Shujinkou News

[h2]Tech-Gaming Exclusive Interview[/h2][p]Recently, Tech-Gaming's Robert Allen sat down with Julian Rice, director of Shujinkou, to explore the creative and technical journey behind Shujinkou. As the debut project from Rice’s team, Shujinkou blends traditional role-playing mechanics, resonant storytelling, and even offers to teach players a bit of Japanese.[/p][p][/p][p]We are honored to be featured and share more about what makes Shujinkou special. Check out the full interview for an inside look at our development process, inspirations, and what’s ahead.[/p][h3]https://www.tech-gaming.com/shujinkou-qa-julian-rice/[/h3][p][/p][p]One screenshot from the interview[/p][p][/p][h2]Free Steam Key Giveaway (by 6/26/2025)[/h2][p]Also, participate in Tech-Gaming's special giveaway for a chance to win a free copy of Shujinkou. You can do so by checking out their Tweet below:[/p][h3]https://x.com/tech_gaming/status/1935017270264349017[/h3][p][/p][p]Please also look forward to Patch v1.40, which should be coming out within the next week. It will include a heavily-requested new option to toggle which displays can be cycled through for the R3 Four Displays feature, as well as several new optimizations and improvements.[/p][p]Team @ Rice Games[/p]

[h2]Polish / Quality of Life[/h2]

• [p]Big news! You can now press Square on PS5/PS4 or Z on PC while in towns to open the new Quick Travel menu, which allows you to very quickly jump to important shops and the town's exit. This feature becomes accessible once you are able to enter Labyrinth 1.[/p]
• [p]Players can now sprint and rotate more quickly in the labyrinth.[/p]
• [p]The time of day will no longer stop a player's active movement unless Jin's Nen'oshi is set to trigger (during Day).[/p]
• [p]There is a new, brief initial-startup screen before the logo animation plays.[/p]
• [p]The Chizu (map) now shows a checkmark icon for Kanban (signboards) that have been viewed in a labyrinth.[/p]
  • [p]Requested by a player here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1386630/discussions/0/591767767138460998/[/p]
• [p]The newest and strongest equipment now appear first when scrolling through the Buy menu for Weapons and Armor in Daisuke's Mokubukiya.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

• [p]D-pad controller movement no longer lags and now works smoothly in all labyrinths. Our apologies for the inconvenience this may have brought and how long it took to fix this up.[/p]
• [p]Fix text-flickering that would occasionally appear in battles.[/p]
• [p]A rare case of movement soft-locks/freezing in labyrinths when mashing various inputs has been fixed.[/p]
• [p]Fix the bugged timer counting down too quickly for Battle Escape and Kakusei when Very Fast Battle Speed is set in the options.[/p]
• [p]Fix visual issue with some characters not being properly animated in Himamura during the early game.[/p]
• [p]Fix Kanban sometimes loading the second page first when consecutively viewing it two or more times.[/p]
• [p]Fix bug with Labyrinth 2's Junshu Yajuu sometimes triggering a battle during its rest turn (it should not).[/p]
• [p]Fix awkward illustration positioning for Toushirou when he reaches level 20 and 30 (edge-case).[/p]
• [p]Fixed a degradation with Labyrinth 5's sky illustrations. Our apologies![/p]
• [p]Fix the occasional loss of focus for Continue button in Bunpou Kake minigame.[/p]
• [p]Fix a case where the Cure All item would not cure every single ailment during battle.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Miscellaneous[/h2]

• [p]It now takes less time to go through a door in a labyrinth.[/p]
• [p]The slightly delay after a Kanakae Orb is shown in dialogue has been reduced.[/p]
• [p]The wait time at the Dedication screen and total time to initially reach the Main Menu has been reduced by 2-3 seconds.[/p]
• [p]Overall transition and loading times across the entire game have been greatly reduced.[/p]
• [p]Labyrinths with visuals that change based on time of day now have had their load time reduced by 1.5 seconds.[/p]
• [p]The loading time for Kanakae-related dialogue has been optimized by 1 second.[/p]
• [p]Removed some noticeable lag when opening the Chizu (map) for larger areas and when viewing a Kanban (signboard) in a labyrinth for the first time.[/p]
• [p]Removed some redundant dialogue in Labyrinths 1-4.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]About the Ultra-Wide Fix[/h3][p]For players using ultra-wide monitors, we have found a fix that seems to work for all of the devices we've been able to test:[/p]

1. [p]While the screen is bugged, head to the Options screen by pressing Enter (to select a save slot) and move right (Arrow Key / D-pad) to move from "New Game" to "Options"[/p]
2. [p]Within the Options screen, scroll near the bottom and find the Resolution dropdown. From there, select any of the 16:9 options that appear.[/p]
3. [p]The game should automatically adjust its resolution to a 16:9 screen. After leaving the Options menu and playing the game (or restarting it), the app should remember the resolution.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Our Biggest Priorities[/h2]

