Whenever you heard word
"Ninja", you tend to think some awesome bloke with dark cloth, nigh
inhuman agility, and various cool weapon/tool. Also he acts in secrecy or
shadow. But you can also associate them with Batman™. So i want to sneak
further into the way of ninja by playing Koei's Inindo (1993).
See the subtitle? I'm on right
track. The main title looks like bad graffiti made by cheap white paint. I
played this game quite long time ago only for an hour or even less because i'm
ignorant git. Before this title screen there's backstory that goes like this...
In Iga Province, Japan at 1581. This
man who i assume current Hanzo Hattori (head of Iga Ninja), speaks to me that Oda
Nobunaga with his army are about to attack us Iga Ninja. As i'm too young to
fight (probably still 8 y.o or so), he lets me escape but tasked with avenged
their death and live as fugitive.
Even with Iga Ninja's cunningness
and trickery, Nobunaga prevails over Iga Ninjas by the virtue of numbers. Can
you imagine -for example- a pitfall trap is triggered and cause some soldiers
to fall but later their comrade form human bridge to overcome it. That's just
cartoonish act that i like to see. I know this historical fact before in Nioh where i have to pass an Iga mansion
with accompany of Hattori Hanzo junior and
i got the gist of it from dead people's lingering memory. Also i have to fight
late Hattori Hanzo senior that's reborn
as spear-wielding giant frog. Ah, i'm digressing. I'm sorry.
I will! And i will do it in
Tenchu style while he's looking for his sandals or something. Oh, wait!
Nevermind. It's back to title screen.
There's also exposition about i'm
training with elder's granddaughter. I don't think body size is related to
ninja skill, old one. Anyway, once i pick new game and name for my character
then the game starts.
Let me guess! They're from Zeed
organization, right? Yep, i name our protagonist here "JoeMusashi"
even though i suppose you play as Hattori Hanzo Junior. I can also name him
"Ryu Hayabusa" to foretell Koei emerges with Tecmo. But the letter
limit is 10 and i much prefer Shinobi
than Ninja Gaiden simply because i
play more the former than the latter.
I heard that most JRPG starts
with you find the elder and this game is no different. Did i tell you that this
game is RPG? Because it is. Inindo
got credit for me to have protagonist that's not swordsman although Joe here
starts with sword but maybe he will get Kusarigama/Chain & Sickles, who
know? Anyway, the elder tells me to go to first dungeon north of here to have
some password to allow me to get to the training ground near Mt. Fuji.
Suddenly, someone tells us that Nobunaga's men are here. The reasonable action
at this point is running away.
Sadly, Joe is dense bastard that
he rush to confront them. He can only deal 1 point damage while he's
surrounded. Iga ninja will truly extinct at this rate.
Fortunately for him, those ninjas
are called back to aid Nobunaga fights the rebellion led by Mitsuhide Akechi.
Not only this is reasonable cause, but also stays true to the history fact.
According to historical bits that i got from playing Nioh and Toukiden 2, the
infamous warlord Nobunaga is killed in that rebellion. So much for Iga ninja's
revenge, then.
Then elder come to revive me from
that scripted defeat and repeat himself to tell me to go to the dungeon north
of here. After that, he vanished without trace.
I found the dungeon with no
problem and the first enemy that i fight is...Giant Centipede! I hate Giant
Centipede in Nioh because it's the
boss that feels obnoxious and unfair. Luckily, this one is easy to defeat like
what did you expected from first legit enemy in RPG. Few step after defeating
this multi-legged freak, i encounter Giant Rat because this is RPG.
And i meet 3 of the Giant Rat
that look like sculptured potato. Oh, great! [Light Sarcasm]. Here's the
gameplay: 'A' button to bring menu or confirm your choice and 'B' button to
cancel your choice or see the enemies on battlefield. The battlefield is
divided into invisible grids. I think they're 3 X 5 grids. I have two option of
attack: near (melee) and far. Anyone can't melee attack if they're not adjacent
with their opponent's position. Luckily i'm ninja, i can toss shuriken at them
from range. This is why ninja is more awesome than just bloke with light armor
and sword.
