Cozy life-sim games where you get to retreat to a rustic village for a relaxing, self-sufficient life on a farmstead are hardly in short supply--and, with so many stellar entries in this genre out there, a game following this formula needs a really good hook to stand out. Village in the Shade, a new release from NIS America on Switch, Switch 2, PlayStation 5, and PC, certainly looks the part of a cheerful, cozy farming game. But, as the phrase goes, looks can be deceiving--and, in this case, that deception runs deep.
You can tell something is off right from the tutorial, which sees you chasing after an escaped chicken, only to discover something rather distressing. What happens next only leaves you with more questions and some highly unsettling imagery. Somehow, after all this, your player character emerges, stumbling into Kagatsu Village in urgent need of care.
The Kagatsu villagers seem very attentive at first, but it quickly becomes clear that the people in charge aren't entirely altruistic. It feels like they see you less as a suffering victim and more as an engine to reap profits. You're thrown onto dirty farmland overrun with debris--which has been oh-so-kindly leased to you--and forced to sleep in a run-down shack that looks like it came from a match-3 mobile game ad. If you want to stay with the villagers, you're told, you will need to become one of them. And you'll have to work for it. Nobody will so much as speak to you until then.
When you finally raise your first, scant batch of turnips--and offer them in a ritual sacrifice ceremony--you're made an official Kagatsu citizen. But then come the rules. The rules must be followed. They're strange. Arbitrary. Controlling. Almost cult-like. "Do not expose another person's secrets." "Do not search for what was lost." "Do not approach strangers." And, the one most commonly emphasized: "Do not go outside after 11 PM."
But the people here seem nice enough, now that they're actually talking to you. Rokkaku's a single parent who runs the local restaurant and cares deeply for his adopted niece Yoh. Hasumi might not have a medical license, but she does seem to care deeply about everyone's health. Sazanka runs the general store and wants to provide the tools for your success. Kisuke might be crass and grumpy, but you can see that the builder has a good heart underneath it all. They'll teach you how to fish, how to set up animal pens, how to hunt for wild game, and how to build a variety of tools. They all seem like a pleasant bunch, even if they can be standoffish at first. (Well, except that sleazeball Konno. Guy has "manipulative crypto bro" written all over him.)
And yet, it feels like everyone's hiding something. You catch glimpses of strange behavior, snippets of conversations likely not meant for your ears. There are noises at night. People knocking on your door at ungodly hours, screaming incoherently. Oh, no, it's just Yoh; she's lonely and wants to sleep with the baby chick she adopted that lives in your pen. No harm will come of that, right?
Eventually, circumstance forces you to break that most sacrosanct of rules, and you step out during midnight. It's here that you come face-to-face with otherworldly abominations, chasing you, obstructing your vision, making the haptics on your controller go absolutely wild. You've seen something--many things, actually--that shouldn't have been seen by humans. You suspected it, expected it, and yet it’s still no less disturbing.
You begin second-guessing the motivations for everything. Submitting your produce at a town gathering for a public evaluation contest seems innocuous enough, but it happens mere days after you've been asked to either tithe or submit to a blood-gathering "medical exam" for reasons unknown. You can't help but wonder if hunting some animals might actually be an act of mercy, given what you know is lurking out there. And there are all of those areas that are conveniently, conspicuously blocked off. Sure, you’re going to open them as you progress, but what kind of progress do you have to make?
This is the reality of Kagatsu: a place that hides horrors beneath deceptively warm and inviting coziness. The graphics are beautifully drawn in a 2D, painterly style that's immediately appealing. The day-to-day life-sim gameplay is easy to pick up, and it's satisfying to build your farmstead enterprise from nothing. But even in its brightest moments--when you raise a bumper crop, finally craft that new setup that lets you make you make a new kind of foodstuff to sell, or help the townsfolk with their errands or give them thoughtful gifts--there's always that creeping, pitch-black shadow welling underneath.
I've been enthralled by Village in the Shade since I picked it up. It weaves its themes of deception and unease into a routine, leaving you in a bizarre emotional state of feeling both comfortable and on-edge. The contrast between the familiar warmth of a life-sim game and a hideous, horrifying underbelly is enthralling, and I find myself both eagerly anticipating and dreading every new development in my cozy town life. If you’re looking for a different kind of life-sim--or a different kind of horror game--you’d do well to take up your tools and join the village.