reach one of the towers masters you will immediately be reminded of the colossi from Team Ico's epic shadow of the colossus, in the sense that each of the boss battles feels like a puzzle rather than a challenge of your reflexes or combat proficiency. It feels a lot more brain over brawn. The idea behind these master battles is to hook onto the glowing weak point with the oraclos chain and perform some abrupt, unwanted keyhole surgery. The difficulty comes from trying to figure out how to reveal the masters weak point and get off a fully charged yank. Generally if you impale something with a metal spike, they are not likely to sit there and wait for you to remove their aorta. So before going for their Achilles heel you will need to stun them, figuring out how to stun them is the important bit. It's a really interesting dynamic combined with the constantly draining hourglass, the pressure doesn't come from beating the boss but beating the boss in a timely fashion so as not to see Elena horribly deformed.

    These days every JRPG seems to feature a group of seven unlikely heroes saving the world from a generic bad guy on a power trip, it's refreshing to see a developer put some thought and originality into a game's story. It's not perfect by any means but it is memorable, and I'd take one flawed game with with spirit over 50 games that are more of the same but a little better.    … Collapse
  7. partyintheback
    Dec 5, 2012
    10
    Pandora's Tower was sadly forgotten about because of the hype surrounding Xenoblade Chronicles and The Last Story. Now, that's not to say those aren't fantastic games, too, as The Last Story is my favorite of the 3 swansong JRPGs for the Wii, but Pandora's Tower deserved more attention, much more attention, in addition to a North American localization. Quite frankly, this is an exceptional game, featuring an emotional story, fun combat and platforming with the chain, a great time mechanic, etc. This game's truly a landmark JRPG for the Wii.… Expand
  8. luvwrapper
    May 3, 2013
    10
    If you are a fan of Majoras mask, Castlvania, God of War,Shadow of the Colosuss and JRPGs, your love this game. This a fresh experience that hasn't been replicated for a long time. Its game that invokes a feeling that when you put the controller down and walk away, your compelled to pick it right back up.

    The story is very basic yet well constructed. Without spoiling too much, its abou    t a girl with a curse and a boy who needs to save her by eating flesh of monsters from a tower suspended over a large chasm. The towers hold a larger boss monster at the top called Masters. Each mash holds flesh, and you must feed the girl flesh of Masters to lift her curses. You also have to develop a bond with the girl in order to progress a happy ending.

    The battle mechanic is very robust and rudimentary. its akin to a hack-and-slash game of God of War, darksiders or castlvania. But what i loved most about the battle mechanic is the chain. the Oraclos chain is the center focus in the game. This chain is a secondary side weapons that feels like a primary weapons. Primary weapons are swords, blades, scythes and a Explosion stake. But the way you have to integrate the chain with the environment really brings the depth of the chain into play. you grab, swing, whip, bind, and stab enemies with the chain and work with your primary weopon to rip them apart.

    Each tower acts like a dungeon in Zelda. There are puzzles you have to solve, and equipment you can get. to progress further. But since the girl is curse and the curse gets worse if your not there with her, you cannot stay in the dtowers for long. YES THIS GAME IS TIMED. Its like Majoras Mask, and that you cant take your merry time with the dunsgeon and if you do you'll lose small items. Every time u enter a tower, do one thing first...look for flesh from servents. Servent flesh is like master flesh but only serves to reset the timer. the more "fresher the flesh" the more potent. If ur in a tower and the timer is getting lower, you need to find your way to the exit and feed her the flesh and go back to the tower. it seems annoying but brings a dynamic of urgency. And th thrill gets stronger when you finnaly get to the boss, but ur timer is almost up, but you know it takes longer to trek back to the exitso u fight the boss and nearly beat the clock. I love that feeling.

    Now lets talk about the girl. She's a gold digger...no really she is. You need to shower her in gifts in order to increase your bond with her. She loves undoubtedly and and says the most awkwardly pout lines. its cringe worthy at some times, but can get really heart felt most of the time. She could cook for you, make your inventory bag larger, and make medicne. She also decifers unreadable notes to uncover the lore in the game, a nice touch.

    Buy this game, you will not regret it.    … Expand
  9. Thegodfatherson
    May 20, 2013
    10
    Pandora's Tower is heavenly mixed as a good game. Zelda and Castlevaina mixture has its own elements, story and new characters in the industry. Must Play.

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
73 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 48 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 28 out of 48
  2. Mixed: 20 out of 48
  3. Negative: 0 out of 48
  1. Polygon
    May 17, 2013
    55
    Pandora's Tower is loaded with interesting concepts, but it fails to pull them through an entire playthrough in a sustainable, engaging way.
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  2. Game Revolution
    May 15, 2013
    70
    Pandora's Tower is an enjoyable RPG, and if the Affinity thing wasn't involved, I'd easily put this up to the ranks of four stars and beyond. There's a lot of exploring to do, puzzles to solve, and great action that requires serious thinking. The gameplay as well as the presentation are top-shelf. If you can put up with Elena, in either form, you'll find this to be a great action adventure title.
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  3. RPG Fan
    May 13, 2013
    80
    Much like Elena in the throes of disfiguration, Pandora's Tower is imperfect, but begging to be loved.
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