Inindo (SNES) - Part 2

Previously, Hanzo Hattori junior Joe Musashi is allowed to retreat from Iga Ninja's last battle but tasked to take revenge on Nobunaga Oda who's responsible for the onslaught. Time goes by, Joe is old enough as warrior but not as legit ninja as he lack of ninjutsu/ninja magic lesson. As some elder suggestion, he raids fire dungeon alone for fire gem. After he gets said gem, he's now capable of fire magic but his quest doesn't stop there.

 

Now that Joe is more legit ninja, i reckon he needs companion. This hermit declines my recruitment with 'Our abilities are quite different' reason. Dude! Did you know the basic of party on every RPG? Each member completes other with different ability that they have. You reason there is really unacceptable. Did you expect  RPG members to be homogenous? That's not RPG party! That's boring division group on real military/police, you dolt! Now that i know you're such a idiot, i immediately blacklist you from recruitment.

 

In other recruitment attempt, some ninja name Shiranui (who's probably member of the ninja clan with the same name) attempt to attack Joe for bounty. But he soon serves as guinea pig for newly acquired 'Flame' magic. The impudent fool. After defeating him, there's option of see his status, enlist him, or leave him be. I was hoping i can end his miserable life but the game doesn't allow me. Soldier_jeers10.wav

 

I won't fall for your sweet talking there, bastard. This sod comes up when i get out of Mt. Fuji training ground on my way to next training course which is Mt. Tsukuba, northeast from here. Note: i looked on screenshot of previous part, i have terrible memory sometime.

 

Following that direction i arrive at Hitachi castle (which -i assumed- is home to some electronic home appliances). First NPC here is a reminder if i have finished my training in Mt. Fuji. In short, he's slightly more useful than any NPC so far. Just slightly. While another NPC says that Mt. Tsukuba is west from here thus i go there.

Later on Mt. Tsukuba training ground...

I can learn healing magic white mage ninja style? Cool! This time i have to retrieve earth gem on earth dungeon, of course. Now that i think about it. All dungeon are supposed to be earth dungeon, right?

 

One of the guards on dungeon entrance said that i should bring companion for this dungeon. Therefore, i try to recruit this hermit but he softly refuse by saying if he will join if he's more trusting me. You see happy face and number beneath his photo? That shows you someone's affinity to you. Because he has good mood here, i can chat with him. By doing so, i skip entire day and also increasing his affinity. Speaking all day to make some stranger become friendlier, is something that i can't do at all. Game makes you do something that you can't do in real life, indeed.

When i want to talk to the hermit again, hoping i can recruit him. Suddenly, Tateoka (who's there since yesterday) interrupts me and asks me to enlist him. I can't turn him down because he's also fellow Iga Ninja. Maybe i should recruit more teammate but i don't know the cost of doing so and i'm not dare enough to find it out yet. In Shadowrunner (Genesis), you recruit members by paying them money. The more affiliation to related members and the higher your reputation, their fee will be cheaper. While in here, you just have to increase your relation with related member by talking and i recruit them for free. Sounds too good to be true.

 

What's Tateoka good for? He's also a ninja with ninjato so there's no different with me. But he uses 8 points (throwing) star as ranged weapon that does more damage than me (who uses 3 points star), i think.

The guard who told me to recruit member also said that i should recruit mendicant so i'm on right track, i think. But this dungeon is quite dastard as there's giant venom snake that can and will poison us. Strangely, the poison takes effect not on battle phase but in dungeon-exploring phase. Every few steps, our hitpoints will be drained by 2 - 3 points. Because we didn't pack many antidote before, we have no choice but to retreat to local healer ASAP. Scout_Medic02.wav

 

I decide that Tateoka should be behinds me because he (maybe?) has better ranged attack than mine. He also has more ninja magic than me. One of them is 'Repair' which is uncommon name for healing magic. I mean 'Repair' should be mending skill for mechanical recipient, don't you agree? Anyway said healing magic has probability to fail. I should ask white mage priest to join my party instead, but i don't have the heart to bail him. I mean he's my fellow Iga Ninja that volunteer himself to join my cause for free (and most likely has same revenge against Nobunaga Oda). I just can't.   

It seems there's no earth element theme for this dungeon instead the theme here is poison/toxic/etc. Luckily/strangely, these Toxic Worms don't poison us or anything just regular attack and with occasion dropping antidote. They don't have big hitpoint but their durability to physical attack are high. Thus i use ninja magic against them. Later on, they can poison us. Silly me. :p

 

Remember when i said there's no cost for extra party member? Well, there's kind of. Our lodging cost doubled now but that makes sense as we need to pay for 2 rooms/futons now. That goes the same with medical cost. On plus side, i have doubled inventory capacity. This RPG doesn't adapt shared nigh-unlimited inventory like Final Fantasy series, instead it uses inventory-for-each-member system. But it's quite tedious to manage the inventory among us. That's just my opinion.

 

Then i talk to this hermit for 2-days straight that his affinity to 44. When i try to recruit him, he says maybe later. He said that he's currently studying here until October. So he's still busy learning some sacred philosophy about how the live supposed to be and... nevermind. He accept my offer when i accidentally press 'Enlist' option again.    

