This is an article introducing "Kazakura Fuuma Den," a ninja village management simulation game by the doujin game production circle "773" (Nanami).
For me, that circle was memorable as the one that created the simulation RPG "PIRATES 7" which was sold on the Nintendo Switch.
This game, "Kazakura Fuuma Den," is a free game, but it boasts incredibly high-quality graphics and background music that you wouldn't expect from a free game, making it a very enjoyable experience.
Once you understand the system, the difficulty level isn't high, and it took me about 5 hours to complete.
Homepage of the doujin game production circle "773" (Nanami)
*The download page displays the following message in English: "This game is free, but the developers accept support in the form of payment for what they deem fair."
While tipping is possible, those who simply want to play the game first can click the red circle below to proceed with the download.
Game Overview
This game is a simulation game where you manage a ninja village, accumulate resources, and repel invading enemies.
The game progresses in a cycle of "village work" → "ninja council" → "counterattack" (when attacked by enemies) → "village work"... and so on.
Since the things you can do gradually increase, I think it's easy to get into even for people who aren't good at these kinds of simulations.
Having lost their lord and been routed, the Fuma clan, a group of ninja, go into hiding in the village to rebuild their forces in order to fulfill their "duty."
First, you'll build a base, secure food supplies, and complete missions to acquire building materials and other resources.
First, you build facilities to acquire food, and then you assign members to those facilities to obtain food.
The initial food acquisition facilities you can choose from are "Miso Storehouse," "Hunting Lodge," and "Gathering Lodge," and each member will have a different area of expertise.
Assigning each member to a job suited to their abilities will affect the amount of work they do.
Food is consumed each turn, and if it runs out, everyone's morale will drop and their performance will decline.
If your performance declines, the success rate of the "missions" described later will decrease, and injuries or illnesses may make it difficult to perform your job.
Furthermore, an imbalance in the types of food consumed can have negative consequences, so it's necessary to acquire each type of food in a balanced way.
The "Ninja Council" part alternates with the "Village Work" part.
In this part, you will dispatch members to complete missions (so-called requests) and receive building materials and other items as rewards.
Since the required skills vary depending on the nature of the mission, it is crucial to assign personnel based on their aptitudes.
Failure in a mission can result in injuries and a decrease in performance.
If they are short on food supplies, they will be busy with village work, so it would be best to accept the request once they have some leeway.
In addition to general missions, there are also missions that are related to the story progression, as well as special missions where new characters join your party.
As the story progresses, there's an RTS (real-time strategy) section where you defend your village against attacking enemies.
In preparing for deployment, you create units by assembling allied forces.
The system isn't that complicated, and the difficulty level is such that you can clear it even if you play by feel.
However, if you don't understand the basic system, it will gradually become more difficult to clear the levels.
The only things a player can do are deploy troops, retreat troops, and activate support skills.
Since the enemy moves along a predetermined path, you can position your units to block their path and have them fight automatically.
If a unit is defeated, the deployment is canceled and it will be displayed as a reserve in the lower right corner of the screen.
Since you won't be able to redeploy until your stamina is fully restored, it's important to fight in a way that slows down the enemy's advance.
Since there are members who specialize in close-range attacks and members who specialize in long-range attacks, the basic formation will likely involve the close-range attackers holding off the enemy while the long-range attackers provide support from the rear.
Additionally, when the gauge on the face icon in the upper right corner of the screen is full, you can activate a support skill.
These abilities have effects such as "healing all allies" or "dealing damage to all enemies," and using them at the right time can change the tide of battle.
As the story progresses, you'll be able to build structures that give you an advantage in the combat sequences.
While it may not be very important in the early stages when you prioritize food and other necessities over combat, it can become a key factor in battles from the mid-game onward.
As members complete missions and jobs, their levels increase, and their abilities improve.
Additionally, you may acquire new skills by fulfilling specific conditions.
This game incorporates various elements, and, as is typical of management simulation games, there are so many things to do that it's hard to stop playing, making it highly addictive.
Review (no spoilers)
I was able to complete the game without getting a game over.
I think that if you understand the system and continue to make better choices, things will naturally become easier.
They give a general overview of the game's flow, but they don't go into detail about every aspect.
If you have any questions, the answers are in the manual, so it's very important to read that.
(One minor point of concern is that in the RTS section, it's difficult to tell whether a unit is a long-range or short-range type, so it would be helpful if this were displayed somewhere.)
At first, we were constantly short on food, and we were trying different methods to figure out how to stabilize our supply.
Having more friends really broadened the range of things we could do, so I really enjoyed the excitement of seeing the group become more lively.
However, an increase in population leads to increased food consumption, and a lack of sufficient housing can lower morale, so the balance between not being able to celebrate without reservation was a good thing.
Negative events such as injuries, illnesses, fires, and earthquakes occur fairly frequently, and depending on the timing, things can get quite difficult.
Overall, it has a relatively light feel, but it's by no means bland.
The story itself was not complex; it was fairly conventional.
I think it's designed to make it easier to concentrate on the gameplay.
The character designs had a strong image of luxury and were visually striking and impressive on screen.
Not only the characters, but also the background music and UI have a rich overall design, which I think will make players feel luxurious.
While it's not a feature-length game, I felt it fully captures the essence of what makes management-based simulation games so enjoyable.
This is a game I would recommend as an introduction to this genre for people who have never played it before.
By the way, my favorite character was Shizuna.
At first, I thought she might be a quiet type with little emotion (like Rei Ayanami), but she was actually very cute.
I found it amusing that in his mission reports, he was always eating tons of sweet bean paste rice cakes.
As a runner-up, I also liked Haruna's looks and personality.
In the RTS part, Shizuna and I worked together, using long-range attacks from atop a watchtower to whittle down the enemy's health.
A compilation of gaming-related articles featured on this blog.