Genpei Touma Den (Famicom) Guide by E. Phelps, ver. 1.0 (aka LastBossKiller) - - - = = = ================== = = = - - - - - - = = = === Disclaimer === = = = - - - - - - = = = ================== = = = - - - This document may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission by the author. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. Copyright 2015 E. Phelps ---Viewing This Document--- This document contains Japanese text. To view it correctly, set your browser or word processor to view "Shift-JIS" format. For example, if you are using Internet Explorer, using the dropdown menu, go to View -> Encoding -> More -> Japanese (Shift-JIS). You could, instead, open this document with Microsoft Word, and it will ask you about the encoding automatically, allowing you to select Shift-JIS. - - - = = = =================== = = = - - - - - - = = = ====== Intro ====== = = = - - - - - - = = = =================== = = = - - - Genpei Touma Den (or "The Genji and Heike Tale of the Demon's Demise") is an RPG/board game hybrid style game for the NES/Famicom, developed and published by Namco in 1988. It was originally packaged with a real board game, and you could play this video game on multi-player as part of the real board game. You can also play a one player mode which is a pretty fun and lightly challenging experience, and you don't need the physical board game for that at all. I thought it was fun because there's a time limit that makes the game suspenseful, but it's pretty easy once you know what to do. Apparently this game wasn't very well received in its day because it is based on an action style arcade game with beautiful graphics that people thought was fun. When they heard the NES version was a board game, they were upset. Your character (Kagekiyo) is pretty cool looking in the arcade, and in the NES version if you look at the status screen image you'll see him how he should be. Well, he kind of looks like he's in the band Kiss actually, but I still think he looks cool. He is based on a real samurai from over 800 years ago. The character was popular enough to be used in numerous cameos since then. The game is only in Japanese. There is almost no dialogue, so you'll be able to play without much Japanese knowledge. But unfortunately, all of the numbers are written using kanji symbols. So memorize these Japanese/Chinese versions of how you write numbers and it will help with this game: 1 一 2 二 3 三 4 四 5 五 6 六 7 七 8 八 9 九 For example: 638 = 六三八. If you know a little Japanese, you'll notice this is a little different than their normal way of writing numbers using 百 ("hundred") and 十 ("ten"). Strangely, the number zero is still written using the symbol "0" instead of the Japanese kanji (which is 零). - - - = = = =================== = = = - - - - - - = = = ====== Story ====== = = = - - - - - - = = = =================== = = = - - - In the year 1192, Yoritomo commanded a horde of evil demons to conquer Japan. The emperor has ordered the ferryman of the river Styx to bring Kagekiyo of the Heike clan back from the dead to fight against Yoritomo. Kagekiyo is based on a real samurai, and Yoritomo is based on a real Japanese shogun. Also at the center of this game are three sacred treasures which you must collect. These treasures are the real sacred treasures of Japan that have been passed down from emperor to emperor since ancient times and are still passed down today. They are the sword Kusanagi, the jewel Yasakani, and the mirror Yata. - - - = = = =================== = = = - - - - - - = = = = Getting Started = = = = - - - - - - = = = =================== = = = - - - After the title menu, you will be asked to select the number of players: ひとり - One ふたり - Two さんにん - Three よにん - Four You will then be asked to enter the names of each player. You will be given the Japanese "alphabet" and the command おわり ("End") to select when you're finished. After entering all players' names, you see a summary screen of your entries and are asked if this is correct. Say はい ("yes") to continue, or いいえ ("no") to start over. The next screen will tell you about the three sacred treasures. Press a button to go to another screen. This one will tell you where the three sacred treasures are located. You absolutely must remember these locations! At the center of the screen will be shown: くさなぎのつるぎ　　　？？？　　　のくに やさかにのまがたま　　？？？　　　のくに やたのかがみ　　　　　？？？　　　