Elrentaros Wanderings is an action RPG dungeon crawler game finally releasing in the West for the Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows on Steam. Having been released last year in Japan as Rear Sekai (a much better name in our opinion), the game is set in the dual life where fantasy meets reality – our protagonist can travel in between worlds while discovering the mysteries that led him to this predicament.
The Mysterious World of Elrentaros Wanderings
The story is set in Elrentaros, a remote town far away from the capital of Melvania. This adventure begins as our clueless protagonist visits the town and tries to help the residents, each with distinctive personalities, lives, quirks, goals, and dreams. Some of them will befriend you as fast as light, others will try to banish you since you’re an outsider (spicy folks, I like it)!
By building deeper relationships with the townspeople in Elrentaros and solving their tasks, you find opportunities to grow as a combatant in the dungeons you explore. Between all the people in the town, there are ten potential partner characters with whom you can develop a closer relationship. This extends beyond the battle Alliance feature, which can be unlocked by gifting the people from the town to elevate your friendship and get buffs and abilities exclusive to each.
Elrentaros Wanderings was developed by HAKAMA Inc. and Bushiroad, led by Yoshifumi Hashimoto, who is also behind the Rune Factory and Store of Seasons series. The game shares quite a few similarities to Rune Factory, including a mix of action RPG elements and life simulation elements. There is also a small attempt at farming gameplay elements that complement the dungeon-crawling experience.
This is one of Bushiroad’s first major console games under its new label, Bushiroad Games. The company aimed to leverage the Rune Factory legacy to capture a dedicated fanbase for these types of games. Considering its connection to Rune Factory, this was a very anticipated game both in Japan and worldwide.
One of the business strategies presented by the company is that they will try to release in a certain frequency games with budgets of 100 million yen (around $650,000). This budget is considered modest or even low for a console game. This is so they can release more titles in less time and potentially expand their business into different types of games.
For reference, in a year, a mid-level game developer’s salary in Japan ranges from 5 to 8 million yen, and some companies could shoot lower than that for projects with lower budgets. This could mean that the team for this had as low as ten developers to as high as 20 or a little more, given the 100 million yen budget. This is considering exclusively the development front.
The game will draw some comparisons to Rune Factory, as one of the richest parts of this game pertains to gifting and the quests given to you by the townsfolk. The potential romantic relationships also reaffirm reasons to invest in the characters you enjoy the most beyond the technical upgrades you may get just by gifting them.
Another similarity can be drawn with farming. The simplified farming mechanics echo the more complex systems of Rune Factory, although they disappoint. After visiting a dungeon, the land will be filled with glowing spots. These glowing spots will give the player seeds that can be planted at the farm. After a few days of waiting for them to grow, the player will get items that can be later changed for gifts to the people of the town. For something that was advertised heavily, it is, unfortunately, an extremely underwhelming mechanic that wouldn’t be missed if removed.
The gameplay loops around the dungeon crawling. The day starts, and the player can hop into a dungeon at a determined level. That level will likely be similar to the other ones in the same place but will feature different missions and challenges that allow you to help people around the village. After some time, new dungeons will come and go, and the story will progress, although in a slightly clueless manner. Players who aren’t paying a lot of attention might feel lost or even frustrated by the lack of general direction the game gives.
In said dungeons, the player will kill hundreds of enemies, which will drop randomized loot, which may be temporary buffs or new equipment with different rarities. It’s really nice how weapons have different gameplay based on their type, which changes the strategy of the player to approach the enemies. Some weapons are for a much shorter range but attack considerably faster. Others are heavier but can swipe enemies and bosses much easier. It all depends on the path you want to take, and no choice is wrong.
The game lacks a traditional level-up system but features weapon upgrades and a build system that allows you to customize your way to play anytime, anywhere. Since the gameplay is so frenetic, the player should not and will not waste time changing their weapons every run, especially because you are always getting more powerful gear. All of this creates a wide range of combat opportunities and will never get the player tired.
Great Presentation with Subpar Social Interactions
One of the most important elements of the game, which unfortunately was not well received in Japan, include the relationships with other characters. As mentioned before, the story progresses a little bit all over the place, without clear goals nor pointers to what needs to be done. As this game enforces a high replayability of dungeons, this is not necessarily a bad thing. However, the more intimate character interactions beyond the quests for items and unlockables may be expendable.
For starters, the romantic relations aren’t very detailed, and it’s clear they were not taken as a priority, just like farming. Some corners of the game were probably cut for budget reasons, and this is one of them. There is no clear distinction between sexes in romance, and sometimes what looks like normal talk between two people jumps very quickly to flirting or mentions of the character’s family’s opinions on your relationship with said character. On the other hand, this part of the game may still be enjoyed if you enjoy the character you’re investing in. Some of these characters are really genuine, and their designs are great.
Moreover, the presentation of the game is quite nice. Although the characters are 3D in the world, there’s this 2.5D feeling that makes all of it quite unique and probably my favorite aspect of the game. The landscapes are beautiful in contrast to the characters and monsters, and they are really colorful. A special mention to the bosses of the dungeons, which are all unique and generally inspired by the Japanese culture – kappas, tanukis, and more. Their stages are also very distinguished and feel like an award for completing that stage of the dungeon.
On the same note, the soundtrack and sound system is just as great. Catchy battle BGMs highlight the work of composer Motoi Sakuraba, who worked on the Tales of series, Star Ocean, Golden Sun, and the fantastic Baten Kaitos.
Elrentaros Wanderings / Rear Sekai is a very intriguing mixed bag. The game excels in its combat mechanics, but the aspects that people most wanted to see – the farming and the social aspects – were left with a sour taste of incompleteness. This was indeed a budget experimental title, but I did have a great time playing through it. It really does spark a fire of interest in their next works, if and when they ever come.
Disclaimer: Red Art Games and Bushiroad Games provided Final Weapon with a Nintendo Switch copy of Elrentaros Wanderings for review purposes.
