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Pandoras Tower Until I Return to Your Side
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Pandora no Tō: Kimi no Moto e Kaeru Made a.k.a. Pandora's Tower: Until I Return to Your Side, or, more commonly, Pandora's Tower is a Wii-exclusive JRPG developed by Ganbarion and published by Nintendo.
It tells the tale of a young couple, Aeron and Elena (Ende and Seres in the Japanese version), and Aeron's quest to remove the Curse on Elena. Elena is suffering from the Curse of the Beast, which causes her to transform into a hideous monster over time, which must be temporarily quelled by feeding her the flesh of the beasts that dwell within the thirteen Towers. Equipped with the Orichalcos chain, his sword and not much else, he ventures into the Towers to gather the meat of the beasts, and ultimately the fleshy cores of the twelve Aruji (Master), biological weapons that serve as the guardians of each of the towers in order to permanently remove Elena's curse and keep her human.
Pandora's Tower is an Action RPG that combines elements from God of War, Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, and a Dating Sim.
The European release date has been confirmed to be April 13th.
This game includes examples of:
Anime Hair - Both Aeron and Elena sport very unique hairstyles
An Interior Designer Is You - Aeron can find and purchase various materials, seeds, seedlings and other things to gift to Elena to improve his relationship with her. She in turns uses them to make things for the tower they reside in, such as tablecloths, bedsheets and potted houseplants.
Upon clearing the game, some extra home decor items are added to the shopping list: A grandfather clock, a landscape painting and various carpets/floor mats.
Ascended to Carnivorism - Elena, as she was initially a Miko (priestess) of a religion that forbids the consumption of meat, the very thought of it makes her nauseous and she starts to vomit. However because of her curse, she doesn't really have much of a choice. Later on, as the game progresses, she seems to enjoy eating the meat a bit more than normal. It's kind of creepy.
BFS - Aeron's default weapon is a two-handed broad sword.
Body Horror - The entire game is about fighting off a slowly encroching transformtion from human to purple beast.
Boss Battle - The Aruji of each of the 12 Towers are far tougher than the normal monsters Ende finds.
Building Swing - The Orichalcos chain is used in this way to get Aeron from place to place in some of the towers.
Chain Pain - The chain also proves to be a more effective weapon on some enemies compared to Aeron's regular melee weapons. Considering it can be used for both melee and distance attacks, this is a good thing.
Chains of Love - In a symbolic fashion as the chain serves as the connection between Elena and Aeron. It also contains a lock of Elena's hair which allows Ende to check up on her and determine her location if he needs to find her.
Cool Sword - The various weapons Aeron finds in treasure chests littered in the various towers. His starting sword is the Year 60 style Military Use sword.
Cutscene - It is a JRPG after all.
Dating Sim - Aeron can speak with Elena, give her presents and interact with her in various ways to build up his relationship with her.
Die, Chair, Die! - Breaking open boxes littered in the towers is one way to find money and items.
Do Not Drop Your Weapon - Fairly normal with Aeron, he always has his hands on whatever he's equipped with unless otherwise occupied by swinging around on his chain. Some enemies on the other hand can be disarmed.
Door to Before - The towers are riddled with them. Unlocking them forms a sort of improvised checkpoint, allowing you to leave and feed Elena and then get back to where you were in a timely manner.
Downer Ending - A number of the endings if requirements for the Best Ending aren't met.
Dual Boss - Dawn and Dusk Towers.
Dual-Wielding - The first weapon that Aeron finds in a treasure chest in one of the towers is a pair of daggers: the Year 56 style twin daggers.
To an extent, Aeron is always doing this, since he can use the Orichalcos chain to great effect regardless of which primary weapon he has equipped.
Dub Name Change: In the English dub. Seres is now Elena, and Ende is now Aeron, and Graiai is now Mavda.
Everything's Better with Spinning - See Grevious Harm With a Body entry.
Expy - Elena has a remarkable resemblance to Rei Ayanami
Feminine Women Can Cook - Elena. Kind of. When you talk to her during breakfast, lunch or dinner, Aeron can comment on her cooking. The three options you have aren't exactly very positive though...
Fixed Camera
Flash Back - What happens when Elena chomps into the flesh of a Master, it revisits a series of events that occurred fifty years in the past.
Girl in the Tower - Kind of. She lives in the Tower with Aeron, and the tower serves more as a place for her to hide from the army than a prison.
Grappling Hook Pistol - The Orichalcos chain that Aeron has serves as a medieval/ancient version of this.
Grid Inventory - While Aeron can only have one primary weapon and one set of clothes equipped, he can equip as many other trinkets and accessories as can be crammed into an equipment grip. Increasing the size of said grid is one way leveling up makes you stronger.
Grievous Harm with a Body - Using the chain, Aeron can grab hold of certain enemies and swing them around to bludgeon other monsters in the room to death. He can also grab and throw monsters at each other, and into walls.
Hammerspace - Aeron's ability to stow away his weapons when shimmying along narrow platforms, or when swinging around with his chain.
Healing Spring - Each tower has a fountain (or two) which Aeron can use to restore his Hit Points.
Heroes Prefer Swords - Aeron's starting weapon. He later upgrades to dual knives and a scythe.
Idle Animation - Aeron will do different things depending one what he's holding at the moment if you don't do anything.
