| Mystery Dungeon | |
|---|---|
 TheMystery Dungeon logo used inPokémon Mystery Dungeon; each series has a different logo | |
| Genres | Roguelike,Role-playing |
| Developer | Spike Chunsoft (formerly Chunsoft) |
| Publisher | Spike Chunsoft (formerly Chunsoft) |
| Creators |
|
| Platforms | |
| First release | Torneko's Great Adventure September 19, 1993 |
| Latest release | Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island January 25, 2024 |
| Parent series | Dragon Quest |
| Spin-offs |
|
Mystery Dungeon, known in Japan asFushigi no Dungeon,[a] is a series ofroguelikerole-playing video games. Most were developed byChunsoft, nowSpike Chunsoft since the merging in 2012, and select games were developed by other companies with Chunsoft's permission. The series began when co–creator ofDragon Quest,Koichi Nakamura, was inspired by Seiichiro Nagahata's experience withRogue, who is also a fellow developer from the company, and a desire to create an original series. It began on theSuper Famicom, progressing to almost all ofNintendo's andSony's home and handheld consoles,WonderSwan,Dreamcast,Windows, andmobile devices.
The series has inspired other entries in Japan and has moderate popularity, mostly from crossover entries with theDragon Quest,Chocobo, andPokémon Mystery Dungeon series. Despite the moderate popularity of the franchise, there have been numerous manga, anime, and novels published under it, whether they are coming from the company's original series,Shiren the Wanderer, or across many crossovers.
The premise of mostMystery Dungeon games is to play a silent protagonist who travels across the world to discover mysterious dungeons that have randomly generated rooms and never have the same patterns upon entering into it more than once, with the protagonist sometimes accompanied by a group of party members or going alone. Though it is relatively inspired of older roguelike games, likeNetHack, the franchise had a few unique gameplay elements that would appear in future titles; one such is rescuing other players online via a generated password. Since its debut in 1993, the franchise maintains a strong cult following for its challenging yet rewarding difficulty and how it appeals to hardcore RPG fans as a whole.
Although all games in the series bear theFushigi no Dungeon moniker somewhere in their Japanese titles, only theShiren the Wanderer games contain original characters; all other license their characters from other role-playing game franchises. The first game,Torneko's Great Adventure, stars a shopkeeper character from the same developer'sDragon Quest IV. Chunsoft has also started several lines of brandedMystery Dungeon games, starting with one featuring theChocobo fromSquareSoft'sFinal Fantasy series in 1997, thenBandai'sGundam,[1]Konami'sTwinBee andNamco'sTower of Druaga series in 2004,Game Freak'sPokémon series in 2005, andAtlus'sEtrian Odyssey series in 2015. Currently,One Way Heroics is the latest crossover with the series. Other games who are not developed or published by the company but uses the same moniker would also appear throughout the years, namely theTouhou Project series with its spin-offs titledFushigi no Gensokyo.
The franchise had its first spin-off game in 2004, titledShiren Monsters: Netsal. It is only one game based on the monsters from theShiren the Wanderer series.[2] Its gameplay was notably changed to the sport genre, specifically towardsassociation football, compared to the main series' roguelike genre.
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon is part of the franchise since 2005 and serves as a crossover betweenPokémon andMystery Dungeon. It was turned into its own spin-off series due to its worldwide popularity.
