In an interview with Game*Spark News, Shujinkou director Julian Rice expressed his desire to create a first-person dungeon crawler (DRPG) in the vein of Etrian Odyssey. With so few games like this in the current landscape, I was eager to try it before release.
From the outset, Shujinkou wears its Etrian Odyssey inspiration proudly. After a brief ten-minute introduction, the game throws you into the first dungeon—a forest reminiscent of the classic First Stratums from that series. Even early on, it’s clear that the genre’s best elements are completely intact in this game. Shortcuts feel just as rewarding as ever, and the incredibly dangerous FOEs (an EO acronym for powerful mini-bosses), called Yajuu here, are omnipresent. In fact, the game introduces you to them as early as the second floor. Throughout my playthrough, I found it deeply impressive how enjoyable each labyrinth is to explore. The dungeon design is a true masterclass, and if you’re craving that addictive DRPG experience, Shujinkou delivers with flying colors.
As mentioned in the trailers, Shujinkou includes an optional educational component. You can progress through the game by mastering Japanese kanji, vocabulary, and grammar, which seamlessly integrate into the gameplay. For example, the combat system incorporates Kana sets that you can use to enhance your characters in battle. As you progress, you obtain Kanakae Orbs containing hiragana and katakana characters. Using the orbs corresponding to an enemy’s Japanese name will allow you to deal additional ontological damage.
With that said, it’s important to emphasize that the game doesn’t aim to be exclusively an educational experience. Rather, the educational component supplements—not replaces—the JRPG experience as a whole. As soon as you start the game, you receive a series of options pertaining to your Japanese knowledge, experience, and interest level. If you prefer, you can disable this system entirely and play the game as a standard JRPG.
I was also pleasantly surprised by Shujinkou’s story. The character development is solid, and I found the intermission scenes between dungeons to be far superior to those in Etrian Odyssey. Without giving away any spoilers, there are moments within the game that rival some of Atlus’s best titles. Similar to my experience in Metaphor: ReFantazio, I always found myself looking forward to visiting the next town after completing a long and treacherous dungeon.
It is all the more remarkable, then, that a single developer programmed the game. Going in, I was concerned about potential game-breaking bugs, but I walked away impressed by how polished the game is. While some bugs exist, they never hindered my experience. It includes certain quality-of-life features I usually only expect from high-budget games, such as a tutorial directory and various progress trackers. The bestiary is another excellent feature; each entry contains a substantial amount of detail and updates dynamically as you uncover more information.
Shujinkou’s art style feels like a love letter to Japan’s artistic traditions. Its visuals evoke the kind of beauty you’d find in ukiyo-e woodblock prints or the intricate designs of kimono fabrics. Picture rolling hills painted in vivid greens, cherry blossoms drifting lazily in the breeze, and skies that look like they’ve been brushed with ink by a master calligrapher. The colors are bold yet balanced—deep reds and golds sit alongside softer pastels, creating a harmony that’s both striking and soothing. The labyrinths, in particular, look absolutely phenomenal on my OLED display, and I have to give credit to the artists for such an amazing job.
The music is another highlight of Shujinkou. The official soundtrack includes a staggering 158 tracks, and just as importantly, the tracks are stylistically diverse. In my opinion, the critical aspect of DRPG music is how it fits in with the environment, and I believe Shujinkou excels in this department. I also appreciate how the tracks build in intensity as you progress through the game.
Of course, no game is perfect, and I encountered a few minor issues throughout my playthrough, notably with the menus. For example, the colors used to confirm or cancel dialogue options are inconsistent. When selecting the auto-battle option, the confirm button is green, but it’s red when upgrading your skills in the menu. This inconsistency can occasionally result in confirming an option when you don’t intend to.
The town navigation is also a bit unwieldy at times. In the larger towns, there are often too many elements on the screen, which makes it difficult to know where you’re supposed to go. Additionally, a menu system to access shops, similar to the modern Persona games, would be a welcome feature. That said, the game deserves credit for highlighting the main story path and helping to mitigate some potential navigation issues.
Inspired by the Shin Megami Tensei series, the demon negotiation system also appears in this game. However, I found it to be a bit muted in comparison to Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance. In my experience, the chance of obtaining something valuable from a negotiation feels far too low to be worthwhile. Because you cannot recruit enemies in Shujinkou, the system loses part of its reward.
Finally, I found the inventory system to be rather outdated. You can only carry a total of 99 items of one type, such as materials or resources. Your storage also maxes out at the same limit, so you cannot hold on to items that you may want to keep for the future. Personally, I did not find any old items to be worth keeping, but they may be useful for certain side quests. To be clear, these are fairly minor issues, and the fact that I’m mentioning them at all is a testament to how great the game is.
Suffice it to say, Shujinkou is one of the most ambitious indie games I’ve ever played. It not only satisfies the DRPG craving, but also rivals the industry and genre giants in delivering a complete experience. Whether you’re a longtime fan of the genre or just curious to try something new, this is the one.
