Tales of the Monster Path

YŌKAI DOCHŪKI, also known as Shadow Land or Tales of the monster path, is probably the first game released by Namco for the PC Engine system and it is the conversion of their own arcade game released in 1987. You control a boy in a magical and spiritual japanese shinto world full of zombies and demons. The screen is split in two and the action mainly happen in the lower part, the upper part displaying energy bars and a map. Defeated creatures can drop useful objects and money. The latter can be spent in shops along the way (more powerful weapons or soup and rice to gain energy). Some characters will also want to play mini-games with you. Later in the game, some special areas will get the hero to meditate and attack using his ghost spirit.