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.”
