Draft:Shiren 5 Vita:Location

Locations to unlock and explore. As with previous games in the series, the bulk of the game's content is only accessible "Post-Credits", after beating the main dungeon and completing the main storyline. The game's locations can be broken down into six categories.

Run Counter

Entering some locations such as the Training Facility do not count as a "run", so your run counter is not incremented and the opportunities available in the starting villages are not refreshed. But entering the Tower of Fortune or any bonus dungeon does increment the run counter and does reset the opportunities in the starting villages, regardless of whether you win, lose, or escape the run.

Town Locations

Starting Villages

"Starting Villages" refers to Inori Village and Nekomaneki Village and all the sub-locations therein. It is not a term used by the game itself. Taken together, these are effectively a large, playable, interactive menu. In these villages, the player can interact with a large number of shops and Characters, advance quests, unlock game elements, and manipulate inventory, all in relative safety, without starting a potentially risky dungeon run. Almost all other locations can be reached from somewhere within these two villages.

A case could be made for grouping all "rest areas" together-that is Inori Village, Nekomaneki Village, Tower of Fortune Entrance, Hermit's Hermitage and Sparrow's Inn-could be considered as a category. Why? Because all five of these locations are non-combat rest areas, this is a full set of significant non-combat interactive areas, you can launch 100% of dungeon runs and other locations (once you've unlocked access to them) from somewhere within these 5 locations and after beating the Tower of Fortune, you unlock the "Sparrow Transport".

The sparrow transport lets you travel directly from the east side of Nekomaneki Village out to the three other rest areas without needing to travel through a combat area. All this being said, Sparrow Transport is one-way only, so using it is not as safe as it means you have committed to a dungeon run.. The three remote rest areas are different from other starting villages.

Villages

Category	Name		In-Game Description
	English	Japanese
Starting Village	Inori Village	イノリの里	None
Starting Village	Nekomaneki Village	ネコマネキ村	None
Entrance	Tower of Fortune Entrance		None
Village	Hermit's Hermitage		None
Village	Sparrow's Inn		None

Dungeons

A summary of all locations in The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate, sorted by category and then sorted roughly by how quickly you can gain access to them.

Tutorial Dungeon

There is a location between the two Starting Villages that is easy to forget. Ouma Shrine is a very simple training dungeon that initially separates the two Starting Villages. Once you beat it for the first time, it disappears forever and can never be accessed again, leaving an unfettered 2-way connection between the 2 villages.

Main Dungeons

This category includes a large set of locations that comprise the main dungeon of the game. It includes everything from Destiny Trail through Miracle Alcove. The Tower of Fortune is special in many ways, including the fact that it's a mixture of combat areas, rest areas, cutscenes, and boss fights, and including the fact that you can divert off the Tower of Fortune dungeon path to launch other dungeons as well once completing the Tower of Fortune the first time. The main storyline of the game centers around clearing this initial dungeon. See the Tower of Fortune page for a map and details of each sub-location. Note also that the game tracks expert badges for the Tower of Fortune as a whole.

Puzzle Sets

These are similar to but distinct from bonus dungeons. Puzzle sets are groups of related puzzles all launched from the same locations and all using the same rules, which may or may not involve a twist over and above baseline rules. Each individual puzzle is preset, not randomly generated, and usually consists of a single floor. Puzzles are not dangerous; you can fail but you can't really die in the same way as you can in a dungeon. Entering a puzzle doesn't count as "starting a run", and leaving it doesn't reset your opportunities in the Starting Villages. You can replay a puzzle as often as you wish, and you can reset or leave the puzzle at any time. You can't take items into a puzzle and start each puzzle with an empty inventory, but, if you were carrying items when you started a puzzle, you get them back after leaving the puzzle, whether or not you solved it. You don't get to keep the items you collected in a puzzle when you are done, but for most puzzle sets, you get a reward item when you beat each individual puzzle for the first time. Some puzzle sets are deliberately set up as game training opportunities to play at your own pace, and even go so far as to offer commentary / tips, or to otherwise modify things for instructive purposes as you step on certain locations or perform certain actions. Some puzzle sets are more difficult, but even these are great opportunities to learn about various arcane aspects of the game in safety. If there's something you've always wanted to learn or test, you can likely find a puzzle with the right conditions to help you learn or test it. There are no expert badges available for puzzles or puzzle sets.

