My previous Pandora’s Tower post probably made it sound like I loved the game. But I can’t say the gameplay is nearly as good as the voice acting. It’s a stiff and average action game. There are some neat elements using the Wii Remote to bind and tether enemies using a chain, but I don’t recall this mechanic blending in with the hack and slash combat.
If I had to choose an element outside of the voice acting to praise, it’d have to be a slight detail in the level designs. Keeping with the game’s theme, each dungeon has enormous chains that stretch around the tower. If you pay attention to where it leads, you’ll find one of the main objectives.
Creating a guiding device that exists in the world itself is surprisingly unique. Most games just slap a dot or symbol on the map and call it a day. Unlike these other options, you don’t always see the chain. It keeps the game from constantly holding your hand; encouraging you to explore the environment to find the next sign of the chain.
I think this an even better implementation than Dead Space, the game that everyone points to as a prime example of blending the user interface into the world. A holographic marker system leads you around the space station. This hologram technically exists in the world itself, but it feels disconnected from everything else.
(Header Image Source: Ace)