Once i enter this watery area,
"This way to password" message box appears. The password is in this
chest that is more like Kodama's shrine than common treasury box. To open the
chest you have to press "inspect/action" button on it, right? But not
in here as there's no such button. Instead you have to bring menu (by pressing
'A' button) and select "Search" option. Kind of redundant procedure
if i may say. Also notice that the currency is in Dollar mark. Funny.
There's cutscene once i get out
from that dungeon: i hide from Nobunaga's troop and turns out that he's still
alive only with some burn injury! Plot twist for those who know the history and
me. Thus my quest for revenge continues.
Thank you, motivation stone sign!
In the overworld, there's no enemy encounter. Very strange but i can move to
destination without worry about enemies.
Not far from that stone sign is
the first town, Ise Castle which i assume Battleship Ise's name based on. You
can only save your progress in inn like this not even in overworld like
standard Final Fantasy and there's
only 2 slots. Not only provide me with lodging and savepoint, inn also a place
where you can meet possible party member.
Like this Ronin Akira Toriyama
creator of Dragon Ball, or maybe his
ancestor. The Ronin is kind of rude as whatever topic (other than name) that i
want to talk he immediately replies with "None of your business".
There's also swordsman who is more polite but both of them refuse to join my
cause saying "If you're more experienced, maybe i will join you". Well,
they're cocky sods. I'm level 4 while you're still level 2, you dolts!
I visit teahouse because of tea,
obviously. Even though your tea is good, but i have to disagree with your
statement there, stupid sir. Ieyasu Tokugawa is benevolent ruler. Look it up!
Teahouse is supposed to have guest too but this time i'm the only visitor.
Figures.
There's also Doctor that will
heal me at the cost of money and sells recovery items.
That's funny. the arm shopkeeper
here is similar to the medicine man even though their buildings are separated
by few meters. Anyway, i buy hard hat in case i have to venture through
construction area or what have you.
Later, on
the other town...
Hmm, yeah. That's interesting
fact. But there's more pressing matter to me: i'm lost and don't know where to
go.
Remember when i said there's no
random encounter in overworld. Turns out there is but within fixed time. In
overworld there's cycle between day and night. Every time passes in day and
night, Joe automatically rest outdoor and he will encounter either samurai or ninja.
The former is mostly hostile while the latter is mostly friendly. Should you
fight in this encounter, you better try to run as the samurai is overleveled at
this state. Spy_taunts11.wav
After lost
for 2 hours or so and reload the game...
I feel stupid. Like really
stupid. I take quick peek at some walkthrough to see where i have to go next
and the keyword is "Mt. Fuji". Then i look at my previous screenshot
about what Elder told me convincing me that i'm genuine idiot. If only the game
provide me with quest log or at least give me direction (remainder) in some
kind of form (e.g. stone sign or other NPC), i won't embarrassed myself like
this. Also there's no marker or even world map in this game like some Final Fantasy. Anyway to go to this
point, i have to walk north from Totomi Castle and that's quite far east from Ise
Castle
As i walk east from that stone
sign, i found the Training Ground. Hoooray! My training here is to go to dungeon
nearby and retrieve fire gem. The elder said that next training is another
dungeon and so on and of course my final training is to assassinate Nobunaga
Oda himself.
Of course the dungeon where fire
gem placed, is the home for lots of fire monsters: fire dungeon. Near the
entrance , there's this mysterious circle. Mysterious because i don't what it
does. When i step on it there's blink effect and that's it. Maybe it
replenishes my health but i'm not sure. If it doesn't, i can go back to surface and rest
at nearby either inn or clinic.
As you can see there's normal
giant rat besides fire ones. The battle goes stalling, fire rat and i exchange
damage by 1 point when suddenly it start blowing fire at me for serious damage
of 6 points. 6 turns later, i'm dead. Back to main menu.
Finally i can deal significant
damage. Only critical damage though. Normal damage that i can inflict only 1
point again. I better escape.
This is quite better. Although
Giant Serpents are more appropriate opponent in my level, but when they come at
me 3 at once like this i feel overwhelmed.
Therefore i decided to go back to
1st dungeon. Everything goes fine until my level is 5 and as if the random
encounters stop here. I test that by roaming the dungeon while playing Clash
Royale at the same time and i meet no encounter at all not even a giant
centipede. Thus we can conclude that Koei have programmed certain dungeon to
contain no encounter if protagonist reach certain level. That's something that
Square-Enix don't think about. So credit to Koei.
