Village in the Shade brings dark farming RPG mechanics

NIS America is releasing Village in the Shade in the West tomorrow, October 27, for PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam. Developed by Nippon Ichi Software, the studio behind Disgaea and Phantom Brave, the hand-painted farming sim launched in Japan as Honogurashi no Niwa on July 30. NIS America says it has since sold more than 250,000 copies in Japan alone.

Cozy farming with rules to follow

Players move to Kagatsu in Village in the Shade, a Japanese mountain village, where they plant crops, customize a homestead, fish, hunt, and befriend the locals. Festivals such as the summer festival and cherry blossom viewing are part of village life. The catch is a short list of rules: don't talk to strangers, don't leave the village, and don't go out at night. NIS America says players can follow them or discover the truth about Kagatsu at their own risk. For anyone who wants to skip the horror, Village in the Sunshine mode makes the rules impossible to break, leaving players free to farm, hunt, and fish at their own pace.

Launch update and DLC

A free update arrives on launch day for the worldwide versions. It adds a protagonist birthday event, which unlocks in year two, and, according to Siliconera, plumbing fixture furniture for building a bathroom. A paid DLC is planned for Spring 2027 with additional scenarios, new gameplay systems, standalone events, and new maps.

PC requirements and PS5 support

On Steam, the minimum specs for Village in the Shade are Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), an Intel Core i5-6400, 8 GB of RAM, a GeForce GTX 750 Ti, DirectX 11, and 9 GB of storage. The recommended specs are an Intel Core i5-12500, 16 GB of RAM, and a GeForce GTX 1650, with the same storage requirement. Steam has listed the game since July 29, with English support still to come. 

On PS5, the PlayStation Store lists vibration support for the DualSense wireless controller. A physical limited edition costs $89.99, and the Switch 2 copy in that set is a game key card. The Limited Edition also includes the 38-track soundtrack Sounds from the Shade.