Draft:Shiren 5 DS:Location
Index of Shiren 5 Locations
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Note! Each location detail page has spoilers for that location along with helpful hints about how to beat that location. (Generally speaking, there are unprotected spoilers for this game throughout this wiki.) For general strategy tips, see the Strategy page.
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Shiren 5 locations can be broken down into 4 categories:
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Category 1: Starting Villages
"Starting Villages" refers to Inori Village and Nekomaneki Villageand 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 NPCs, advance quests, unlock game elements, and manipulate inventory, all in relative safety, without starting a potentially risky dungeon run. Almost all dungeon runs and puzzle sets can also be started from somewhere within these two villages.
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A case could be made for grouping all "rest areas" together, e.g. including Tower of Fortune Entrance, Hermit's Hermitage, and Sparrow's Inn along with Inori Village and Nekomaneki Village. Why? Because (a) these are all non-combat rest areas, (b) these are all of the significant and important interactive areas, excluding non-combat cutscene locations, (c) you can launch 100% of dungeon runs and puzzle sets (once you've unlocked access to them) from somewhere within these 5 locations, and (d) after beating the Tower of Fortune you unlock the "Sparrow Transport" which lets you travel directly from the east side of Nekomaneki Village out to these other rest areas without going through combat areas. All this being said, Sparrow Transport is one-way only, so using it necessarily means you've committed to a dungeon run and thus it is not 100% safe. So for now I'm not lumping all the rest areas together and instead you can read more about other rest areas on the Tower of Fortune page.
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There is another location between the two Starting Villages that is easy to forget. Ouma Shrine is a one-time-only, very simple training dungeon that initially separates the two Starting Villages then disappears after you beat it for the first time, leaving an unfettered 2-way connection between the 2 villages. As it doesn't fit anywhere better, I'm putting it here in the Starting Villages category. (A case could be made for considering it a trivial Puzzle Set as well.)
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Category 2: Main Dungeon (aka Tower of Fortune)
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. 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. There are many not-super-interesting locations along the way (some of which are actually called "Tower of Fortune" but most of which are not), so rather than have a dedicated page for each of them, see the Tower of Fortune page for a map and details. Also, the game tracks expert badges for the Tower of Fortune as a whole.
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Category 3: Puzzle Sets
These are similar to but distinct from bonus dungeons. Puzzle sets are groups of related puzzles all launched from the same location(s) and all using the same rules (which may or may not involve a twist over and above baseline Shiren 5 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 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 you get your items back after leaving the puzzle, whether or not you solved it. (So, unlike bonus dungeons, you don't need to store your equipment before starting a puzzle.) 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.
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Category 4: Bonus Dungeons
Shiren 5 has many bonus dungeons (27 or 28 depending on how you count them), some of which are only available "post-game" after beating the Tower of Fortune at least once. Some of them are not easy to unlock. This external webpage has great info about unlocking the ones that are more difficult to unlock, not all of which has been replicated to this wiki yet. 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, these dungeons tend to be more dangerous and difficult, entering them tends to risk (or outright discard) the items/gitan you are holding, you usually get to keep the items/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.. Typically, each bonus dungeon starts with a shorter end goal, but after you beat it once, its end goal becomes floor 99 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, achieved a victory by using the staircase on 99F), so hardcore players trying to beat 99F of every dungeon will need to track this themselves. (Because there are unusual ways to achieve victory in some bonus dungeons, you can't simply assume that 2 or more victories means you beat 99F.) Note also that going from a goal of 50F to 99F is about 3x (or even 10x) as hard, not just 2x as hard. For the real masochists, the game tracks 8 expert badges for some dungeons and for the Tower of Fortune, though not the same 8 for each dungeon. To obtain an expert badge, you must beat the dungeon while adhering to some constraint that seems absurdly difficult, such as no direct attacks or no use of either shields or bracelets. 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. (Open question #1: it's not entirely clear what increments the game's run counter and what resets the opportunities in the Starting Villages. Playing the main Tower of Fortune definitely does so. In at least one case, failing a bonus dungeon did not reset the opportunities. Open question #2: is it possible to get expert badges when you play the first, easier version of the dungeon, or are they only available on the full 99F difficulty? They don't show up in your Expert Badge game menu until you've beaten the dungeon for the first time, but that doesn't necessarily mean you can't win one on your first run if you know the constraint to adhere to.)
