Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island (NSP, XCI) ROM + v1.0.5 Update

Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island – Shiren the Wanderer and his trusty companion, Koppa the talking ferret, were visited by a vision unveiling a distant land and a distressed maiden. This revelation guided them to the enigmatic Serpentcoil Island.

However, they’re not the sole seekers. Whispers spread of elusive pirate riches concealed within Serpentcoil’s depths, alongside a formidable creature atop its tallest peak, rumored to harbor a priceless treasure. Adventurers and warriors from far and wide converge, hungry for wealth.

What links the mysterious maiden to the monstrous entity? What truths lie behind the island’s veiled mysteries and scattered treasures? A fresh journey awaits Shiren and Koppa!

GAMEPLAY

The gameplay for The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island remains the same as other Shiren the Wanderer games; it is a roguelike role-playing video game in which the player traverses randomized dungeons and fights monsters. The game takes gameplay content from the earlier games of the series rather than the latest. As such, little to no content that was featured in Shiren the Wanderer 4: The Eye of God and the Devil’s Navel and Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate were recycled, like the Day and Night system in dungeons.

The i-Dash from Shiren the Wanderer 2: Shiren’s Castle and the Oni Invasion also returns in this game, albeit tweaked a little and with a new title. Benemoth, which are giant versions of a common monster, will occasionally appear in dungeons thanks to the Benemoth Gates, and they come with advantages and inconvenient against the player, most notably being invincible to the player’s attacks due to their barrier. In addition to returning monsters from the series, such as the iconic Mamel, new monsters were added to the game.

The UI got an overhaul compared to previous entries, now showing the inventory’s capacity, and two semi-transparent dialogue boxes reserved for the Adventure Log in the bottom right corner, and the Notebook in the bottom left. The Notebook logs new findings in a dungeon, such as discovering a new monster or item. Returning from the 2020 release of The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate, the Live Display UI has now two types for players livestreaming the game; a compact type focusing on the gameplay, and a detailed type.

The game features multiplayer content, outside of rescuing defeated players in dungeons. Players are also able to train against species of monsters with the Monster Dojo or go to alternative routes during the mainline story, which is harder but more rewarding than regular routes.

PLOT

The story is set between the events of Shiren the Wanderer GB: Monster of Moonlight Village and Shiren the Wanderer 4: The Eye of God and the Devil’s Navel. As Shiren and Koppa, referred to as a ferret, left Tsukikage Village a few months later, both of them started dreaming of an island. This dream led to an existing treasure island named Serpentcoil Island, one of the small islands in the Inland Sea. The duo decided to venture there not long after to explore the island, but also debunked the rumored treasure living inside a monster, atop the island and rescued the lost girl who sent that dream to them. Asuka, a recurrent side character in the series, participates in the adventure to reunite with her allies on the island, while an innkeeper of Uzumaki-Ya, Suzuna, supports the team throughout their adventure.