のくに The "???" above won't show question marks, it will show the names of the "lands" (Japanese fiefs) that each treasure is located within. Write them down or something because it's important and won't be repeated. The treasures are: the Kusanagi Sword (くさなぎのつるぎ), the Yasakani Magatama (やさかにのまがたま), and the Yata Mirror (やたのかがみ). Next, you'll be told the order of player turns and what land each player is starting in: (Turn number)　　(player name) (starting land) のくに On the next screen, you'll see the land name again at the very top of a blank window. This window will not be blank if the current land is owned by a player or Yoritomo, but since it's the first turn, it will be blank. At the bottom of the screen, you'll see something different depending on if you're playing one player or multi-player. One Player: At the very bottom line of the screen, you will see three numbers (written using Japanese kanji). The one on the far left represents the number of lands controlled by you (which is zero "00" right now since you just started). The number in the middle is the lands controlled by Yoritomo (which starts at 8, written "0八"). The final number, on the far right, is the number of uncontrolled lands (which starts at 34, written "三四"). Multi-Player: You'll be shown who is controlling the hero Kagekiyo (かげきよ) (it will be whoever's turn it is) next to the one player controller with the "I" symbol in it. You will also be shown which player will be controlling the monsters (まもの). Their name will be at the end of the line with the player two controller with the "II" symbol on it. As you will notice, whoever is controlling Kagekiyo will be using controller I, and the monster controller will use controller II, so you have to keep trading controllers all the time, even if you're playing with only two people. Next, whoever's turn it is will select a stick which will have a colored tip. This determines how hard the land will be (I'll explain in detail in the "Colored Sticks" section below). Then the game will start! - - - = = = =================== = = = - - - - - - = = = === How to Play === = = = - - - - - - = = = =================== = = = - - - I will explain everything for a one player game in detail, and then I'll explain what is different for a multi-player game in its own section at the end. ---Overview------------------------------------------------------------------ In a one player game, your goal is to slay Yoritomo. At the same time, both you and Yoritomo will be conquering lands. The tally of how many lands you each control will be shown everytime you begin a new area. You will get a game over if Yoritomo conquers all of the lands. You don't get game overs from dying. It is inevitable that Yoritomo will conquer all of the lands if you don't hurry, so you need to be efficient with your decisions. To beat the game, you must reach Yoritomo, who is in the land farthest to the Southeast. However, you'll also need to collect the three sacred treasures along the way in order to defeat him. ---Colored Sticks------------------------------------------------------------ When you enter a new area, you will always have to draw a stick from a row of six sticks. You pick it up and then you'll see a colored tip. These sticks supposedly determine how difficult the area will be. However, I can detect no difference in difficulty based on the sticks. The luck that you supposedly have based on your colored stick choice is indicated in the lower-left corner of the screen, to the right of your Toku value. The luck for each color is: Green - すえきち ("Luckiest") Red - だいきち ("Very luckyy") Pink - ちゅうきち ("Medium luck") White - しょうきち ("A little lucky") Light blue - きょう ("Bad luck") Blue - だいきょう ("Very bad luck") On a side note, I found (using save states) that it doesn't matter what stick you pick. They will all be the same color. Stupid! In other words, just pick the first stick every time since your choice doesn't matter. ---Conquering Lands---------------------------------------------------------- The map of Japan is divided into several "lands". Most of them can be conquered by capturing the castle. However, lands that show a Shinto shrine archway on the Japan map are lands that cannot be conquered. To capture a castle, search the paths in an area and pay attention to the signs that show a castle and some arrows to figure out what way to go. When you enter a castle, there are three possibilities: (1) If the land does not have a Shinto shrine archway on the map, you might be asked to pay a certain amount of money ("Zeni"). The amount is shown toward the lower-left side of the dialogue box. Say はい ("yes") and you will pay it (if you have enough). The guy will then give the land over to your control. If this land was controlled by Yoritomo, the amount you have to pay will be higher than normal. Sometimes, these guys will tell you to leave first (no numbers are shown in the dialogue), but when you say no, they will ask for money (a number will be shown in the dialogue box now). (2) If the land does not have a Shinto shrine archway on the map, you might be told to leave. Say いいえ ("no") and the castle guard/ruler/whatever he is will attack you. Defeat him and you will