Summary Chart
| Category | Name | Prerequisite(s) | Entrance(s) | Entrance(s) Details | Start Level | Allies In | Rescues | Items In | Items Out | Day / Night | Puzzles | Initial Floors | Final Floors | In-Game Description |
| Starting Village | Inori Village | (None) | (Start)
Neko. Village |
(Middle of S edge)
Take main road W |
(None) | |||||||||
| Starting Village | Ouma Shrine | Talk to Jirokichi | Inori Village | Take main road E
(until Ouma Shrine beaten) |
(None) | |||||||||
| Starting Village | Nekomaneki Village | Beat Ouma Shrine | Inori Village
Ouma Shrine |
Take main road E
(after Ouma Shrine beaten) Use final floor staircase |
(None) | |||||||||
| Main Dungeon | Tower of Fortune | (None) | Neko. Village | Take main road E | 1 | 3 | 3 | Y | Y | Both | N/A | 35 | 35 | (None) |
| Puzzle Set | Training Facility | (None) | Inori Village | Talk to lady in Beg. House | 1 | 0 | N/A | Saved | N | Day | 54 | 1 | 1 | (None) |
| Puzzle Set | Night Training Facility | Talk to hermit near N exit of Hermit's Hermitage | Inori Village
H. Hermitage |
Talk to hermit in Beg. House
Talk to hermit near N exit |
1 | 0 | N/A | Saved | N | Both | 1 | 3 | 3 | (None) |
| Puzzle Set | Statue Cave | (None) | Neko. Village | Dungeon Center, SW desk | 1 | 0 | N/A | Saved | N | Day | 150 | 1 | 1 | (None) |
| PS/BD* | Explosion Rocks | (None) | Neko. Village | Dungeon Center, NE desk | 1 | 0 | N/A | N | Y | Day | 3 | 5 | 5 | (None) |
| Bonus Dungeon | Underground Manor | (None) | Neko. Village | Dungeon Center, NW desk | 1* | 0 | 0* | N | 4* | Day | N/A | 10* | 99* | (None) |
| Bonus Dungeon | Hunter Pond | (None) | Neko. Village | Dungeon Center, NW desk | 1 | 0 | 0 | N | Y | Day | N/A | 29 | 50 | Note: Steal items from monsters |
| Bonus Dungeon | Warning Valley | (None) | Neko. Village | Dungeon Center, NW desk | 1 | 0 | 3 | Y | Y | Day | N/A | 50 | 99 | Note: Explore with a step limit |
| Bonus Dungeon | Page of Youth | (None) | Neko. Village | Dungeon Center, NW desk | 1 | 0 | 3 | N | Y | Day | N/A | 29 | 50 | Note: Use the Complicated Scroll |
| Bonus Dungeon | Rousing Paradise | (None) | Neko. Village | Dungeon Center, NW desk | 1 | 0 | 0 | N | Y | Day | N/A | 50 | ??? | Note: Monster spawning paradise |
| Bonus Dungeon | Merchant's Hideout | (None) | Neko. Village | Dungeon Center, NW desk | 1 | 0 | 3 | Y | Y | Day | N/A | 50 | 99 | Note: Consumable items are rare |
| Bonus Dungeon | Froggo's Fury | (None) | Neko. Village | Dungeon Center, NW desk | 1 | 0 | 3 | N | Y | Day | N/A | 29 | 50 | Note: Gitan will be tight! |
| Bonus Dungeon | Master's Footprint | (None) | Neko. Village | Dungeon Center, NW desk | 1 | 0 | 3 | N | Y | Day | N/A | 50 | ??? | Note: Mysterious, but no heal items |
| Bonus Dungeon | Aura Ruins | (None) | Neko. Village | Dungeon Center, NW desk | 1 | 0 | 0 | N | Y | Day | N/A | 10 | 30 | Note: Monsters have auras |
| Bonus Dungeon | Sleeping Lands | (None) | Neko. Village | Dungeon Center, NW desk | 1 | 0 | 3 | N | Y | Night | N/A | 29 | 50 | Note: Permanent night |
| Bonus Dungeon | Double Strike Trail | (None) | Neko. Village | Dungeon Center, NW desk | 1 | 0 | 3 | N | Y | Day | N/A | 50 | 99 | Note: You and enemies fall in two hits |