I'm Okay - All of the heart-wrenching cutscenes that occur if Aeron visits Elena when her health is between the blue and the red marks have her assuring him she's okay, despite being obviously in pain. A particular one has her attempt to clean the floor from the purple blood she is still gushing out, and weakly warn Aeron: "The floor is slippery, mind you don't fall".
In Universe Game Clock - Time passes as Aeron spends time exploring the towers. This is important because as the clock ticks, Seres' curse will progress. When time runs out... things get ugly. On the other hand, if you waste time in the tower where Aeron and Elena are staying in, her condition will remain the same and it allows for various events between the two of them to occur.
Informed Equipment - Aside from the weapons Aeron is carrying, any armor or accessories he's equipped with don't show up on his character model.
Insurmountable Waist High Fence - A lot of these in the towers.
Knight in Shining Armor - Aeron, to Elena.
Level Up Fill Up - Aeron's Hit Points are restored when he levels up.
Limited Wardrobe - Aeron. Elena on the hand has outfits that can be purchased/found for her. However during cut-scenes her clothing reverts to her default outfit.
Locked Door - The Red doors that need to be revisited during a New Game+, other doors require some puzzle solving to open.
Made of Iron - Aeron, despite dropping into a pit of molten lava doesn't so much die horribly, instead will take heavy damage, and respawn at the entrance of the room he fell in.
Miko - Elena, despite taking place in a world inspired by Greek Mythology.
Multiple Endings:
S is a Golden Ending: Aeron defeats Zerom, saves Elena from the Curse, and the Scar is closed as they both keep on with their lives
A is the Bittersweet Ending: Aeron defeats Zerom, but the curse isn't beat yet, so he and Elena sacrifice themselves to close the Scar, and their efforts are forgotten by all but the Vestra.
B is yet another Bittersweet Ending, more on the bitter side. Zerom still dwells within Elena's body, so she jumps into the Scar to seal her and the Curse.Aeron disappears and is never heard of again.
C is a mostly Downer Ending. Mavda realizes that the chain doesn't have enough power to close the Scar, negotiates a pardon for Aeron with the Elyrian army on the condition that he and Elena, now transformed into Zeron, lead the Towers' army against the Athos kingdom.
D is a Nonstandard Game Over, as it is simply the different outcome of a cutscene that happens just before the Shadelight towers.
Names to Know In Anime
Ende(Aeron) - Susumu Chiba
Seres(Elena) - Mamiko Noto
Graiai(Mavda) - Ikuko Tani
Nail'Em - A New Game + weapon found in one of the earlier towers is reminiscent of a large nail gun. The rough translation of its Japanese name is the: Exploding Style Siege Stake.
Upon maxing out the upgrades for this weapon, its charge attack involves driving an exploding stake into an enemy's body and detonating a few seconds later, for Massive Damage
Ominous Latin Chanting - The boss theme is a great example of this.
Only Smart People May Pass - Some of the 'puzzles' that require solving in order to move on to higher floors.
Proud Merchant Race - The Dvelge (Doverugu) tribe that Mavda and Jii-chan come from. Mavda serves as the only 'shop' in-game where Ende can stock up on supplies and presents for Seres, transmute items into new things, make repairs, upgrade his weapons and so on.
Puzzle Boss - The Aruji in each tower have different weaknesses that must be found in order to damage them with the Orichalcos chain, some are harder to find than others.
Rank Inflation - The endings are labeled (from worst to best) D, C, B, A, and S.
Red Eyes, Take Warning -Elena has red pupils, considering her condition this isn't too far off from being a warning.
Aeron himself also has red pupils.
Relationship Values - Represented by a symbolic chain on the screen that shows how well Aeron and Elena get along. This is important as it determines which ending you will get.
Run, Don't Walk - Aeron's default speed is 'sort of' fast. Then again, considering the importance of his mission, this is a good thing.
Save Point - The desk where Aeron keeps his journal.
Shout-Out - The main 'theme' song that plays as well as the song that Seres sings/hums is Liebesträume by Franz Liszt.
The main gameplay, a Zelda-like Race Against the Clock-type game, sounds a bit familiar...
Verdi's Dies Irae was featured in trailers and plays if the main menu is left alone long enough.
Shy Blue-Haired Girl - Elena, most of the time.
Silent Protagonist - Aeron somewhat borders on this, limiting his words to 'Elena' and a few short sentences. He does have dialogue, but it usually not voiced except for in cutscenes.
Sinister Scythe - The second weapon Aeron finds is a large scythe, Special Service Style Large Scythe.
Smashing Survival - Some enemies/bosses will grab Aeron, requiring some button mashing to break free and not get eaten.
Super Drowning Skills - Aeron cannot swim, falling into water in some of the towers means he has to respawn at the entrance.
Team Mom - Elena to an extent, as she takes care of all the domestic tasks in the tower, such as cooking and cleaning. While Aeron is out slaying monsters and gathering meat, she's at home doing housework.
Variable-Length Chain - The Orichalcos chain that Aeron uses to gather meat and kill monsters with. What can't it do?
Variable Mix - The final boss's theme is gradually replaced by Elena singing as Zeron's cores are destroyed.
Whip It Good - The chain can be used as a whip-projectile, where Aeron can 'shoot' it at flying monsters, and can link attacks if properly timed.
Yamato Nadeshiko - Elena
You Gotta Have Blue Hair - Elena has a powder blue hue to her hair.
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Eastern RPG