gain control of the land. If the land was already controlled by Yoritomo, this battle will be significantly harder. (3) If the land has a Shinto shrine archway, you will be asked to leave. Say no three times and the guy will pay you to leave, but you won't gain control of the land (since you can't control these, like I said). After successfully dealing with any of the above three scenarios, you will have your health refilled, you'll get some money and "Toku" (explained in the "Leveling Up" section), and you'll be asked to choose a new area to move to. The new area choices will be the areas adjacent to the one you just finished. You will get an extra Zeni and Toku bonus if there were any unspawned monsters still left in the portal (see the "Monster Portal" section). ---Area Fixtures------------------------------------------------------------- All areas will have a castle and castle icons with arrows telling you what way to go to find the castle. Other fixtures within areas are: Jizo statue: If you approach one of these statues, you will be able to pay money to have your health restored. For one Zeni (money), you will get three HP restored. Hold down the "A" button to pay for several very quickly. If you visit the same statue a second time, you will only get two HP healed for one Zeni. The third time, you will only get one HP healed for one Zeni. You will not be able to use the same statue four times. Small Shinto shrine archway: You can level up at these locations. See the "Leveling Up" section below for details. Large Shinto shrine archway: These are only located on lands that show a Shinto shrine archway on the main Japan map. By entering these, you can instantly warp to other lands that have a large Shinto shrine archway. Say はい ("yes") to warp, then choose your destination from the list that appears. It costs 50 Zeni to warp. These areas are all connected via the warps: あき, とさ, びぜん, いずみ, いずも, たじま. These areas are also all connected via a separate set of warps: いせ, かが, やまし, ろえちご. Treasure: Stepping onto one of these will give you a spell casting point, called a "spell card", which is entered as a little yellow notch below your candle meter. You can only use each treasure chest one time. Gate: These lead to other lands adjacent to your current location. As you get near the gate, its destination will be shown at the top of the screen. ---Leveling Up--------------------------------------------------------------- Your strength, defense, magic, and speed are all leveled up separately. To increase the levels of your stats, approach one of the small Shinto shrine archways. There are many per area. After switching to the archway screen, select はい ("yes") to enter the level building menu screen. You will see four menu options corresponding to your four attributes: けんりょく - "Sword strength" ようりょく - "Magic strength" ぼうぎょりょく - "Defensive strength" きびんさ - "Speed" The current level for each stat is shown on the right side. Each stat can achieve a maximum level of 16. Select a stat and press "A" to spend 50 Toku to upgrade it (if you have enough Toku, of course). Your Toku value is the third line shown to the left of your candle meter and is represented by what looks like a red orb. You get Toku by defeating monsters and capturing castles. If you try to use the same archway twice (meaning you left and came back), the cost will be 80 Toku to level up. The next two times you return, it will cost 120 Toku. The fifth time, you will not be allowed to use this archway any more. ---Money and Toku------------------------------------------------------------ You have two forms of currency in this game. The first is "Zeni", which is used to pay the Jizo statues to restore your health and is also used to pay some of the castle rulers to have them give their castle to you. Zeni is represented by the coin-like symbol that can be seen in the lower-left corner of the screen, just below the candle. The other currency is Toku. Toku is used to buy level upgrades at small Shinto shrine archways. It is represented by a red orb and can be seen in the lower-left corner of the screen, below the Zeni symbol. You gain Zeni and Toku by defeating enemies and capturing castles. You lose half your Zeni and Toku if you die. ---Health-------------------------------------------------------------------- Your health is represented by candles. During battle, you will see a candle meter, where the number of candles decreases as you get hit. Your number of candles is also shown numerically to the left of the candle meter, next to the candle symbol. This value is also shown in the lower-left portion of the screen while outside of battle. Your health can be restored by paying Zeni at the Jizo statues. It can also be restored by casting the Life Water (いのちのみず) spell. Also, your