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The story
Square Enix’s announcement of a remaster for Torneko’s Mystery Dungeon sent a wave of surprise through 5ch’s hardware/industry (“Geha”) board. Since the original Super Famicom release, the first Torneko game had barely seen any re-releases or ports, and its rights situation had long been murky — so many posters called this “the biggest surprise” of the showcase. The thread saw praise for the original’s stripped-down design, which skips item synthesis, pots, and in-dungeon shops, but opinions split over the Android version’s proposed 3,500 yen price tag (called “too expensive” by some) and calls for a brand-new entry rather than a remake.
What people said
It's the game Shiren was based on, so the items and enemies are simpler than in Shiren, but it had this fun system where you laid out items in a shop to buy and sell.
If they're going to remake it, they'd be better off making a new game instead.
ri
(´・ω・`)
That's because a "buffed-up cat" shows up (a pun on Torneko's name).
Doesn't matter, my PC's garbage and won't run it anyway.
I'm not a streamer, so Switch works fine for me…
Watching streams of it is fine, but I don't want to stream it myself — it's already the kind of title that gets backseat-gamed to death…
Isn't that simplicity the whole point? Cluttered extra features easily turn into unnecessary baggage.
And it's a remaster, not just a port.
Given the whole history of rights-issue talk, this is a genuinely shocking announcement.
Guess that means whatever rights problems were holding back Shiren 2 or Asuka must've been pretty trivial after all.
The Android version is listed at 3,500 yen.
Expensive.
Sadly, I know I'll end up buying it anyway… I still want to play it, after all…. Shiren, Torneko….
Hoping this paves the way for Torneko 2 and Shiren to become playable on current consoles too.
Shiren 1 → got a Wii Virtual Console release, a DS port, and a smartphone port of the DS version, but nothing beyond that.
Torneko 1 → nothing at all. Only Torneko 2 and 3 got Game Boy Advance releases before the series ended.
That's about the size of it.
…right?
So was it actually true that Chunsoft got the rights bought back?
What do you mean "nothing at all"?
Re: #73
Huh? Once the Torneko series wrapped up, the rights went to Square Enix, and now, decades later, Square Enix — who'd just been sitting on them — finally put one out. That's the whole story.
Wasn't the story that Chunsoft doesn't want to touch Asuka out of pride?
let's just be glad this series is finally getting remakes.
Yeah it is the first one — sure, it's pretty simple — but whatever, I'll end up buying it anyway.
I just want to play some Torneko-style Shiren.
Also portable versions of Shiren 3 and 4.
I agree on wanting Torneko 2/3 ports, but
why jump straight to Shiren 3 and 4 while skipping Shiren 1, 2, Moonlight Village, Desert Castle, and Asuka? Or is it Shiren M?
The original Torneko 1 came out something like 4 years before I was born.
Simple is best.
casual players can just get it on Switch 2.
Not every hardcore fan is a streamer, lol
It's basically the original console roguelike, so if you've sunk a ton of time into similar games it might feel lacking. For better or worse, it's an entry-level title.
The barrier to entry is low, so — just like the original — I think they'd be better off focusing promotion on winning over newcomers who've never tried a roguelike, rather than chasing roguelike diehards.
There's something to be said for that simplicity — it's the "beauty of subtraction," as they say.
For no-weapon/no-shield/no-ring challenge runs, this one's the most fun.
How are the smartphone version controls?
Looking at the screenshot, it seems like it'd be awkward to play.
Just buy a controller that plugs into the port.
Something like this.
Background and Key Points of Discussion
Torneko’s Mystery Dungeon was the first entry in the Mystery Dungeon series, released for the Super Famicom in 1993, and it served as the prototype for the later Shiren series. The thread’s discussion centered on three main points. The first was how to judge the remaster: some welcomed the original’s simplicity — no item synthesis, no pots, no in-game shops, unlike later entries — while others felt that just the first game alone would be too bare-bones at this point. The second was price, with several posters calling the Android version’s proposed 3,500 yen price tag expensive. The third concerned the rights situation: posters recounted how the rights passed to Square Enix once the Torneko series wound down, and speculated that this history explains why related titles like Shiren and Asuka haven’t seen ports. None of this was confirmed in the official announcement — it reflects posters’ speculation, so it should be read with that caveat.
※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry, “Geha”) thread “Torneko’s Mystery Dungeon Remaster.”
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