Homemade “Zelda” Hits Xbox 360 Indie Games

The Xbox 360 summer system update came with a flood of Japanese developed Indie games like Fenak Mura Monogatari (Fenak Village Story), an action-adventure game inspired by The Legend of Zelda.

In Fenak Village Story you play a sword wielding hero that explores top down dungeons filled with switch puzzles. Sound familiar? While the style and even the puzzles are reminiscent of the NES classic there are some differences. Instead of hearts you have HP and there’s a MP meter.

Curious? You can play a timed demo for free. Log on to Xbox Live and look for the pictured listing. Since the game is in Japanese I wrote up a mini-guide to help players get into the first dungeon.

– The first option in the main menu starts the game.
– After you get out of bed walk into the house next door.
– You automatically talk to people (and read signs) when you run into them.
– Technically, you can start the quest now, but you mind as well spend your 50 gold coins!
– Walk right into the brown house, it’s a shop. You can buy potions here, but I would pick either the Fast Running Shoes (they look like winged boots) or the Magic Wand. The running shoes let you move twice as fast when you hold RB. The magic wand shoots a fire explosion when you press A.
– When you decide what you want to buy walk up to the item and press X to purchase it.
– Now you’re ready for the dungeon! Walk past the happy flame into the castle.
– If you’re running low on health or magic hit start and go to the second option (“tools”) to drink a potion.
– TIP: press Y to pick up and throw things.

The full game costs 240 Microsoft Points ($3).