This is an article about the indie game "Il-Do" by Atorasoft.
This is a simulation game where you earn money through trade, strengthen your fleet, and advance the story.
Just like with previous installments in the series, the game becomes increasingly fun as you figure out what you can do, and you easily get completely absorbed in it.
My first playthrough took about 20 hours (difficulty: normal).
Game Overview
This game is about earning money through trade, strengthening your fleet, and progressing through the story.
There are many things you can do, so let's start by introducing them in order from the beginning of the game.
The protagonist of this game is a silent, Dragon Quest-style character who never speaks, and serves as the player's avatar.
At the start of the game, you create your character, deciding on their name, gender, appearance, and other details.
There are four base illustrations for both males and females, so create a character that matches your image.
Once you've created your main character, the next step is to select your base of operations.
The initial stages and developments of the game will vary depending on which faction you start with.
Also, be aware that the opposing forces will change.
For your first playthrough, I think it's safest to choose the British East India Company (Great Britain), as there are no opposing factions.
However, if you like any of the factions, I don't think it will be a big problem no matter which one you choose.
After choosing your home base, the next step is to select the game's difficulty level.
For those familiar with this type of game, choosing "Normal" mode for your first playthrough is probably the safest bet.
When you start the game, various opening events will be introduced depending on the base you choose.
Depending on the starting location, the circumstances leading to the protagonist's arrival differ, but in all cases, they are a wandering ship captain.
You will receive various requests from a group that has been helping you for some reason.
By completing this request, you can advance the story.
You can check what you need to do to advance the main story by looking at the "Notebook" on the menu screen.
Sub-events are displayed in the same way.
However, as you progress through the main story, the enemies gradually become stronger, making it more difficult to complete the game.
In that case, it will be necessary to earn money through trade and other means to strengthen the fleet.
I completed the game once, and I don't recall there being any events with time limits for completion.
Therefore, you'll be able to enjoy trading and strengthen your forces at your own pace without feeling rushed.
Now, let's look at how to specifically strengthen your fleet.
There are several ways to strengthen your fleet:
① Gather allies
Having more party members increases the number of people who can participate in battle, giving you an advantage.
Additionally, any group exceeding six members will operate as a separate unit, regularly earning money and skill points (explained later).
You can recruit companions at the tavern or by progressing through the main story.
② Build a good ship
Each character is on board some kind of ship.
HP and attack performance during combat largely depend on the ship's capabilities.
Saving up materials and money to upgrade your ship and build a good one is extremely important.
③ Level up your characters
Leveling up increases your various stats, which has a wide-ranging impact on combat and trading.
You gain experience points and level up by trading and winning battles.
Additionally, you can teach each character skills by spending skill points.
Skill points are earned by the aforementioned separate unit and accumulated by exploring the discovery points.
The above are some ways to strengthen your fleet.
In this game, you need money for everything you do, so earning money consistently through trade is extremely important.
Next, I will explain about trade.
Trade boils down to this: "Buy low, sell high."
Typically, three types of local products are sold at ports throughout Japan (up to five types depending on investments in that port).
Prices are subject to a fluctuating exchange rate, and the selling price is shown as a percentage of the normal price.
Initially, without overthinking things, you can make a profit by buying as many items as possible that are being sold at the lowest possible percentage and selling them at other ports.
Each transaction is subject to customs duties, but these are mitigated depending on the level of investment in that port.
Additionally, negotiation bonuses will be added to the purchase and sale prices based on the skills you have acquired.
When you hover your cursor over other ports on the map, the price you would get if you sold your current cargo there will be displayed. This allows you to consider distance and profit when deciding where to sell your cargo.
At the start of the game, there are few ports displayed on the map, but you will automatically discover them as you approach areas where ports exist.
In the early stages, it's a good idea to focus on sailing along land and discovering ports.
Furthermore, food supplies dwindle rapidly during the voyage, and once they run out, the crew members begin to desert.
If the protagonist's ship loses its crew, the entire party loses all its crew and cargo, and is forcibly returned to their home base.
You'll be automatically resupplied when you enter a port, so make sure to resupply frequently as you sail.
Each port has either a government office or a governor's office.
In the case of government offices, you can earn privilege points by investing money, and in return, you can receive various benefits.
