Mystery Dungeon

Although all games in the series bear the Fushigi no Dungeon moniker somewhere in their Japanese titles, only the Shiren the Wanderer games contain original characters; all other license their characters from other role-playing game franchises. The first game, Torneko no Daibōken: Fushigi no Dungeon stars Torneko, a shopkeeper character from the same developer's Dragon Quest IV. Mystery Dungeon games are among the few console games in the roguelike genre. Chunsoft has also started several lines of branded Mystery Dungeon games. One features the Chocobo from the Final Fantasy series, then Gundam, TwinBee, Tower of Druaga, Pokémon, Etrian Odyssey, and One Way Heroics is the latest crossover as of 2015. Other games who are not developed or published by the company but uses the same moniker would also appear throughout the years, namely the Touhou Project series with its spin-offs titled Fushigi no Gensokyo.

Most Mystery Dungeon games center around exploring a dungeon with randomly generated layouts and fights. These are in a turn-based manner, where the player's every action such as attacking or walking, is met by the opponents' action.[1] Chunsoft described the gameplay as being like chess.[1] 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.[2][3] Features distinct to the Shiren the Wanderer series include the "Melding Jar" which allows players to synthesize items and weapons into more powerful ones.[4] The Chocobo games further simplify the genre's difficulty to appeal to a wider and younger audience.[5]

Koichi Nakamura, founder of Chunsoft and co-creator of the Dragon Quest series, conceived the series as Chunsoft's first original work.[6] After the launch of the Super Famicom and finishing development for Dragon Quest V, they ceased working on the Dragon Quest series and began working on the Mystery Dungeon series.[6] The series was based on the game Rogue, which has spawned its own genre called roguelike.[6] For a week Nakamura played Rogue at the recommendation of a staff member, trying to understand the game's appeal, and concluded the high degree of challenge made the game very rewarding.[6]

Nakamura explained that the appeal of the Mystery Dungeon series is that every game is different and that players skills are constantly being challenged, which helps the player feel deeply involved.[6] Seiichiro Nagahata, who supervised and planned the development of Shiren the Wanderer DS, explained that the Mystery Dungeon series is all about "tension" and "reasoning".[7]

The Shiren the Wanderer series has generally favorable ratings in Japan and throughout the world. Famitsu awarded a 36/40 to Demon Invasion! Shiren Castle! and a 38/40 to the original release of Magic Castle of the Desert, the highest score the publication had given to a Game Boy Color game.[8][9] The 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.[2]

• Fushigi no Dungeon series at MobyGames