| Bonus Dungeon | Gorger's Manor | (None) | Neko. Village | Dungeon Center, NW desk | 1 | 3 | 3 | Y | Y | Day | N/A | 50 | 50 | Note: Get stuffed with special onigiri |
| Bonus Dungeon | Storm Forest | (None) | Neko. Village | Dungeon Center, NW desk | 1 | 0 | 0 | N | Y | Day | N/A | 50 | ??? | Note: Forest of the Field Knave |
| Bonus Dungeon | Monster Hotspot | (None) | Neko. Village | Dungeon Center, NW desk | 1 | 0 | 3 | N | Y | Day | N/A | 99 | 99 | Note: Monsters on floors where the 1st digit is 9 |
| Bonus Dungeon | Perilous Rocks | (None) | Neko. Village | Dungeon Center, NW desk | 1 | 0 | 0 | N | Y | Day | N/A | 50 | 99 | Note: Monster houses are likely to appear |
| Bonus Dungeon | Trapper's Sandbox | (None) | Neko. Village | Dungeon Center, NW desk | 1 | 0 | 0 | N | Y | Day | N/A | 10 | ??? | Note: Can only level by defeating enemies with traps |
| Bonus Dungeon | Aksys Challenge | (None) | Neko. Village | Dungeon Center, NW desk | 1 | 0 | 0 | N | Y | Day | N/A | 10 | ??? | Note: Run away! |
| Bonus Dungeon | Inori Cave | Beat Tower of Fortune | Inori Village | N end of Beginner House | 1 | 3 | 3 | Y | Y | Both | N/A | 42 | 99 | Note: Pray to the Catstone |
| Bonus Dungeon | Pitfall of Life | Beat Tower of Fortune,
Kojirouta side quest |
Inori Village | N end of Rich Man's House | 1 | 0 | 3 | N | Y | Day | N/A | 25 | 99 | Note: Cannot level up |
| Bonus Dungeon | Old Road | Beat Tower of Fortune, unlock & level up Koharu, Okon, & Gen | Inori Village | Middle of S edge | 1 | 0 | 3 | N | Y | Both | N/A | 38 | ??? | Note: Fullness depletes in real time |
| Bonus Dungeon | Onigiri Hollow | Beat Tower of Fortune, long & mysterious side quest | Inori Village | Rock wall in NE corner of this location | 1 | 0 | 3 | N | Y | Day | N/A | 20 | ??? | Note: Exiting a room makes it vanish |
| Bonus Dungeon | Heavenly Lake | Beat Tower of Fortune | Neko. Village | Talk to old man in SE corner | 1 | 0 | 3 | N | Y | Both | N/A | 28 | ??? | Note: Dropping items makes them vanish |
| Bonus Dungeon | Gen's Turf | Beat Tower of Fortune, talk to old woman in Inori Village | Neko. Village
Neko. Village |
Giant pot in Gen's House
Talk to sparrow near E edge |
1 | 0 | 3 | N | Y | Day | N/A | 30 | ??? | Note: Control the monsters! |
| Bonus Dungeon | Bizarre Tower | Beat Tower of Fortune, Tao side quest | ToF Entrance | Talk to Tanuki | 1 | 0 | 0 | N | Y | Both | N/A | 45 | 45 | Note: Reach the Floor 15 stairs, which lead to a special floor |
| Bonus Dungeon | Destiny's Descent | Beat Tower of Fortune, beat Inori Cave, wish for it in Inori Cave | ToF Entrance | Spiral staircase down in center of this location | 1 | 0 | 3 | N | Y | Both | N/A | 99 | ??? | Note: Very mysterious dungeon |
| Bonus Dungeon | Primordial Chasm | Beat Tower of Fortune | H. Hermitage | Inside Blacksmith building | 1 | 0 | 3 | N | Y | Day | N/A | 50 | ??? | Note: An even more mysterious dungeon |
| Bonus Dungeon | Lost Well | Beat Tower of Fortune | Sparrow's Inn | Talk to sparrow, SW corner | 1 | 1 | 3 | Y | Y | Both | N/A | 30 | 99 | Note: Can use upgraded items |
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