The main benefits include an increase in the number of goods that can be purchased during trade, the addition of new types of trade goods, reduced tariffs, and the acquisition of ship parts.
If left unchecked, other forces may invest in it and seize control of the vested interests first.
In that case, you can seize the privileges by paying an inflated price.
As you progress through the game, it's inevitable that other factions will seize some of your resources, but you'll want to invest in important locations as early as possible.
The objective at the Governor-General's office is the same as at the government offices: to acquire points for vested interests.
However, the Governor-General's Office doesn't use money for investment; instead, you earn points by submitting "discovery reports."
You can obtain information about wanted criminals by ordering drinks at bars in town.
Defeating that bounty target will give you information about the location of the "untamed area".
By exploring uncharted territories, you can discover creatures and treasures.
By reporting your findings to the Governor-General's office, you can earn privilege points.
Please note that you cannot report results that have already been reported at one governor-general's office to another, so be careful about where you submit your reports.
Defeating one bounty target will always yield information about some uncharted territory.
You should actively target bounty targets that have few players and are of a low skill level.
Incidentally, every bar in the country has a "poster girl" who is the face of the establishment.
Ordering drinks or giving gifts will increase your likeability.
As your affection level increases, you may receive dishes (treated like accessories that you equip to your character) that have the effect of increasing your stats or granting you skills.
Since this will help to increase your overall fighting strength, be sure to regularly raise your favorability with the bar hostesses in various locations.
Now, once we enter the uncharted territory, our field exploration begins.
Each uncharted territory has three elements: its ecosystem (animals that inhabit it, etc.), its legends (ruins, etc.), and its treasures.
By touching objects placed on the field, the exploration rate of each object increases, and an event occurs when it reaches a certain level.
Investigating plant-like objects advances the ecological survey, and investigating treasure-like objects advances the treasure hunt, and so on.
When the exploration rate reaches 100%, you will obtain discoveries appropriate to that location.
For each unexplored area, you can expect to find a total of three types of discoveries: ecological features, legends, and treasures.
During exploration events, choices will appear, and having acquired certain skills will give you an advantage.
Some events cannot be progressed unless you possess specific skills, so in those cases, you may need to postpone exploration for the time being.
If your remaining food supplies and morale reach zero, you'll lose a crew member with every step you take, so try to escape before that happens.
Even if you leave, your exploration progress will remain the same, so you won't have to start over.
Furthermore, if the "local welcome" drops to zero, you will be attacked by locals with every step you take, your crew will decrease, and you will be unable to escape, making it extremely dangerous.
Examining campfire objects in the field will allow you to hold a feast and increase your welcome level, so make use of this to progress through your exploration.
At a shipyard, you can use materials to build new ships.
The types of ships you can build vary depending on the port, and increasing your port rights points will allow you to build a wider variety of ships.
A ship's strength is determined to some extent by its base hull, but its specific performance changes depending on the equipment it is equipped with.
Since detailed customization is not possible later, think carefully before building a new ship.
The combat in this game is somewhat like a shooting game.
Allied ships will automatically fire their cannons at enemy ships.
The interval and speed of cannon fire will vary depending on the ship's performance and the skills of the crew.
Since the enemy will also be firing artillery at you, it's important to keep moving and evade attacks rather than staying in one place.
When friendly ships and enemy ships overlap, close-quarters combat occurs.
The effectiveness of close-quarters combat also depends on the character's skills and parameters, but while it inflicts more damage than artillery fire, it is also a high-risk, high-reward attack method where you tend to take more damage.
That concludes our brief overview of the game's system.
I hope this conveys even a little bit of the game's atmosphere and fun.
Review (no spoilers)
I completed the first playthrough on normal difficulty, and then completed the second playthrough on hard difficulty.
At the start of the game, the game doesn't explain in detail what you should do, so I was sometimes confused and didn't know what to do.
However, even though I didn't really understand it, I found it satisfying to quickly accumulate money and experience points by repeatedly buying low and selling high.
Furthermore, finding new ports and uncharted territories in the field was exhilarating, and I really enjoyed the thrill of discovery.
The main story events won't disappear even if you ignore them, so you can strengthen your army to your heart's content.
