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Set in 1582, the player assumes the role of an Iga ninja whose village has been destroyed by the conquest of the demonic warlord Oda Nobunaga. The ninja must travel across feudal Japan, enlisting the aid of numerous ninja, sages, hermits, ronin, samurai, wizards and other companions, in order to avenge his clan. The game is a fictitious account of the end of Oda Nobunaga’s campaign to conquer and unify all of Japan.
The beginning of the game references the rebellion of Akechi Mitsuhide at Honnō-ji Temple, where the historical Nobunaga died by committing seppuku. The time of the game over point (the year 1601) would be just prior to the birth of the Tokugawa shogunate under Tokugawa Ieyasu. The actual game begins in the year 1582. If the player does not kill Nobunaga by the end of year 1601, the game is over.
Several hazardous dungeons stand in the path of victory, as well as a selection of optional dungeons which can be played in any order the player chooses. There are 18 dungeons overall. Encounters with monsters and outlaws occur randomly in dungeons and in the game’s world map, during which the player characters and NPCs can move around the battlefield in turn-based fashion to attack, cast magic spells and use items.
To complete the game, the player must recruit NPCs in order to successfully survive dungeons and large scale battles. In order to recruit other characters, the player must build up a certain degree of trust by talking with them at tea houses and inns. Most of the NPCs can be recruited: characters of rival clans are not likely to join the player.
