Pandora's Tower
Encyclopedia
Pandora's Tower, also known as , is an action role-playing
video game developed by Ganbarion
and was published by Nintendo
for the Wii
video game console. It was released in Japan on May 26, 2011.
The truth of why Ceres was cursed is revealed as you progress through the game. A war broke out 500 years ago between Elusyon and Atenai, two different countries. An unnamed man and woman have a child named Luchil, who they love dearly. In one of the flashbacks Ceres views, for example, when food rations get low they forgo their own meals to feed him.
One day Luchil is playing outside and accidentally drops his toy into a busy street. He runs out into the street after it just as the knights are passing through on their horses, and they trample and kill him in a freak accident. His parents are heartbroken and have difficulty coming to terms with his passing. They pray that the gods will bless them with another child, but it is seemingly to no avail. More than anything, they wish for the war to be over so that more tragedies like theirs never occur again.
What happens next is not entirely clear, but presumably the woman gets caught up in a religious movement/cult-type organization that promises to end the war by unifying the twelve gods using the magic and Orichalcum Chains of the Dvelg people (Graiai's race). The woman offers herself up as a vessel, much to the chagrin of her husband who feels she has left him behind.
The woman becomes the 6 Yin Goddess, while her husband becomes the 6 Yang God. Ultimately, the two of them would have merged as one to end the conflict. However, the elders called off the ceremony partway through because, as they discover, the Yin and Yang are off-balance. In one of the last flashbacks, we see the husband walking away with a baby as the woman calls out to him. Given that the game is all about building a relationship, it is implied that he didn't love her as much as she loved him, and left her for another woman.
If the player acquires the true ending, Ending S, they discover that the woman was pregnant (thus, the gods had granted her wish after all), which is why the yin and yang were unbalanced. The experiment was called off, but only her husband and child were salvageable. The woman was too "far gone" and remained a goddess. Again, it's not clear, but it's implied that she was so obsessed with the loss of her son and the devastation the war brought on her family that she went insane and could think only of unifying with her husband. Since that was no longer possible with her actual husband, she would "chase" his genes by cursing the girls who fell in love with his descendants. Ende was one of the man's descendants. Hence why Ceres was cursed, and why there had been so many curses previously throughout the ages.
There are six possible endings based on your actions and relationship with Ceres herself, mainly, S (The Best Ending), A, B, C, D, and the Bad Ending.
at Nintendo
's third quarter financial meeting in January 2011. Nintendo later set up an official teaser site with a spring 2011 release date for Japan. The site features a female voice that says, On April 5, 2011, the first trailer was released online. Details on the story and characters were published in the April 6, 2011 issue of Famitsu
magazine along with the confirmation of Ganbarion
as the developer and a Japanese release date of May 26, 2011. The official website was updated to include the new trailer and confirmed release.
A fan campaign dubbed Operation Rainfall
began on June 24, 2011 to persuade Nintendo of America to localize the game along with Xenoblade Chronicles and The Last Story
. On the contrary, Nintendo of America stated on Facebook
that "there are no plans to bring these three games [including Pandora's Tower] to [North America] at this time."
In July 2011, Pandora's Tower was playable at Japan Expo
2011 in Paris, where LiveGen confirmed the European release of the game scheduled for 2012. Nintendo of Europe officially confirmed the release in their region the following month.
rated the game 31 out of 40, with respective scores of 7, 7, 9 and 8 out of 10. Pandora's Tower sold 21,445 units during its release week in Japan, and was the third best-selling game in that week.
. Comparisons have been made by various press outlets in Japan and overseas.
Action role-playing game
Action role-playing games form a loosely defined sub-genre of role-playing video games that incorporate elements of action or action-adventure games, emphasizing real-time action where the player has direct control over characters, instead of turn-based or menu-based combat...
video game developed by Ganbarion
Ganbarion
Ganbarion is a Japanese video game company.Their most notable works are the Jump Stars series of games.-Games created by Ganbarion:*From TV Animation: One Piece Grand Battle!...
and was published by Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
for the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
video game console. It was released in Japan on May 26, 2011.
Relationship with Ceres
When the player is not exploring the towers, they may choose to increase Ende's relationship with Ceres. This is pivotal to the game's multiple endings'Characters
The three main characters of the game's story are:Ende
The 22-year-old protagonist of the game. A former soldier of Athens, he seeks to lift the curse Ceres is now under.Ceres
An 18-year-old girl who is friends with Ende. Chosen to sing at the Harvest Festival, she is later cursed when monsters attack the kingdom. She is a strong believer of the fictional Eos religion.Graiai
A merchant of the Dvelg race who assists Ende and Ceres throughout the story. She gives Ende the Orichalcum Chain needed to lift the curse on Ceres.Plot
The game focuses on Ende and Ceres, who live in the Elysium kingdom, loacted in Graecia. Ceres is chosen to sing at the kingdom's harvest festival, but monsters begin to attack when she goes to perform. Ende later finds her unconscious as the army comes to take her because she witnessed the beast. A Dvelg merchant named Graiai helps the two escape the city into a tower. Later, they find out that Ceres has been cursed, shown by a cursemark on her upper back. In order to lift it, Ende must use the Orichalcum Chain to obtain the flesh of the beasts that live in the 13 Towers. If not, Ceres will gradually turn into a beast herself and perish.The truth of why Ceres was cursed is revealed as you progress through the game. A war broke out 500 years ago between Elusyon and Atenai, two different countries. An unnamed man and woman have a child named Luchil, who they love dearly. In one of the flashbacks Ceres views, for example, when food rations get low they forgo their own meals to feed him.
