Pandora's Tower Wii ( 2012 )
Pandora's Tower[a] is an action role-playing game developed by Ganbarion for the Wii. The game released in May 2011 in Japan, April 2012 in PAL territories, and April 2013 in North America: while Xseed Games published the game in North America, Nintendo was the publisher in all other regions. Focusing on the efforts of protagonist Aeron to rid his love Elena of a curse that is turning her into a monster, the player explores thirteen towers, solving environmental puzzles and taking part in platforming while battling enemies—a key part of gameplay is the Oraclos Chain, a weapon that aids in both combat and navigation. Depending on the strength of Aeron's relationship with Elena, multiple endings can be reached.
Development began in 2006 following the completion of Jump Ultimate Stars as Ganbarion's first original title. The main concept was born from the desire to create a game scenario based around purification and love. Character numbers and plot twists were kept to a minimum to focus attention on Elena's plight. Due to recurring problems implementing the relationship mechanics and working with the Wii's controls, Pandora's Tower went through an extended development period. Despite releasing in Europe, Nintendo did not plan a North American release: prior to the announcement of Xseed Games picking up the title, a fan campaign called Operation Rainfall drew considerable attention to the title. Upon release, Pandora's Tower had modest commercial success and was met with mixed to positive reviews; praise went to the story and elements of combat, while the control scheme and graphics were faulted.
While singing at Elyria's Harvest Festival, Elena is struck by a curse that forces her to flee the Elyrian army with Aeron. They are led by Mavda to the Thirteen Towers, with Elena having been partially transformed into a monster by this point. Mavda reveals that the only way to lift the curse from Elena and prevent her transformation is to feed her the flesh of "Masters", powerful beings living inside the Towers. Given the Oraclos Chain, Aeron explores the Towers and kills each of its Masters, returning to give their flesh to Elena. Each time she eats Master Flesh, she receives visions detailing the events behind the Towers' creations. Five hundred years before, in an attempt to end the War of Unification, the people of Elyria and the Vestra decided to embody the twelve deities of Impedia in physical forms—the Towers' Masters—with a thirteenth vessel providing balance between them in a project dubbed Experiment Zero.[10]
A husband and wife who had lost their son as a result of the war offered themselves as the raw material of the final Master, but the woman's unknown pregnancy caused an imbalance that transformed the Masters into monsters. The husband and baby were rescued using the Oraclos Chain, but the wife became Zeron, a dark monster consumed with a want to reunite with her descendant and bring 'peace' to the land. The Vestra sealed the Masters in the Towers and guarded them, while the wife's child eventually became Aeron's ancestor. The wife's jealous want of her descendants caused her to curse people who grew close to them, with Elena being the latest victim of the curse. The Vestra brought each afflicted person to the Towers in the hopes that the Masters would be destroyed and Experiment Zero ended: Mavda was the latest guardian of the Towers. Four hundred and fifty years later, the Elyrian Army recreated the Masters as living weapons: without the knowledge and help of the Vestra, the Elyrians instigated a drastic geological upheaval that created the Scar, which acted as a portal to the netherworld.
Pandora's Tower is set on the fictional continent of Imperia: once divided into ten kingdoms, the now-nomadic Vestra tribe were stripped of their kingdom. The dominant religion of Imperia is Aios, a polytheistic system worshiping nature as personified by twelve deities. Though once united through the ancient War of Unification which began the Unified Era, Imperia has seen recent conflicts as three kingdoms sought to break free from the powerful kingdom of Elyria.[8][9]
During the game's present, the war has ended but tensions are still high on both sides. The game's primary setting is the Okanos region at the Thirteen Towers, a giant fortress suspended above a giant chasm called the Scar, held in place by thirteen giant chains said to keep the Scar from growing. Initially built five centuries before, a disastrous magical experiment caused the Towers to be infested by monsters. Fifty years prior to the start of the game, a new experiment involving the monsters triggers the Scar's creation.aid him in his quest and maintain a connection with Elena.