During an online demo of Shiren the Wanderer, Atlus was quick to distance the game from the label of "Roguelike." Although the game shares a lot in common with the genre, it also changes a few of the genre's mechanics in order to make the game more accessible to newer players. While I get the concept behind the decision, the label may not be such a bad thing.

Story isn't a major focus in Shiren the Wander, though the narrative is engaging enough you'll stay interested through. Most of the draw comes from Shiren's supporting cast. The lone samurai isn't the talking type, but his companions are colorful and memorable. Characters are the most detailed part of the game and sport loads of little features that help make their personality stand out, like Sensei's celebratory swig from his jug. If only levels featured the same amount of detail. I understand getting a lot of details into randomly generated dungeons is hard, but some of the dungeons look a little too bland.

Perhaps the most colorful of the cast is Koppa, a talking ferret who ends up speaking for Shiren most of the time. This is great, since Koppa has a lot of say, but there's no voicework. Even though story isn't a central focus, there's a lot of text to read through. It's fun, but some conversations could stand to be a little shorter.

For those not familiar with the terminology, Roguelike is derived from the 1980's game Rogue, a role-playing game featuring step-based combat/ movement, randomly-generated dungeons and lots of loot. The style of play has already made it to the US, such as Poke'mon Mystery Dungeon and Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja, though typically challenging difficulty has kept the genre from growing outside a small, dedicated group of players.

True to the genre, Shiren the Wanderer takes place in a series of randomly-generated, monster and loot-filled dungeons. Actions are all turn-based, but not in the sense that you'll spend hours just trying to inch across one floor of the dungeon. Instead, gameplay takes place atop an invisible grid; every time you take a step into a new grid space, everyone else takes a step or takes an action. Some monsters may move closer to you, while others may choose to run away or attack. The cool thing about the system is that even though you're moving one step at a time, the process is streamlined and quick enough that it will feel like you're playing a normal, top-down dungeon hack.

Beyond the 30+ hours of dungeon crawling found in the main game, Shiren the Wanderer also features a few extras to keep you playing a little longer. Experienced players can tackle a 1,000-story Millennium Dungeon that is more challenging than anything the core game will ever throw at you or they can try to fill out the Journal. For me, the Journal was one of the game's more challenging and interesting aspects. For 360 or PS3 owners, earning tags in the Journal is like earning Achievements or Trophies. You can earn brag tags for killing certain bosses, collecting items and clearing areas. There are even achievements for creative deaths, like turning Shiren into a riceball then finding a way to light him on fire.

Shiren the Wanderer's two difficulty modes offer a similar, but very different play experience. When playing on Normal, death comes with a massive penalty; you're allowed to keep your current character level, but lose all items and weapons you collected up until that point. You can store items/ weapons at the bank in town, so it becomes a question of whether you leave your really good gear in the shop to save it and give yourself a harder time in a dungeon, or bring it with you to ensure an easier time, but risk losing it if you die. Playing on Easy, which lets you keep your items, negates the question, but the experience doesn't feel quite as rewarding without the risk.

Regardless of difficulty mode, Shiren the Wanderer offers a challenge. It's never unfairly hard, but will really push you to think about every step, literally. Even when facing smaller enemies, you have to always keep your surroundings in mind and try to out-think what moves they may have in store. Even when playing on Easy, expect to repeat a few dungeons.

You play as Shiren through most of the game, though you can switch between party members once they join your cause. Companions can provide support in battle and open up one of Shiren the Wanderer's bigger twists on the genre, team-based tactics. At any time during gameplay, you can switch between control methods, either turning a party member over to an A.I. controller or taking control yourself. When using A.I. control, you not only have to worry about Shiren's actions, but also need to keep an eye on party members since they have a tendency to sometimes waste items. On the plus side, you can adjust your party member's A.I. traits, including cutting them off from using certain items.

Flipping on Full Control offers complete control over every action your party members make. The setup is similar to a turn-based strategy game and the best way to tackle bosses. Playing in Tactical Mode is time consuming, but worth the hassle of losing a battle and getting booted out of the dungeon. Like everything else in the game, knowing when to switch between the two modes is important if you want to make it out of a dungeon.

Loot is everywhere, to the point you'll find yourself tripping over all the discarded stuff. Choosing the right gear is a question of picking stuff that's just powerful or offers some other important benefit at a cost. Managing inventory is the key to making it deep into dungeons, but the act is painful. Navigating through your limited number of inventory slots is painfully slow. Were this limited to inventory, it wouldn't matter as much, but going through all of the game's menus is cumbersome, and you'll have to flip through them often.

Despite Atlus's desire to distance Shiren the Wanderer from the connotations of "Roguelike," Shiren is still a pure version of the genre. There are a few changes to the formula, but the core gameplay is still mostly intact. The lack of intense difficulty will likely scare off experienced dungeon-crawlers, but items like the Millennium Dungeon should snap their interests back. For the uninitiated, Shiren the Wanderer is worth a shot if you're in the market for something different.