You can play at your own pace, so it's not stressful, but I think anyone can complete it if they put in the time.
If you're going to play it seriously, I think it'll become a competition to see who can complete it in the shortest amount of time.
It's a cycle of buying and selling elsewhere, but I think it's designed to be interesting in that iterative process.
The combat has a bit of a shooting game-like action element, but since the strength of your battles is primarily determined by the ship's performance and the character's skills, it doesn't require particularly technical controls.
It's difficult to win when your ship is weak, but as you gradually become able to defeat enemies, you'll be able to do more things and it will become more fun.
However, I think the process and order in which players become stronger will vary from person to person, but I get the impression that they will ultimately arrive at the same destination.
I think it's a work where you can enjoy the process of becoming stronger.
The scenario unfolds slightly differently depending on which faction you side with, but ultimately it converges into a single route.
Depending on the circumstances, there may be events that present you with a choice between two options, meaning you may not be able to be on good terms with both factions.
After clearing the game, you can carry over a certain number of cooking items and play on a different difficulty level.
The stat boosts from cooking items are random, and the higher the difficulty level, the more likely you are to obtain powerful items.
You can enjoy the game by playing on the highest difficulty level and constantly striving to create the ultimate dish.
Additionally, once you clear the game, you'll be able to play "Mission Mode," a mode that eliminates the storyline.
Since everything is up to you except for the ultimate goal of defeating the final boss, I think you can enjoy a variety of play styles.
Strategy Notes (Spoiler Warning)
How to play in the early stages
First, let's increase the number of our group members.
Having more companions gives you an advantage in battles and provides a skill advantage during exploration.
Whenever you visit a new port, order a drink at the tavern and, if possible, give a gift.
The plan is to make the bounty targets appear in the field while also aiming to acquire dishes at the tavern.
·trade
When heading to another port, be sure to fill your inventory with inexpensive trade goods before you depart.
As your level increases, negotiation bonuses will ensure you always make a profit if you sell your goods in a different port than the one you bought them in.
Generally speaking, the further away you are from where you source your goods, the easier it is to make a profit.
By checking the map and hovering the cursor over a different port, you can get a rough idea of how much profit you can make.
Let's consider not only the simple profit, but also the distance and effort involved before departing for the next port.
If the text is highlighted in yellow, it indicates that some kind of special demand is occurring, making it a good target as you can easily make a profit even if you are geographically close.
·investment
I want to be proactive in investing, but first, let's aim to earn 20 concession points, which will give us one additional trade item.
Once you reach level 20, the next step is level 50, which will unlock another trade item.
The added trade goods are often expensive, which will accelerate the speed at which you earn money.
- Bounty targets
If you think you can defeat a bounty target, try to take them down.
When assessing the enemy's strength, check the enemy's level, not their ship's HP.
If their level is low and they have few troops, they're a good target.
·expedition
Defeating a bounty target will unlock one uncharted area.
If the required skill level to complete an event is too high, postpone it.
It's also a good idea to empty your cargo before embarking on an expedition.
When you're carrying cargo, your food supplies decrease accordingly, and you have to leave the ship more frequently.
When choosing events, try to select those that award skill points, as this will be beneficial later on.
The results of your explorations should be prioritized for use at your own base first, and then at the Governor's Office, which you visit frequently.
You'll end up with plenty of leftover deliverables, so there's no need to be overly concerned about it.
·shipbuilding
Building a ship requires a variety of materials.
Since you'll start accumulating resources around the mid-game, you might not need to build much in the very beginning.
However, for the protagonist's ship, it's a good idea to increase the passenger capacity and cargo capacity early on.
(This allows for a longer period of time to persevere when salvaging on the field.)
Salvage points on the field offer opportunities to obtain resources, food, ship equipment, and more, so you should actively utilize them in the early stages of the game.
・Fortress battle
This event occurs in the later stages of the main story.
They usually have considerable defensive capabilities, making them difficult to conquer without proper preparation.
Let's weaken them by pouring in lots of money and gold coins before we take them on.
Since fortress battles tend to be long, it's a good idea to empty your cargo and ensure your food supplies last longer.
Reducing the crew size to the bare minimum during salvage operations allows you to fight for a longer period (although it may not always be necessary).
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