health is fully restored when you capture a castle. ---Monster Portal------------------------------------------------------------ While wandering around an area, there will constantly be monsters getting dropped from a portal. The number of monsters in the portal is shown in the lower-right corner of the screen. From left to right, it shows individually how many beast type, skeleton type, snake type, and human type monsters can still spawn. When the total number of monsters in the portal reaches zero, a timer will start ticking down. During that time, you will not be attacked by anything. But if the timer reaches zero, a whirlwind will appear. If it catches you, it will whisk you away to a random area. Generally, you will want to find the castle before this happens. If you capture the castle when there are still monsters left in the portal, you will gain some extra Zeni and Toku. ---Battles------------------------------------------------------------------- Battles are done in the typical turn-based RPG style. Your command options are limited to attacking, casting spells, and running away. It seems that running away very rarely works in this game. You always fight one enemy at a time. Like your HP, the enemy's HP is also represented by a candle meter. Drain these candles to zero by attacking the enemy to kill it. Enemies can use normal attacks, "deathblow" attacks, and special skills. Deathblow attacks are attacks where the enemy sacrifices some of his HP to inflict more damage on your character. The odds of the enemy missing are increased in those instances. Special skills change depending on the enemy. A lot of enemies don't have special skills, but the ones that do may be able to paralyze your player, put him to sleep, inflict heavier damage, taunt you, and so on. In two player mode, the second player can control the monsters during battle, so you'll get to see some of these special skills in more detail if you play two player. ---Spells-------------------------------------------------------------------- You start with the Senpuken (せんぷうけん) spell, which damages the enemy, and the Life Water (いのちのみず) spell, which restores your HP. To gain more spells, you must level up your magic strength (ようりょく) level. Often, you will gain one or more spells per level, but there are times when you will gain none. See the "Magic" section for more details. Casting spells requires the use of "spell cards". Outside of battle, these are represented by small yellow blocks to the right of your candle icon in the lower-left part of the screen. During battle, they are shown below your candle meter. The number of cards needed to cast a spell varies depending on the spell. It also drains your HP a little bit to cast most spells. You get more spell cards randomly after winning battles, by walking over treasure chests, and by capturing castles. ---Death--------------------------------------------------------------------- If you die, you will see the king of hades who asks you if you want to be revived. Choose はい ("yes"), of course. You will then spin a roulette wheel. Press "A" to stop each spin (3 in total). The symbols that you might land on are: Treasure chest, scroll, 生, 無, 死. Here are the possible combinations that will have an effect: (1) Get one spell card for each treasure chest landed. (2) Get a spell card if you stop on two scrolls. (3) Land on three 死 symbols and you lose all of your Zeni and Toku. If you die three times in the same area, you will be forced to leave the area. You will have to choose from a list of adjacent areas to move to. ---Multi-Player Game--------------------------------------------------------- The two player game is meant to be played with a real life physical board game. Without the board game, you can still play against your friend(s) with the game cartridge alone, but it won't be a complete experience. Players take turns controlling the main character and trying to capture castles just like in the one player version. There is no Yoritomo capturing lands, nor will you battle him at the end. You simply try to capture more lands than the other players. After each player has a turn, you will see a summary screen telling you the ranking of the players, how many lands they control, and how much taxes they receive from these lands: じゅんい ("rank") ねんぐ ("annual tribute") しはいこくすう ("controlled lands") During the multi-player game, one of the other players will control the monsters using the second controller. Press the direction arrows to move the monster portal around, press "B" to cycle between which type of monster you want to summon, then press "A" to drop one from the portal. The monster-controlling player will also control the monsters during battle. During battle, the second player will have the following