Village In the Shade demo bullet point impressions
“Time moves in its own special way in the middle of the night.” Haruki Murakami, After Dark
It’s an accepted truth that not all games worth considering are covered in a Nintendo Direct. Such is the case with Village In the Shade, a farming sim coming to Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 from Nippon Ichi on October 27th. The timing is appropriate, because whereas it looks to be a cozy game during the daytime, NIS America warns you may not want to check who’s knocking on your door at night.
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to participate in an online demo of Village In the Shade. And as is my way, here are my 11 handy bulleted thoughts on the game.
- The visuals are immediately striking. The game features the typical overheard view of cute citizens and animals going about their daily business, but with a lushly detailed environment that effectively uses light and shadow for the creepier moments.
- It’s always nice to see games such as this deviate from the pixel art style in which they’re usually presented.
- The game takes place in Kagatsu, a peaceful, friendly, Japanese village that seems a perfect place to set up your farm and start interacting with the villagefolk…provided you’re willing to follow their rules.
- By day (Sunshine), you’ll engage in the typical farming sim activities: tend the crops, mine for resources, fish and hunt, build your relationship with the villagers, decorate your home, etc. But while this is going on, strange happenings and disturbing events will chip away at the idyllic lifestyle.
- At night (Shade), however, the village is haunted by ghosts. This explains the 11pm curfew, but it’s not long (14 days, to be precise) before you’re incentivized to break that rule and start digging deeper into the mysteries of Kagatsu.
- Staying out at night doesn’t just flesh out the story, however. It also allows you to collect special items and recipes, and learn new techniques to improve your daytime efficiency.
- Many of these items are obtained in the game’s “dungeons,” which can prove quite dangerous. If things aren’t going well, you have the ability to abandon them at will.
- While exploring at night, you’ll need to avoid ghosts and the other, more malevolent creatures that are out to get you. You don’t die if you’re caught, but you do lose precious hours the following day.
- Cozy? Sure. But the game does include its share of jumpscares, so be warned.
- The physical version of Village In the Shade will be a game key card only for Switch 2. The standard Switch version will have the game on the card, but there’s no official word on whether a Switch 2 upgrade will be free or if your saved-games will transfer.
- There’s also no announcement on plans for DLC.
Cozy/spooky farming sims have been gaining quite a lot of traction lately, and Village in the Shade looks like it could rank among the better ones.
If you’re looking for a creepy experience this Halloween without having to constantly make sure the doors and windows are locked while playing, keep this one in your bag of tricks. Or treats. Depends on the time of day, I suppose.