Minigames

There is only one minigame in The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate — Explosion Rocks. It is different enough from the other categories that it can't fairly be grouped with any of them. It is a randomly generated game most akin to Minesweeper but with a Shiren twist. You can't take your items in, so you must store them before starting or lose them, but you do get to keep items you find in the minigame if you win. Each minigame is randomly generated at one of three difficulty levels. See the Explosion Rocks detail page for further details.

Bonus Dungeons

About Bonus Dungeons

The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate has a whopping 30 bonus dungeons; 11 from the original Shiren 5, 16 additional dungeons from the PlayStation Vita port and 3 exclusive dungeons from the Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows ports. There are two sub-types of bonus dungeons, but they are so similar that they aren't worth separating into different categories. The 1st sub-type was built-in to the original Japanese version of Shiren 5. These tend to be accessible from unique locations, but only after being unlocked by completing various side quests. Once unlocked, you can also jump to these bonus dungeons from the Sparrow Transport. The 2nd sub-type was available as downloadable or bonus content in the Japanese and PlayStaion Vita version of Shiren 5 Vita, but are included for free in the English version and later ports. These bonus dungeons tend not to be locked but are available right away from the Dungeon Center in Nekomaneki Village, and the Sparrow Transport doesn't take you to them.

If you want to do everything it's possible to do in this game, the lion's share of your dungeon gameplay time will be spent in these bonus dungeons. Considering the Tower of Fortune as the baseline, bonus dungeons tend to be much more dangerous and difficult, entering them tends to risk or outright discard the items and Gitan you are holding, you usually get to keep the items and Gitan you have on hand if you win, and they tend to have a twist on the baseline rules or a difference in game balance emphasizing one particular aspect of Shiren play. For example, one bonus dungeon focuses on shops, one focuses on Gitan-eating equipment, one focuses on monster licenses, one focuses on nighttime play, etc…

Escalating Goals

Most bonus dungeons start with an easier/shorter end goal, but after you beat them once, the end goal becomes harder and stays there, with no way to play the shorter version ever again. Beating the initial, shorter goal counts as a victory in your Adventure Log. The game doesn't make it obvious if you've ever beaten the hardest version of a dungeon that is, exited using the staircase on the deepest floor. If you're trying to beat the hardest version of every dungeon, you'll need to track this yourself. There are unusual ways to achieve victory in some bonus dungeons such as Inori Cave, and can't assume that 2+ victories in a given dungeon means you exited from the deepest floor. Note that going from a goal of 50 F to 99 F can be three to ten times as hard. If you are lucky and maximize the opportunities you receive in the early floors, you can stay ahead of the power curve and have an easier time racing to the end if need be.

For the real fans of the roguelike genre, the game tracks eight expert badges for some dungeons. Usually the dungeons that were built-in to the Japanese version of the game originally, not DLC dungeons. The set of expert badges is different for different locations, but there are always 8 for locations that offer expert badges. To obtain an expert badge, you must beat the dungeon while adhering to a very difficult constraint, such as winning without ever directly attacking a monster. You can learn more about the specifics of each expert badge by viewing the expert badges in your Adventure Log and using the left shoulder button.

Dungeon Configurations

See the page: Identifying Items.

Dungeons can be configured and specialized in a large number of ways—what monsters appear, at what depths, what items appear, at what depths, how items appear — pre-placed, monster drops, in regular shops, etc… — which categories of items are pre-identified, whether or not new items can appear, whether or not the dungeon experiences day or night or both, and more. Some configuration options are displayed in the UI before you enter the bonus dungeon, and these have been replicated to the summary chart below. Others are more hidden and have been worked out by the player community. See the individual location page for full information on all configuration options for that location. However, one caveat is worth pointing out here. A given dungeon configuration may say that scrolls are not pre-identified in that dungeon. However, some scrolls are always identified, no matter what the dungeon configuration says.