attack options: ふつうにこうげき - "Normal attack" いちげきひっさつ - "Deathblow". Sacrifice HP to deal heavier damage. とくしゅこうげき - "Special attack". Only some monsters have these, and their effects vary depending on the monster. Oddly, the second player does not control the castle rulers during battle. One other notable difference about the multi-player is you have infinite spell cards. In fact, there is no spell card meter whatsoever during multi- player. I believe you were supposed to earn cards from the board game, and you would discard them from your hand to earn the right to cast spells in the video game. - - - = = = =================== = = = - - - - - - = = = ====== Menus ====== = = = - - - - - - = = = =================== = = = - - - ---Walking Menu-------------------------------------------------------------- While walking around, press any button to bring up the following menu options: つよさ - "Strength". Brings up the status menu. じゅもん - "Spells" じょうせい - "Condition". Shows the lands controlled by Yoritomo. ちゅうだん - "Break". Pauses the game. Press a key to return. ---Status Menu--------------------------------------------------------------- Shows the following stats: いのち - "Life" ぜに - "Zeni" とく - "Toku" けんりょく - "Sword strength" ようりょく - "Magic strength" ぼうぎょりょく - "Defensive strength" きびんさ - "Speed" Below your character's portrait, you are shown your current "Luck" (うんせい), which was determined by drawing the stick with the colored tip. At the bottom of the screen, you are shown how many lands you control: しはいこくすう - "Number of controlled lands" And you're shown how much income you receive from these: ねんぐそうすう - "Amount of annual tribute" The annual tribute is mostly important just for multi-player. ---Battle Menu--------------------------------------------------------------- During battle, you have the following menu options: たたかう - "Fight". Regular physical attack. じゅもん - "Spell". Use magic. にげる - "Run". Escape from battle. - - - = = = ======================== = = = - - - - - - = = = ===== Walkthrough ====== = = = - - - - - - = = = ======================== = = = - - - This walkthrough refers specifically to the one player mode. ---Game Start---------------------------------------------------------------- Make sure you note the three lands in which the three sacred treasures are located, as told to you at the beginning of the game (see the "Getting Started" section of this faq). ---Level Building------------------------------------------------------------ During your first few areas, you should be fighting monsters to gain Zeni and Toku, spending Zeni at the Jizo statues to recover HP when you get low, and buying a few stat level ups when you can. You should upgrade your attack and defense a couple times, then upgrade your magic strength to level 3. At level 3, you will learn the Kamaitachi spell, which will help you defeat a few of the tougher enemies you will meet during the early portion of the game. There is no reason to level up your spells past this until the end of the game. So just focus on your attack and defense after that. The speed attribute is also something you can procrastinate on leveling up. You should have no trouble defeating the castle rulers even if you don't level up at all, although you will want to start the battle at near max HP. ---Moving on the Map--------------------------------------------------------- When entering new areas, you want to keep moving toward the countries where the three sacred treasures are. Capture the castle each time you enter an area since Yoritomo will continue to conquer lands himself and you will lose if he captures them all. Avoid the lands that have a large Shinto shrine archway on the map since you can't capture them. However, they are convenient for warping and can get you closer to the countries where the three sacred treasures are located if you want to jump ahead. But you might find the enemies to be more difficult there, so you don't necessarily want to rush ahead so fast until you have a chance to level up a bit. ---Yoritomo Conquered Lands-------------------------------------------------- As the game progresses, you'll reach lands that Yoritomo controls. The castle rulers are much stronger in these lands. You will probably need to use the Kamaitachi spell three times to defeat them, at least until you manage to level up your attack and defense a lot more. ---Three Sacred Treasures---------------------------------------------------- To get the sacred treasures, visit the three kingdoms referred to at the beginning of the game. Capture the castles in these lands just like in any other land and you will receive the sacred treasures automatically. The Kusanagi Sword will increase your attack power, the Yata Mirror will defend against Yoritomo's magic attack, and I don't know what