• [p]We want to add a "Fast-Forward" (by holding a certain key) to some minigames so that they can be played and progressed through more quickly. [/p]
• [p]We've noticed some physics inconsistencies in Tatiana's minigame, Kotoba Kyuugi, and are looking to fix this in the near future.[/p]
• [p]We've noticed that when holding a button to move, then sliding your hand (while still holding the button) to another button occasionally does not allow the player to rotate properly in the dungeon. We are looking to fix in the near future.[/p]
• [p]Players have asked for a new option that allows them to toggle on/off certain readings that are present in the R3 Four-Display feature, so we will prioritize this for v1.40.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Thank you![/h2][p]Thank you for playing Shujinkou! A lot of the fixes and features included in this patch were requested by players and critics alike.[/p][p][/p][p]We recently dropped a Post-Launch Trailer, so check that out if you haven't already![/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]We hope you enjoy the experience, and feel free to join our Discord community if you need assistance with gameplay or want to meet other fans of Shujinkou! [/p][p]https://discord.com/invite/UdCdvSuwpk[/p]

[h2]Polish / Quality of Life[/h2]

• It's finally here! Demo to Full Game Save Data Transfer for PS5 is out now. You can access this by going to the Options Screen by the Main Menu. If you already have save data that exists in the full game, please note that it will be deleted if you initiate a Demo Transfer. This function is applied to ALL three save slots at once. For those who have waited to transfer their data to the full game, thank you for your patience!
  

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

• Fixed issue with certain Kanji orbs not appearing in the Kanakae Equip menu if the player has collected over 100 Kanji orbs.
  
• Fixed typos and issues in: Momoko's Super Important Mission, New Threads, She Wore Asagao, Herb Remedy, No Such Thing as Ghosts, Something Tasty, and Where's My Sister?.
  
• Added missing helper dialogue for a couple of Youkyuu (quests).
  
• Fixed issue with a selectable choice in dialogue not working properly in Tsunako's second Kizuna quest.
  
• Added better error handling regarding edge cases with Kanakae in Battle.
  
• Fix rare issue with being unable to harvest the Ichijiku (Fig) from a resource spot in Meiro 1.
  

[h2]Miscellaneous[/h2]

• More optimizations make the game load 0.1s faster than before on weaker devices.
  

[h2]Our Biggest Priorities[/h2]

• We want to add a "Fast-Forward" (by holding a certain key) to some minigames so that they can be played and progressed through more quickly.
  
• D-pad issues for movement
  

We will be taking a short break on polish and fixes for Shujinkou for the next few weeks and focus on other console ports as well as planning the architecture for future Shujinkou-related projects.

Thank you all for your support so far. Spanning all platforms, it's amazing to already see thousands of players around the world enjoying Shujinkou, and we're just getting started!

If you ever encounter an issue or want to get in contact with us, please find us at our Discord server or send us an email!
Julian Rice

[h2]Polish / Quality of Life[/h2]

• We had one player on PS5 encounter a bizarre save bug that blocks progress. Please do not activate Rest Mode or turn the power off on PS5 or PS4 after getting a game over. The issue has been fixed.
  
• Added a new conversation with Kiyo in the post-game that helps unlock many missed Explanations for trophy hunters. Interact with her Ikijibiki on the Akagi.
  
• When selecting a Kanakae Orb in battle, the other orbs will be darkened, making it clearer which orb is currently being selected.
  

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

• Fixed a bug with Hina's final Ishi, now making the second Ishi trophy obtainable.
  
• Fixed a few Ishi that contained unnecessary spoilers. Sorry about this!
  
• Fixed a potential design soft-lock in the third area of Meiro Genya Kaikou.
  

[h2]Miscellaneous[/h2]

• Game optimizations now reduce initial game load time by 0.25 - 0.5 seconds.
  
• Game optimizations now reduce labyrinth load time by 0.1 - 0.25 seconds.
  

[h2]Our Biggest Priorities[/h2]

• We want to add a "Fast-Forward" (by holding a certain key) to some minigames so that they can be played and progressed through more quickly.
  
• D-pad issues for movement
  

As announced on PlayStation News, demo to full game save transfer functionality has been completed and is releasing in v1.38 on May 8th! Thanks for your support!
Julian Rice

It’s finally here! The Shujinkou Original Soundtrack 🎷 is now streaming on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and more!

With 158 tracks and over 7 hours of music across more than a dozen genres, our composers have captured the heart of our world, battles, and countless gripping story moments.

[h2]Spotify Link[/h2]
https://open.spotify.com/album/4L4VexyGBXB4mSIfdQTGlW


We want to sincerely apologize for the delay—our distributor hit some snags, but we’re thrilled to finally share this with all of you. Thank you for the overwhelming support and kind words we’ve received about the music so far!

Critics have already started taking notice during the release period:

• 🎵 Noisy Pixel (9.5/10) – “Outstanding Soundtrack – A dynamic and memorable score enhances both exploration and combat.”
  
• 🎵 Tech-Gaming (90%) – “A solid contender for one of this year’s best scores.”
  
• 🎵 Geeks Under Grace (8.5) - "...features a banger soundtrack that never felt out of place."
  

We’ll be announcing ways to support the composers with OST purchasing options in the near future—stay tuned for that and more music-related news!

From all of us on the team, thank you again for listening~! 💿🎶
Team @ Rice Games