The N64 RPG Sequel That Never Made It Out Of Japan
The Nintendo 64 is arguably one of the best consoles of all time. It was revolutionary back when it was released in 1996 with its 64-bit CPU, 3D graphics, and iconic games like the best-selling "Super Mario 64" and hidden gems like "Shadow Man." RPGs were also popular games on the console, with major titles like "Paper Mario," "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time," and "Harvest Moon 64."
While there were plenty of great RPG games released in the West, some didn't quite make it out of Japan. Games like "Custom Robo V2" and "Super Robot Wars 64" only saw the light of day in Japan, and even the origins of the popular "Animal Crossing" franchise, "Animal Forest," was first released on the Nintendo 64. "Shiren the Wanderer" was an RPG on the Super Famicom, known as the SNES in the West, and it had a sequel that was released in Japan only.
Shiren the Wanderer 2
While "Shiren the Wanderer" came to the West in the form of a DS remake, its sequel that was originally on the N64, "Shiren the Wanderer 2," never left Japan. "Shiren the Wanderer 2," or "Fushigi no Dungeon: Furai no Shiren 2: Oni Shurai! Shiren-jo!" as it's known in Japan, was quite a bit different from the original game with a cuter art style and a story that added in mechanics like building a castle to protect a village.
It's not clear why the game never hit the West despite selling 283,000 copies. Reddit user ffxivthrowaway03 hypothesized that "Shiren the Wanderer 2" might have had something in it that wouldn't be accepted in the West, which localization wouldn't have wanted changed at the time. For fans of the "Shiren the Wanderer" games that came to the West, there's a fan translation that some have enjoyed. Considering people seemed to love the games that have been shared with the rest of the world, rougelike lovers can check out "Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate" on Steam.