MostMystery Dungeon games center around exploring a dungeon with randomly generated layouts and fights. These are in aturn-based manner, where the player's every action such as attacking or walking, is met by the opponents' action.[3] Chunsoft described the gameplay as being likechess.[3] Escape from the dungeon is usually only allowed in certain places, or through the use of certain items. When the player loses the game, the player loses all money and half the items in the more forgiving variants, or loses everything and has to start from scratch in others. An effort has also been made to expand the series' gameplay features, such as adding job systems to some games, and giving each dungeon a different feel and goal.[4][5] Features distinct to theShiren the Wanderer series include the "Melding Jar" which allows players to synthesize items and weapons into more powerful ones.[6] TheChocobo games further simplify the genre's difficulty to appeal to a wider and younger audience.[7]
Nakamura explained that the appeal of theMystery Dungeon series is that every game is different and that players' skills are constantly being challenged, which helps the player feel deeply involved.[8] Seiichiro Nagahata, who supervised and planned the development ofShiren the Wanderer DS, explained that theMystery Dungeon series is all about "tension" and "reasoning".[9]
During the 1990s, thecomputer role-playing game genre became famous in Japan due to the success of theDragon Quest series. However, most of the roguelike games that were published for PC used to not have a Japanese translation; the genre's recognition remained low in result. While following the basic game system of roguelike games, other companies tried to bring the genre into ahome console. Two of the earliest-known attempts wereSega'sFatal Labyrinth andDragon Crystal, both games released in 1990, but which lacked the depth of a typical computer-based roguelike. Neither proved to be successful games.[10]
After the launch of the Super Famicom and finishing development forDragon Quest V, the company ceased working on theDragon Quest series and began working on theMystery Dungeon series.[8] The series was based on the 1980s gameRogue, which has spawned its own genre called roguelike.[8] For a week Koichi Nakamura, founder of Chunsoft and co-creator of theDragon Quest series, playedRogue at the recommendation of a colleague, Seiichiro Nagahata, trying to understand the game's appeal, and concluded the high degree of challenge made the game very rewarding. While working on a roguelike game for the Super Famicom, the team decided to use characters from a recognizable franchise in Japan. Koichi Nakamura has askedYuji Horii, scenarist and creator of theDragon Quest series, about the possibility to add characters and items from the franchise, including Torneko, the merchant appearing in Chunsoft's previous workDragon Quest IV, only to have the permission accepted soon after.[11][8]
Torneko no Daibōken: Fushigi no Dungeon was published in 1993 and became the first video game to bear the "Mystery Dungeon" moniker.[12] Even if it sold less than the series' main titles, the game has sold over 800,000 copies. Koichi Nakamura conceived the series as Chunsoft's first original work.[8] The game spawned two sequels starring Torneko,Torneko: The Last Hope in 1999 andDragon Quest Characters: Torneko no Daibōken 3 in 2002, and a follow-up,Dragon Quest: Shōnen Yangus to Fushigi no Dungeon in 2006, where Torneko would appear as a cameo instead of the protagonist. And indeed, the game became the first of the over thirtyMystery Dungeon rogue-like series.[13]
The company wanted to work on the new features and gameplay mechanics added inNetHack, a variant ofRogue, one of them was being able to steal items from a shopkeeper. However, it was not possible to translate the new content fromNetHack with characters from theDragon Quest series; one such with Torneko who is a merchant. Two years after the release ofTorneko no Daibōken,Mystery Dungeon 2: Shiren the Wanderer was released as the company's second work for theMystery Dungeon series, with a new world setting and unique characters.[11]
Many titles from this series were developed simultaneously throughout the years, where one title was focused on creating original features in its gameplay than the other for which they were forced to focus on "traditional dungeon types" due to the limitations on the other hardware;Mystery Dungeon 2: Shiren the Wanderer on Super Famicom andShiren the Wanderer GB: Monster of Moonlight Village onGame Boy, andShiren the Wanderer 2: Shiren's Castle and the Oni Invasion onNintendo 64 andShiren the Wanderer GB2: Magic Castle of the Desert onGame Boy Color.[14] The success of the first game in Japan helped key employees that participated in the aforementioned game's development return to work on the series' future titles throughout the years, such as character artistKaoru Hasegawa,[15] supervisor Seiichiro Nagahata,[9] and scenaristShin-ichiro Tomie.[16]
A unique gameplay element that first appeared inMagic Castle of the Desert and would appear later in theMystery Dungeon franchise and its crossovers is rescuing other players via passwords. They went with this idea instead of using the Game Boy'sGame Link Cable because there were not many owners of the cable.[17] This idea was expanded inShiren the Wanderer Gaiden: Asuka the Swordswoman with the addition of online support. Within the online support, players would receive new dungeons, called either "Weekly Dungeon"; a dungeon that can be played online on a weekly basis, or "Challenge Dungeon"; the dungeon's difficulty would be increased and useful items would appear less frequently.
