Pandora's Tower

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.

In some respects, Pandora's Tower shares similarities with Shadow of the Colossus, and while it doesn't ascend to the high barometer of that game, it is worthy of the comparison.

A mature RPG that's been suffering from bad technical quality, repeating of the same in-game situations and from the excessively fast monster respawn. If you manage to get over these flaws, you are going to be rewarded with nice gameplay, a well-made motion control system and especially with its emotional story with five different endings.

While Last Story reflects the emotional and narrative side of H. Sakaguchi, Pandora's Tower is more offensive and closes a large cycle of production for Nintendo Wii.

Ganbarion, the creators of the most famous fighting games on DS, are back with Pandora's Tower, an action-RPG that will seduce those who loves great adventure.

Between well-designed dungeons, thrilling boss battles and a compelling hook in Elena's deteriorating condition, Pandora's Tower is a unique treat for those still loyal to the Wii.

Solid hack-and-slash mechanics and classic RPG elements for this entertaining action game, that unfortunately is also one of the worst-looking Wii titles up to date.

A very solid, fast-paced action romp with islands of greatness in a sea of repetitive combat. Still, there are surprisingly few better Castlevania alternatives on Wii to this day.

This title has much to recommend it, as long as you're willing to look beyond some of its faults.

Even given the irresistible pull of the narrative, Pandora's Tower isn't quite up to the standard of other recent Wii RPGs. Yet if at times it seems ugly, confused and repetitive, at others it's creative, gripping and wonderfully atmospheric.

This is an average-to-good hack and slash that is unfortunately hobbled by some off-the-shelf RPG elements and a well-meaning - if ultimately tiresome - girlfriend management system.

The last of the “Operation Rainfall Three,” Pandora’s Tower borrows heavily from Shadow of the Colossus—young lad must rescue his beloved from a gruesome fate by felling massive beasts—but you can’t help but think you’ve played a far better version of this game before. Hardcore Japanese RPG fans might forgive some of the glaring flaws here, but Pandora’s Tower certainly won’t have the mass appeal of Team Ico’s 2005 PS2 classic.

Ganbarion went out of its way to craft a title that experiments with interesting ideas. Unfortunately, none of its unique elements are refined enough to be successful, making it impossible for me to cheer for this underdog.

It's cast from a different mould than that of Xenoblade and The Last Story, and while it may not reach the same level as its contemporaries, those looking for a decent adventure should find plenty to like.

With an identity of its own, some clever ideas and a well written story, Pandora's Tower can be quite charming. On the downside, some of its gameplay mechanics simply don't work.

A little slicker, and Pandora's Tower could have provided a surprisingly effective alternative in the character-action genre. Its blend of pointer controls and button-based combat begs to be further explored. But as it is, this a clunky action title – albeit one with a flicker of genuine emotion at its heart.

There are some clever ideas at work here, particularly the hero's primary weapon, but a lack of gameplay refinement and bland storytelling fail to make the most of it.

Pandora's Tower is loaded with interesting concepts, but it fails to pull them through an entire playthrough in a sustainable, engaging way.