the Yasakani Magatama does, but I would guess it increases your magic power. ---The Emperor's Charm------------------------------------------------------- If you visit the area Yamashiro (やましろ) and enter the castle, you will appear in a "hidden" area, Kyoto. Make your way to the castle in Kyoto and you will meet the emperor. He gives you a charm. If you look at the status menu, you will see that there is the symbol 京 located at the top of the screen now. As far as I can tell, there is no benefit to doing this other than to get a higher "score" when you beat the game, so you can skip this if you like. ---Yoritomo------------------------------------------------------------------ You want to reach the land of Sagami (さがみ), located in the Southeast corner of the map. As you pass through the differently colored lands in the Eastern part of the map, you will find that you cannot capture them, just like the lands with a large Shinto shrine archway. In Sagami, enter the castle and you will be taken to a new screen. On that screen, head to the top of the map to find Yoritomo's castle. Make sure your HP is high before entering, and preferably you have a lot of spell cards and all your attribute levels maxed at 16 by now. Enter the castle to battle Yoritomo. If you have 6 or more spell cards, cast Thunder (らいめい) on Yoritomo to deal big damage. Otherwise, just attack and he shouldn't be too hard. Once defeated he will change into his "true" form, some kind of demon. Use Thunder (らいめい) to deal big damage and attack to finish him off. He will waste his turn sometimes trying to cast a spell that the Yata Mirror repels. After defeating Yoritomo, you will see the ending text. You will then be shown the status screen to show you your final status. Press "A" to change to a black screen with some text telling you what your ranking was for this playthrough (sort of like your final score). Press "Select" while on this screen to see the staff credits. Here are a couple rankings I achieved. I don't know if these are supposed to be good or not: 関白 - "Chief advisor to the emperor". I had the three treasures, all attributes at level 16 and controlled 7 lands. 中納言 - "Chunagon". Same as the above, but I only controlled two lands, and I also had the emperor's charm. - - - = = = =================== = = = - - - - - - = = = ====== Magic ====== = = = - - - - - - = = = =================== = = = - - - Here are the spells you will learn during the game, including what level your "magic strength" needs to be in order to learn them. Life Water (いのちのみず) - Restore some HP. Cost: 1 spell card. Learned: LV 1. Senpuken (せんぷうけん) - Damage the enemy. Cost: 1 spell card. Learned: LV 1. Sleep Powder (ねむりごな) - Put enemy to sleep. Cost: 1 spell card and 2 HP. Learned: LV 2. Kamaitachi (かまいたち) - Damage the enemy. Cost: 1 spell card and 3 HP. Learned: LV 3. Turtle Shell (かめごうら) - Increase defense for the current battle. Cost: 1 spell card and 3 HP. Learned: LV 3. Castle Flight (とびしろ) - Instantly teleport to this area's castle. Cost: 6 spell cards. Learned: LV 4. Binding - (かなしばり) - Decrease enemy's attack and defense. Cost: 2 spell cards and 5 HP. Learned: LV 5. Hiding Coat (かくれみの) - The monster portal disappears for a little while. Cost: 3 spell cards. Learned: LV 5. Hellfire (じごくび) - Damage the enemy. Cost: 2 spell cards and 6 HP. Learned: LV 6. Buddha (おしゃかさま) - In one player: Increase your Zeni and Toku. In multi- player, you have a choice of one of the following wishes: Raise one of your attributes by 5 levels. Receive one of the sacred treasures. Warp to Kyoto. Have very good luck for the next three turns. Receive 3 spell cards. Cost: 6 spell cards. Learned: LV 8. King of Hades (えんまさま) - Effective in multi-player mode only. Summon the king of Hades to fulfill your choice of one of the following: Steal a sacred treasure from a player. One other player will have very bad luck for the next three turns. Decrease one of a player's attributes by 5 levels. Make a player lose all his/her spell cards. A player cannot use spells on his/her next turn. Cost: 6 spell cards. Learned: LV 8. Thunder (らいめい) - Damage the enemy. Cost: 3 spell cards and 10 HP. Learned: LV 10. Chihendo (ちへんどう) - All monsters disappear from the monster portal. Cost: 8 spell cards. Learned: LV 16. - - - = = = ================== = = = - - - - - - = = = === Conclusion === = = = - - - - - - = = = ================== = = = - - - I hope you found this guide useful. If you have information that you'd like to contribute or other suggestions for how the guide can be made better or if you find any mistakes, please send it to lastbosskiller@gmail.com. I will give you the proper credit for your help. Thanks to the NES FAQ Completion Project regulars for providing a fun environment for exploring old, obscure games!