TheChocobo's Mystery Dungeon series is fully developed and published bySquare Enix, then SquareSoft before the merging with Enix. However, Nakamura has supervised the first two games and was the producer forChocobo's Mysterious Dungeon, beforeHironobu Sakaguchi took the place forChocobo's Dungeon 2.[18]Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon would become the first title to be released in theChocobo sub-series, whileChocobo's Dungeon 2 became the firstMystery Dungeon title to be released outside of Japan.[19] Starting inFinal Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon, some of the more difficult game elements were removed so that it would appeal to "small children and female" players.[20]
Tsunekazu Ishihara had worked previously with Chunsoft withTetris 2 + BomBliss as the producer, and met Nakamura, who was the game's director. Prior to the development ofPokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red and Blue Rescue Team, Ishihara had played a few games from theMystery Dungeon series, namelyTorneko's Great Adventure: Mystery Dungeon, and was impressed with the genre's depth and quality. The game's development started after Nagahata and Tomie approached Ishihara and agreed to work on an easier version of the genre for the mainlinePokémon fans.[21] During the development ofRed and Blue Rescue Team, Kouji Malta, one of the programmers for these two games, who had contributed previously onEarthBound andShiren the Wanderer 2, stated the company went through bad business performance, as employees from Chunsoft would leave the company progressively due to this issue. The game's success not only helped gain more popularity for the franchise, it also helped Chunsoft to avoid bankruptcy.[22]
The widespread success of the first game helped creating a spin-off series, with it selling over 10 million copies four years after its first titles were released in Japan.[23] Unlike theDragon Quest branch, it does not have a linear timeline between the mainlinePokémon franchise and this series so newcomers would be introduced easily into the series and the genre.[24]
The game was developed by Spike Chunsoft and Atlus, the latter being the developers of theEtrian Odyssey series, with most of the actual development done at Spike Chunsoft, while Atlus acted as supervisors. During development, both the companies would continuously share their most recent data on a sharedserver, and discuss details of the game direction using an instant messaging program; additionally, they would hold weekly meetings during which they made various arrangements for the game, and every month during development, Spike Chunsoft would send their latest playable build to Atlus, who would check the direction the game was going in.[25]
Though the franchise is divided with numerous crossovers, the majority of its soundtracks were composed by lateKoichi Sugiyama, andHayato Matsuo for theDragon Quest crossovers andShiren the Wanderer series.[26][27] Sugiyama made use of japanese elements for theShiren the Wanderer series, compared to his more European-styledDragon Quest compositions, using instruments such as ashakuhachi flute.[28] This theme would remain for the series' next titles.
Other composers such asYuzo Koshiro for theEtrian Odyssey crossover or Keisuke Ito andArata Iiyoshi for thePokémon crossover have frequently contributed in the franchise.[29][30] In addition to new compositions, tracks from previous mainline titles would also be featured in some of the crossover's titles, one example being theDragon Quest crossover with tracks from the mainline games playing in these titles, in majority being fromDragon Quest IV orDragon Quest VIII.[31][32]Etrian Mystery Dungeon would includes arranged music from previousEtrian Odyssey games.[33] Joe Down Studio developed the music forFinal Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon and featured extensive remixing of music from variousFinal Fantasy games due to the positive reception of remixedFinal Fantasy music in the gameFinal Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales, and requested that they be allowed to use music from the earlyFinal Fantasy titles as it would be appropriate to the theme of forgotten time.[34][35]
One of the few novels that were related to this franchise was an adaptation ofMystery Dungeon 2: Shiren the Wanderer's story, with a title that translates toShiren the Wanderer: Flowers Dancing in the Golden Town Amteca, released in December 2004.[36] However, many manga were released for many crossovers of the franchise, ranging fromDragon Quest toPokémon. One such is a manga titledPokémon Mystery Dungeon: Ginji's Rescue Team, a 6-part manga based on the video gamesPokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red and Blue Rescue Team that first appeared in Japan'sCoroCoro Comic in December 2005.