Oh, no! Not you again, goddamn
mug. As soon as i'm out that dungeon this git appears. Curse him!
On the bright side, i can deal
considerate amount of damage to Fire Rat that it tries to defend from my
attack. Heavy_positivevocalization02.wav
Sniper_specialweapon07.wav. As in
every RPG, searching dungeon for chest is always worthy. I find mace that
certainly more powerful than my sword even though less powerful than long sword
that i planned to buy. Now that i have mace, i think i will save more money for
Ninjato because: 1) It contain word 'Ninja' 2) It's better than long sword.
When i rest at the inn, this
strategy screen appears and runs on its own. I thought maybe this is error in emulation, got mixed
with Koei's strategy game. But according to some FAQ, it's part of the game and
it happens every beginning of a month. This will be crucial if you're recruited
by Daimyo as either spy of war officer. Hey i recognize Masamune Date there!
It's evil guy with eye-patch, matchlock handgun in one hand, and sword in other
hand. At least that's what he's depicted in Samurai
Warriors or Warriors Orochi.
Wow! Look at that money! I can
buy Ninjato at the price of 210 dollar gold. On the menu from top to
bottom: 1) Search to open chest or
read sign 2) Lineup to adjust
party's formation which is useless right now as i'm alone right now 3) Items to see and use item on possession
but sadly no item description 4) Info to
see status of party member 5) Magic
to cast spell 6) Spy to spy on
intelligence inside a castle/town. There's also picture of hand with bandaged pinky finger as permanent injury indicator on bottom box. Maybe my maximum hitpoint is reduced if i have that injury. Medic can remove it with cost of 20 gold which is double price of staying at inn. But i think you can only replenish energy at inn.
Not only Ninjato has more attack
power than Long Sword but also boost my defense. How can you resist to buy it?
The arm shop or any shop can't
buy your item but shop called guild is willing to do that. I got this wooden
sword from giant centipede on fire dungeon earlier. Yes, there's easier enemies
in there but they show up kind of late. After i sold the wooden sword, i buy
amulet (probably omamori) that boost my defense and resistance here. I'm
optimally equipped! Demoman_battlecry05.wav
Turns out not all samurai are
douche bag. Ito here is nice guy and we met before at inn. Wish you luck too,
friend.
On 3rd floor of fire dungeon, i
found fire crocs (not the sandal!). It's formidable foe. I have to resort to
use 2 medicines in this battle. Then it escapes.
Engineer_specialcompleted03.wav
I like some health refill item
and explanation on your product, if you don't mind please! Seriously, this
violates consumer protection rule! How can someone know what they're buying if
you don't give them any damn clue? Pressing 'L' or 'R' button only removing
word item type and number of boosted stat on right box. Antidote is to cure
poison that's for sure. Elixir is stronger health refill item than medicine, i
think? Body healer has the most healing power, maybe? Energy up is to refill
energy which is used to cast skill. That's all i know.
Now i'm faced with fire crocs and
its serpent friend. But i have leveled up that i can deal more significant
damage to it. No big deal.
I thought i have to face monster
boss to obtain fire gem. Turns out, no. It's inside this chest so all i have to
do is pick it up...if only i have more space on my inventory! It's quite my
fault to hoard medicine until my bag is full but also reasonable things to do.
Not only useable items that occupies it but also any equipment that you have
whether you equipped or not. You see closed chest over there? It contains
Ninjato. I could have saved my money but i don't regret buying it at all.
This fire croc keep spitting fire
from distance, forcing me to go after it because i don't get better ranged
weapon yet. I can move up to 6 possible spots around me. The spot on my left is
blinking because i choose it, mind you. So the more accurate battlefield grid
is like this:
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I always start in most right spot
2nd line. For some reason, if i stay on starter point enemies won't surround
me. So if i just move forward once, they can surround me. Unlike most Tactical
RPG, you can (melee) attack your enemy right after moving. Therefore fastening
the combat phase.
After taking the fire gem, i take
stair nearby that finally lead to the same mysterious circle as in near
entrance. It's your typical exit-from-dungeon shortcut. Soldier_thanksfortheteleporter02.wav
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