Pandora's Tower is a title that demands you must accept its premise from the very start, as it pitches players headlong into a quest to climb 13 towers and retrieve the flesh of monsters within to lift a curse on the pre-supplied love interest. It is confusing at first but slowly, grudgingly, and to successful effect, the game reveals its secrets.

As victorious tower raids gradually unveil the world and its characters, the narrative drip-feed is tempered by some of the most engrossing action gaming on the Wii. Though most attacks mean a repetitive hammering of the A button, the game's signature weapon, the Oraclos chain, adds versatility. Targeting enemies with the Wii remote allows you to constrain them before hacking away body parts and delivering the coup de grâce. The chain also proves key to navigation and puzzle-solving.

With visuals that push Nintendo's hardware to its limits and multiple endings to discover, Pandora's Tower is the finest game of its kind this side of Zelda.