One day Luchil is playing outside and accidentally drops his toy into a busy street. He runs out into the street after it just as the knights are passing through on their horses, and they trample and kill him in a freak accident. His parents are heartbroken and have difficulty coming to terms with his passing. They pray that the gods will bless them with another child, but it is seemingly to no avail. More than anything, they wish for the war to be over so that more tragedies like theirs never occur again.
What happens next is not entirely clear, but presumably the woman gets caught up in a religious movement/cult-type organization that promises to end the war by unifying the twelve gods using the magic and Orichalcum Chains of the Dvelg people (Graiai's race). The woman offers herself up as a vessel, much to the chagrin of her husband who feels she has left him behind.
The woman becomes the 6 Yin Goddess, while her husband becomes the 6 Yang God. Ultimately, the two of them would have merged as one to end the conflict. However, the elders called off the ceremony partway through because, as they discover, the Yin and Yang are off-balance. In one of the last flashbacks, we see the husband walking away with a baby as the woman calls out to him. Given that the game is all about building a relationship, it is implied that he didn't love her as much as she loved him, and left her for another woman.
If the player acquires the true ending, Ending S, they discover that the woman was pregnant (thus, the gods had granted her wish after all), which is why the yin and yang were unbalanced. The experiment was called off, but only her husband and child were salvageable. The woman was too "far gone" and remained a goddess. Again, it's not clear, but it's implied that she was so obsessed with the loss of her son and the devastation the war brought on her family that she went insane and could think only of unifying with her husband. Since that was no longer possible with her actual husband, she would "chase" his genes by cursing the girls who fell in love with his descendants. Ende was one of the man's descendants. Hence why Ceres was cursed, and why there had been so many curses previously throughout the ages.
There are six possible endings based on your actions and relationship with Ceres herself, mainly, S (The Best Ending), A, B, C, D, and the Bad Ending.
Development
Pandora's Tower was first revealed to be in development by Satoru IwataSatoru Iwata
is the fourth president of Nintendo, succeeding the long-standing previous president of the company, Hiroshi Yamauchi in 2002. He was responsible in great part for defining Nintendo's strategy both before and during the release of its Nintendo GameCube video game console in 2001, a vision which...
at Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
's third quarter financial meeting in January 2011. Nintendo later set up an official teaser site with a spring 2011 release date for Japan. The site features a female voice that says, On April 5, 2011, the first trailer was released online. Details on the story and characters were published in the April 6, 2011 issue of Famitsu
Famitsu
is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. Currently, there are five Famitsū magazines: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS3 + PSP, Famitsū Xbox 360, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD...
magazine along with the confirmation of Ganbarion
Ganbarion
Ganbarion is a Japanese video game company.Their most notable works are the Jump Stars series of games.-Games created by Ganbarion:*From TV Animation: One Piece Grand Battle!...
as the developer and a Japanese release date of May 26, 2011. The official website was updated to include the new trailer and confirmed release.
A fan campaign dubbed Operation Rainfall
Operation Rainfall
is a fan campaign meant to persuade Nintendo of America to localize three role-playing video games for the Wii console: Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story, and Pandora's Tower...
began on June 24, 2011 to persuade Nintendo of America to localize the game along with Xenoblade Chronicles and The Last Story
The Last Story
is an action role-playing game developed by Mistwalker and AQ Interactive, and published by Nintendo for the Wii. The game's name and logo have been noted to be very similar to the Final Fantasy series, which was created by Mistwalker's head, Hironobu Sakaguchi....
. On the contrary, Nintendo of America stated on Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
that "there are no plans to bring these three games [including Pandora's Tower] to [North America] at this time."
In July 2011, Pandora's Tower was playable at Japan Expo
Japan Expo
Japan Expo is a convention on Japanese popular culture, taking place in Paris, France, although it has branched out into a partnership festival Kultima and expanded to include some European and US pop culture as well...
2011 in Paris, where LiveGen confirmed the European release of the game scheduled for 2012. Nintendo of Europe officially confirmed the release in their region the following month.
Reception
Japanese magazine FamitsuFamitsu
is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. Currently, there are five Famitsū magazines: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS3 + PSP, Famitsū Xbox 360, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD...
rated the game 31 out of 40, with respective scores of 7, 7, 9 and 8 out of 10. Pandora's Tower sold 21,445 units during its release week in Japan, and was the third best-selling game in that week.
Cover art controversy
Pandora's Tower received criticism from fans, as they started to share concerns that the cover art's depiction of Ende is copied from pictures of Noctis, the protagonist of an upcoming action role-playing game Final Fantasy Versus XIIIFinal Fantasy Versus XIII
is an upcoming action role-playing game published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 3 and currently being developed by the company's 1st Production Department. Alongside Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XIII-2, and Final Fantasy Type-0, the game is a part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis Final...
. Comparisons have been made by various press outlets in Japan and overseas.