Nintendo first hinted at a game called Pandora's Tower several months ago, but very little was known until now. The most recent edition of Famitsu magazine has revealed many details about the game's story and gameplay, and many of these describe a game very different than what people typically expect from Nintendo.

The story of Pandora's Tower begins when a girl named Ceres is stricken with a lethal curse after monsters attack her homeland of Elysium. In order to stop the curse and save Ceres' life, her friend Ende takes up an item called the Orichalcum Chain and goes to fight the beasts in the game's titular tower. The only way Ende can save Ceres is by tearing the flesh from the creatures' bodies with the Chain and giving it to the girl.

This struggle serves as Pandora Tower's central gameplay mechanic, since the entire game is played on a timer based on the progression of the curse. If Ende doesn't give Ceres the flesh of the monsters then the timer will run out and she will die, ending the hero's quest in failure. Even then the flesh of monsters only eases the curse temporarily, making the timer an ever-present threat until all the bosses of the tower's twelve sub-sections are defeated.

Nintendo has also put up a short trailer for the game on its teaser site ( http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/sx3j/index.html ). This trailer gives a look at the two main characters and the game's battle system, including the use of the Wii Remote to aim certain attacks made with the Orichalcum Chain.

Pandora's Tower is being developed by Ganbarion, a company that has mostly worked on video game adaptions of various Shonen Jump manga properties. This action-RPG will be released in Japan on May 16, 2011. There is no word on a release for any other region.

Thunderhorse wrote:

That actually looks pretty good. I never would've thought Nintendo would make something like that.

What about Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem?

It's a new, original RPG for the Wii, that alone is enough to share.

New trailer

A recent update of the official site has shed some light on Pandora's Tower's gameplay. As previously stated, Ende, the main character's goal is to enter the tower and give beast flesh to his friend Ceres so that she does not become a beast. If she does transform completely, the game ends. The status of Ceres’s curse can be viewed through a circular gauge in the lower left corner of the screen. When it empties, the curse is complete and it’s game over.

To truly stop the curse, Ende must obtain the flesh of the tower masters, who are deep within each tower. The master is located behind a sealed door, which must be open via certain means. The meat of lesser beasts do ward off the curse temporarily, and Ende will want to leave the tower when the gauge approaches zero.

The official site also has voice samples for Ends, Ceres, and the merchant Graiai and a high quality version of a previously shown trailer. Pandora’s Tower will be released for the Wii on May 26 in Japan. There is currently no word on it being released in North America or PAL regions.