Ningyo no Rakuin (2000)

Developer: Highwaystar
Publisher: NEC Interchannel
Platforms: PlayStation
Genres: Role-playing (RPG), Strategy

The 3D catalog: game boxes on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalog in 3D

The same catalog has a room you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real games from it when you tell them what you feel like playing. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this game is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

a tense, fast-moving descent into cosmic dread where tactical survival and creeping eldritch horror intertwine at every turn.

lovecraftian horrortensedread-filledtacticalfast-pacedominouscosmic horrorgrim

About

Ningyo no Rakuin is a tactical horror RPG inspired by the works of Howard Phillips Lovecraft. Between the fanatical quasi-human tribesmen, the Deep Ones rising from beneath the waves, and the grad student from Miskatonic University, there are more references to the Mythos than you can shake a shoggoth at. The plot itself is fast-paced, centering first on surviving the dangers of the island and later on rescuing the main character's girlfriend from a particularly nasty fate involving an unnamed Elder God and a transformation into a fishy abomination. Elements of the storyline play out before and after (and sometimes during) each battle, and the interludes between battle chapters include a short summary of recent events leading up to the current plot point.

Screenshots

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More by Highwaystar

This page is from Underplayed Gems, a catalog of older and overlooked games. Not quite it? You can browse by platform and genre, or take this one into the 3D catalog and ask the Catbot for something closer.