Weapon Shop de Omasse is the silliest game I’ve downloaded from the Nintendo eShop. And it’s as fun as it is silly.

Weapon Shop de Omasse is the fourth game from Level-5’s GUILD01 anthology, and the one that was previously missing from the initial Western release of the other GUILD01 games. Designed by comedian Yoshiyuki Hirai, Omasse is a game that defies traditional genre but contains elements of blacksmithing, merchant simulations, rhythm games and Twitter.

The game starts off with the Evil Lord being defeated by the legendary hero and swears vengeance upon the world as he dies. Many years have passed since that battle and rumors of the Evil Lord’s resurrection start spreading throughout the land. As a result, heroes all over have bought weapons in preparation for the Evil Lord’s return and in turn weapon shops have elected to raise their prices on their remaining weapons because of the lack of materials needed to produce them. Because of the high price of weapons, Yuhan, a blacksmith’s apprentice, has re-opened his weapons store as a rental shop.

Omasse is presented like a sitcom, with cast of quirky characters, incidental music and even reactions from a “live” studio audience. Various heroes and non-player characters come in to Yuhan’s store looking for weapons to rent for their quests. After listening to their story, you decide which weapon suits their needs and build it. The rental terms are as listed: if the quest is successful, the customer returns the rented weapon along with the fee, but if a customer loses the weapon or doesn’t make it back alive from a quest, then the weapon isn’t returned and no fees can be collected. 

In order to provide products, you must forge weapons. There’s a small range of weapons to make at first, but as more material comes in, you can create more powerful weapons for your customers. Weapons are forged by heating up the ore to optimum temperatures, and you must strike your hammer on the ore to the sound of the music for maximum durability and sharpness. After renting out the weapon, you’ll be able to check your customer’s quest progress on the Grindcast transmitter installed in every weapon. The Grindcast is a micro-blogging feed where your customers do a LiveTweet of their quest, including battle statistics and #hashtags. A lot of the dialogue in the game comes from the Grindcast and much of it is peppered with RPG jargon. Checking up on the Grindcast is recommended to see how your customers will be able to deal with hostile forces in future quests and to generally see if they’ll return alive with your weapon or not. As your shop goes up in reputation, you’ll get more customers and your regulars will be stronger, giving you incentive to forge stronger weapons so they can train until the inevitable return of the Evil Lord.

The GUILD series is full of original concepts and Weapon Shop de Omasse is no exception. RPG nuts will love this one, as well as those who enjoy weird Japanese rhythm games. It’s not a long game, but with solid gameplay and an emphasis on humor, Weapon Shop de Omasse is one experience you wouldn’t want to miss.

Hint: Polish your weapons every chance you get, whether it’s after forging a new weapon or receiving a returned weapon back from a customer. Polishing your weapons will increase their power, giving your customers a higher chance at survival.

by ray n. (@themistern)