There exist anime adaptation of thePokémon Mystery Dungeon series since its debut. The first anime adaptation was titledPokémon Mystery Dungeon: Team Go-Getters Out Of The Gate!. It is based onPokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red and Blue Rescue Team, and was aired in Japan on September 8, 2006. This episode follows the beginning of the game's main story.[37] Another special episode, this time based onPokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Darkness, was first broadcast in Japan on September 9, 2007, as part ofPokémon Sunday.[38] A sequel episode,Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky - Beyond Time & Darkness was first broadcast in Japan later on April 12, 2009, also as part of Pokémon Sunday.[39] Both adaptation follow the beginning and the next-to-last chapters of the game's main story.[37]
Other variations notably inspired by the mystery dungeon series arePixel Dungeon, which was released in 2012, and Labyrinth of the Witch which was released in 2019.
TheMystery Dungeon series can be seen as moderately popular in Japan, whereas the overseas community has a smaller following of dedicated fans. TheShiren the Wanderer series has been both praised and criticized for its difficulty, and generally noted for the uneven quality of the randomly generated levels, or "floors", the games produce.[4] The series, along with its main protagonist Shiren, appeared in video games that were developed or published by Spike Chunsoft, with games likeCrypt of the NecroDancer,Terraria, or428: Shibuya Scramble.[40][41] Passionate fans of theShiren the Wanderer series are commonly called "Shi-Ranger" in Japan.[42]
Other Japanese role-playing games would incorporate random dungeon generation as part of their design, mimicking part of the nature of roguelikes, and were considered roguelike titles when published in Western markets. Such titles includeAzure Dreams,Dark Cloud,Shining Soul, andBaroque.[43][44] Themassively multiplayer online role playing gameFinal Fantasy XIV added a randomly-generated Deep Dungeon that was inspired by the procedural generation of roguelikes.[45]
TheShiren the Wanderer series has generally favorable ratings in Japan and throughout the world.Famitsu awarded a 36/40 toShiren's Castle and the Oni Invasion and a 38/40 to the original release ofMagic Castle of the Desert, the highest score the publication had given to aGame Boy Color game.[46][47]
As of 2025, a grand total of 24.65 million copies across the franchise have been sold, the majority of which are in thePokémon Mystery Dungeon series.[n 6]
ThePokémon Mystery Dungeon series is known to have high sale rates among the franchise, surpassing one million copies for most of its games, and more than two million for titles likeBlue Rescue Team and Red Rescue Team, andExplorers of Time, Darkness and Sky alone.[3][78][79] Combined worldwide sales for the threeExplorers games passed over 6.37 million copies according toComputer Entertainment Supplier's Association; 4.88 million forExplorers of Time andExplorers of Darkness and 1.49 million forExplorers of Sky.[70] They are currently the best-selling games in thePokémon Mystery Dungeon series, surpassing their predecessors. They are also the best-selling games in theMystery Dungeon franchise in general; surpassing Squaresoft'sChocobo's Mysterious Dungeon and Enix'sTorneko: The Last Hope, both accumulating 1.34 million and 759,000 copies respectfully.[65][49][50]Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity was the 18th best selling game in Japan in 2012, with more than 373,000 copies sold.[80] TheChocobo series is thought to have had middling success, with strong launch sales but not a huge popular response.[81]
長谷川 いえ、最初はぜんぜん決まっていなくて、『トルネコの大冒険』に引き続き、西洋の世界観をイメージしていました。『風来のシレン』が和風になったのは、シナリオを担当していた冨江（慎一郎氏）というスタッフの提案がきっかけです。
『ポケモン不思議のダンジョン』とかも作りかけていたけど、おそらくこれも売れないだろうし、先行きの見通しがない状況だったと思うんです。でも、なんとその後、その『ポケモン不思議のダンジョン』が大ヒット。あんなにたくさんの人が辞める必要はなかったんじゃないかな、と思いますけど。で、ぼくも他の人と同じように別の開発会社に転職してテレビゲームの開発を続けるかどうかを考えはじめました。でも、その前にそうとう泣きましたよ。
Shinichiro Tomie : Il n'y a pas de références spécifiques ou d'indices cachés dans Donjon Mystère. Au contraire, le jeu a été conçu comme un titre indépendant afin qu'une personne qui n'aurait jamais touché à un jeu Pokémon précédemment puisse se lancer sans problème.
