‘Pandora’s Tower’ has extended playability

By David Stenger

Whoever knew the flesh of monstrous beasts could be representations of love?

“Pandora’s Tower” is a hack-and-slash action RPG game exclusively for the Wii. “Pandora’s Tower” had been released everywhere in the world except for North America until Monday.

The game focuses on Aeron, a hero who must accomplish dangerous tasks in order to save the life of his love, Elena.

Elena has been cursed and is slowly turning into a beast, and there is only one way to stop the curse for good. Aeron must journey to a desolate region. Once there he must go through several towers filled with puzzles, traps and monsters. At the top of each tower is a beast referred to as Master; there are 13 Masters. These extraordinary beasts must be slayed by Aeron. Once he defeats a Master, Aeron must bring back some flesh to feed to Elena to free her from the curse. Feeding Elena flesh from the Masters stops the transformation process. Letting her go too long without the Masters’ flesh will cause her features to become more monstrous.

This game has almost every element imaginable. Based off of reviews from other countries, it actually combines all the elements very well. A player can choose to simply attack, wrap an enemy in a chain or grab onto a single limb to throw the enemies off. A whip can also be used multiple times to solve puzzles and swing against gaps between towers. A sword is a good weapon choice for simple, quick attacks. Other weapons can be found hidden within the towers.

The controls can be hard to learn at first. Aiming with the Wiimote and some motion tracking is required by the player at times, but it isn’t frustrating if you’re able to manage the motion tracking and aiming well.

The player can’t explore forever. A time meter at the bottom shows Elena’s health as the curse affects her condition over time. If a player lets the time run out, Elena will shift into a beast and it’s game over. The player must find shortcuts to traverse through the tower quickly. At the observatory you can strengthen your relationship with Elena or buy and craft new items and weapons.

The Masters of every single tower are massive, and they require new strategies to be defeated. Each level is a new challenge and forces the player to think as they take down the enemy. It all comes together beautifully, and has several different endings based on your performance during the game.

While it’s a little late coming to North America, “Pandora’s Tower” is a game that can easily have players playing for hours. It gives those who play the opportunity to explore towers and find hidden extras. If you own a Wii or Wii U, find this title and discover how far one will go to save their love from turning into a hideous beast. ”Pandora’s Tower” is available at GameStop for $39.99.