Inindo: Way of the Ninja (1991). Play Free Online

Summary

Inindo: Way of the Ninja blends classic console RPG vibes with a light strategy layer. You wander a sprawling world map, pop into towns and plunge into turn‑based battles seen from a third‑person angle, moving characters around the battlefield to melee, range, magic or item attacks.

The party expands by recruiting a huge cast of characters—ninjas, samurai, sages and even mystical wizards—once you earn enough trust through conversations at inns and tea houses. Building goodwill with feudal lords unlocks spying missions and lets you sway province‑wide wars against the warlord Nobunaga, turning the campaign into a sandbox of diplomacy and sabotage.

There are 18 dungeons to clear, plus optional ones you can tackle in any order. After the first quest the game randomly forks onto a “normal” or “magician” path, the latter flooding encounters with Western mythic monsters like Hellhounds. The SNES version trims character names for the screen, but retains the deep mix of adventure, magic, and epic military strategy that defines the title.

Storyline

In Inindo: Way of the Ninja, the story opens in 1582 with an Iga ninja whose village has been razed by the demonic warlord Oda Nobunaga. Determined to avenge his clan, the protagonist journeys across feudal Japan, recruiting a diverse cast of allies—including other ninja, sages, hermits, ronin, samurai, and even wizards—to challenge Nobunaga’s expanding empire.

The narrative weaves a fictional conclusion to Oda’s real‑world campaign to unify the country, culminating in the famous Honnō‑ji incident where Akechi Mitsuhide rebels and Nobunaga meets his end by seppuku. Throughout the adventure, players confront historical and supernatural threats while shaping the fate of the nation.

The game’s timeline ends in 1601, just before the rise of the Tokugawa shogunate under Tokugawa Ieyasu, leaving the future of Japan hanging in the balance.

Edited by Maya Carter