 

I don't regret recruiting the Hermit he has more healing magic and guard magic which i don't know what it does yet.

 

Oh, i see. It boost recipient's defense. I'm hoping for attack increase but this is nice too. Soldier_thanksfortheheal02.wav

 

Initially i put Amagi Koji (the hermit) in front line. But on second thought, he's better be in the back. He can't attack from afar but he inflict much less damage than Tateoka so it doesn't matter that he can't attack at all. He's our healer afterall. He can take an arm a bit and he's not so fragile. Perhaps he's equivalent to Cleric. 

On 3rd floor, i found these markings  and Joe says "There's nothing special". That's rubbish. At least you should be wonder about how they can make them or how esthetic they could be. Just say anything! They're such wonder that can raise a dozen question at least.

 

Starting in this level, we find dorky-looking giant spiders but they can slow all of your party by -you can probably guessed it- spreading spider web. There's chance that you have advantage of first turn on the battle just like in this case or the enemies get it instead. It's pure luck.

I reckon doki-doki means 'heart-beating'. But here, Doki are these horned goblin and they're not so difficult to deal with.

Exploring this dungeon, doesn't feel fun. Tiring, even. Just look at this! I have to walk around needlessly long corridors here. Just put decent shorter ways and it makes no different yet easier for me. I concur, they're meant to make the dungeon exploring more challenging and also increase the chance i get random encounter. But most of them ends up with just dead end without any chest or anything. Scout_jeers10.wav.

On next floor...

 

This is the opposite. It just wide blank space. If this is Action game, i suspect there's boss fight around.

 

There's giant slugs on this floor but they're hardly boss or anything. Noticeable thing about them: they're resistant to sleep magic that's casted by Koji or he sucks at it. Still superb at healing department and able to cure poison, mind you.  

Later on same floor...

Oh, no! Not, again! Fine, i will manage our inventory a bit and...

Goddamit! Our bag is full with antidote and medicine. We have so much spare antidote because in this floor and previous ones, there's no enemy that poison us. They're only in first floors. Luckily, there's some space on Koji's bag. I know recruiting him won't disappoints me.

Beside the stage with earth gem, there's another one with 2 chest that contain Tengu Wing and Light Mail. Did Aya Shameimaru lose her wing here or something?

Another enemy type! Let's see! Mato means target and kage means shadow. Therefore they're shadow targets, maybe? Whatever these lizards are, they can't be hard to fight.

What the heck! One of them can summon another? They're like some reinforce-calling monsters in Sora no Kiseki/The Legend of Heroes - Trails in the Sky. Demoman_sf12_badmagic07.wav

 

Hah! You fail to call your friend because you suck! Said someone who never call his friend if he has any.

 

Another shock! Turns out, Doki can use healing item. This reminds me of tedious memory on Eragon RPG. In my defense when we faced with 3 of them, they didn't do thing like this before.

Actually we can use Tengu Wing for instant teleport to dungeon entrance but i refuse to use it because i'm stingy person. But we can explore more in this dungeon for more experience/money and...these 3 Chest! Even though they're contain use item that we have in abundant amount.

Amagi Koji the hermit, has skill named Cure1 that you can only activate outside battle. But it requires Health Food that we don't have yet, sadly. If only there's more description on it. Heck! There's not even any detail on everything like use items or magic. That's my main gripe so far besides the slow pace of this game.

Finishing this trial, grants me Repair which is the scrappy healing magic. But at least i also get Purge which is poison-removal magic.

Next training takes place in Mt. Haguro (which i assume Heavy Cruiser Haguro's name based on) which is north of Dewa Castle that's also north from here. But i can ask from direction in Rikuchu, the elder adds.  

 

Before i go there. I visit this guy Gao inside the inn. Due to his appearance that similar to legendary Benkei, i assume Sohei is monk warrior. I like to recruit him but his affinity is 0 besides the capacity of my party is 3 members.

 

I arrive at Rikuchu and some citizen asks me about the sinister Masamune Date. When i say no, he immediately tells me that i'm dimwit. Actually, what i want to refuse is his status as honorable not his fame. Of course, i know him a bit from Warriors Orochi 2. In fact, Rikuchu is where the git and his family reside. So that man is upset about me not knowing Masamune Date, is acceptable.

 

There's seer at Rikuchu. Normally, i don't believe in fortunetelling but i reckon there's some benefit to believe it if in game. Turns out, the fortuneteller will inform you about any recruit-able person with the cost of 5 gold each. The information are their hometown, what they're doing right now along with their location and how our relation works. Unfortunately for me, most of these names are unknown to me except for the bastards: Toriyama and Shiranui. Thing for sure is: Kagero here isn't the werewolf, the destroyer, or the 2nd game of Deception series.

 

I planned to have work at some castle. But it seems there's no work for me here. There's other option for me in this castle: 1) I can see territory map but i reckon it's not useful to me as i talk about that later 2) I can chat to other visitor like inn or teahouse but there's no one here right now 3) I can ask for appointment of this castle's ruler but the guard here says that he's busy. Screw you, Masamune Date! >:I 4) I can wait i here for next day but i don't think this will replenish our condition as this doesn't count as lodging. 5) Or finally i can leave this forsaken palace.