Dungeons

A summary of all locations in The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate, sorted by progress on the game. Click on a location's name for details about that location.

Main Story

Category	Name		In-Game Description
	English	Japanese
Tutorial Dungeon	Ouma Shrine	オウマのほこら	None
Main Dungeon	Destiny Trail	運命の小道現	None
Main Dungeon	Tower of Fortune	フォーチュンタワー	None
Puzzle Set	Training Facility	試しの修行場	None
Puzzle Set	Night Training Facility	夜の修行場	None
Puzzle Set	Statue Cave	石像の洞窟	None
Minigame	Explosion Rocks	爆発の岩場	None

Post-Credits

Category	Name		In-Game Description
	English	Japanese
Bonus Dungeon	Underground Manor	地底の館	None
Bonus Dungeon	Inori Cave	イノリの洞窟	Note: Pray to the Catstone
Bonus Dungeon	Pitfall of Life	人生の落し穴	Note: Cannot level up
Bonus Dungeon	Old Road	旧道	Note: Fullness depletes in real time
Bonus Dungeon	Onigiri Hollow	おにぎり穴	Note: Exiting a room makes it vanish
Bonus Dungeon	Heavenly Lake	天上の池	Note: Dropping items makes them vanish
Bonus Dungeon	Gen's Turf	ゲンさんのシマ	Note: Control the monsters!
Bonus Dungeon	Bizarre Tower	異次元の塔	Note: Reach the Floor 15 stairs, which lead to a special floor
Bonus Dungeon	Destiny's Descent	運命の地下	Note: Very mysterious dungeon
Bonus Dungeon	Primordial Chasm	原始に続く穴	Note: An even more mysterious dungeon
Bonus Dungeon	Lost Well	迷いの井戸	Note: Can use upgraded items

New Dungeons

The new dungeons that were not present in the original game are listed below. They are all accessible in Nekomaneki Village's Dungeon Center, on the north-west desk.

Category	Name		In-Game Description
	English	Japanese
Bonus Dungeon	Hunter Pond	ハンターの池	Note: Steal items from monsters
Bonus Dungeon	Warning Valley	警告の谷	Note: Explore with a step limit
Bonus Dungeon	Page of Youth	青春の1ページ	Note: Use the Complicated Scroll
Bonus Dungeon	Rousing Paradise	わくわくパラダイス	Note: Monster spawning paradise
Bonus Dungeon	Merchant's Hideout	商人の隠れ家	Note: Consumable items are rare
Bonus Dungeon	Froggo's Fury	ガマラの逆襲	Note: Gitan will be tight!
Bonus Dungeon	Master's Footprint	玄人の足跡	Note: Mysterious, but no heal items
Bonus Dungeon	Aura Ruins	オーラの遺跡	Note: Monsters have auras
Bonus Dungeon	Sleeping Lands	眠りの大地	Note: Permanent night
Bonus Dungeon	Double Strike Trail	二撃の道	Note: You and enemies fall in two hits
Bonus Dungeon	Gorger's Manor	食いしん坊の館	Note: Get stuffed with special onigiri
Bonus Dungeon	Storm Forest	あらしの森	Note: Forest of the Field Knave
Bonus Dungeon	Monster Hotspot	モンスター集会所	Note: Monsters on floors where the 1st digit is 9
Bonus Dungeon	Perilous Rocks	波乱の岩場	Note: Monster houses are likely to appear
Bonus Dungeon	Trapper's Sandbox	ワナ師の箱庭	Note: Can only level by defeating enemies with traps
Bonus Dungeon	Aksys Challenge	ファミ通の挑戦状	Note: Run away!