 

Here's the map. This map denies my statement of "No map in this game" in previous part, sure. It informs me about castle town's location but compare to -say- world map in Final Fantasy game, this is barely intuitive and useful. You can't see where you're in the map without entering a castle town. The true potential of this map is showing you political jurisdiction for official job. But still useless to me, for now at least.

This is more like it! Rikuchu has more advanced weapon shop than other town i visited. Why steel blade has worse property than iron sword? Whatever. I take that Iron Sword...what? Ninja can't use it? Fine! Give me that Steel Blade. At this point, i realize the advantage of some naive bloke who only know how to swing sword around than Ninja. Sniper_negativevocalization05.wav

As i walk long way north from Rikuchu, i arrive at this small town. Hey! I idolize Minamoto no Yoshitsune. He's my favorite in Warriors Orochi 2. Conversely and naturally, i dislike Kiyomori Taira. Although this is neither Mt. Haguro nor Dewa Castle, i will take a look around to honor Minamoto no Yoshitsune.

 

Hey! I found Tenkai the Mendicant in this inn. I though mendicant is someone needy or volunteer-y like Tateoka but turns out there's Mendicant class. Judging by his fashion, Tenkai is monk. The healer and spellcasting ones, mind you. I can part with one of my member right now but that sounds like hassle. Especially Tenkai guy here is complete stranger.

 

Wait. What? Minamoto no Yoshitsune is a ninja. I didn't know that. Let me see.

 

Here's his short biography that i found in Toukiden 2. There's no clue of him being ninja, not even the slightest. Unless there's tale of trouble-making child named Ushiwakamaru that's as agile and tricky as Ninja or sort like that.

Later on Mutsu Castle, north from Hiraizumi...

 

Mutsu, huh? Like the name of the Battleship? It seems Mt. Osore is my next training ground after Mt. Haguro. Time to backtrack and hopefully don't get lost again.

 

Near Hiraizumi, i found this dungeon. Is this it?  

 

This one dungeon sure is not friendly. But no text box can prevent me from moving forward. Soldier_go01.wav

There's spikes around soon after i descend 1 level of this dungeon. These convince me to get out. Some NPC in Hiraizumi told me that this dungeon is where Minamoto no Yoshitsune's secret treasure lies. So this is not the place that i'm looking for.

Upon exiting the dungeon, another ninja want my head on silver platter. But he's no match for us. Heavy_taunts04.wav

Later, back at Rikuchu...

Oh, i see! I missed this guy. Northwest from here. Gotcha!

 Ah, here it is! Though i don't come across that Dewa Castle. I wonder how godly is that place. Hint: 'Dewa' is god in Indonesia. Turns out, it's Nobunaga Oda's place. So it stinks.

Another gem retrieval? I pass!

Koei's Inindo - Way of The Ninja (1993) on SNES is game featuring ninja but it's RPG, like none other before (in my knowledge). The main premise is good but its practice is kind of off or not so satisfying. For example, the pace is slow compare to other RPG because the text boxes is slow moreover most of them can't be removed automatically so you have to often press button to get rid of them like in battle or shop menu. Also as i have mentioned before about how tedious the dungeon maze layout. I prefer first 2 dungeons. From the graphic you can tell that Inindo is modest (yet distinctive), like it works on not even 40% graphic capacity of SNES. The music also simple and grainy. The good thing that i see from the game is mostly in gameplay. Your main character is Ninja who seeks revenge to the infamous warlord as oppose of some warrior that's destined to save the world and fight some demon lord. But you can regard Nobunaga Oda as demonic due to his ruthlessness if you want to think that further. The battle takes place in narrow gridded field that make the battle faster yet defines front/back line, as opposed to any TRPG with field that way too wide. Kind of like Koudelka but with smaller field. I very like the free-recruit system that allow you to have companion that you can choose freely. But it requires simpler system and/or money cost, not solely depends with related person's affection. The difficulty gradient is quite stagnant as there's no boss battle (at least on my playthrough here so far) that gives me bigger money and experience than normal enemies . Quite worth to mention that at the start of the game, i have prominent leveling problem: Can't level up in first dungeon due to no more encounter but 2nd dungeon's encounters feel too hard. In 3rd dungeon when i have companion, the game become smooth yet shallow. Perhaps if there's any overworld encounter, that should fix that. Actually outside of this playthrough there's one encounter: Bandit that's tough to beat but later he runs away. The most significant different with other JRPG is you can work for some Daimyo/Warlord either as spy or war officer but i kind of hesitant to test that feature. Recruiting other member is crucial as your hero doesn't get new magic as he levels up as opposed to his companions. 

Inindo - Way of The Ninja (1993) is slow-paced RPG that have distinct features. I want to continue this game but i feel that the game drain my patience/interest too long. What a shame. So if you have bigger patience toward RPG than me, maybe you can enjoy the game. If not, i can't recommend you to play this game. One more thing to say: there's no running button to speed things up even though you're Ninja, the agile and tricky warrior. Think about it!