[Strategy] Hikari no Me

At first look, the vast majority of Japanese games appear to fall under sidescrollers (especially in the Touhou vein), visual novels, or retro throwbacks.

For those trying to get their hands on a real-time strategy game, the search can be difficult if you don't know where to look. There's a rather well-known strategy simulator known as Vahrenturga on which various original scenarios have been created. You may have heard of Lost Technology, which has not been fully localized due to the sheer massive amount of data for each faction. If you'd like to try your hand at something even more obscure...

[Strategy] Hikari no Me (listed as "Illuminate" on the wiki) 
by ネタバレに対する異端審問と戦うホセ1世 (loosely, "Jose the First, fighting with the Inquisition against spoilers")
freeware for Windows XP, Vista

A simulation/real-time strategy game with intense battles
This is a real-time country-taking type simulation game set in a fantasy world. Players aim to become the singular master controlling their continent and conquer the whole area. Or, you could play as a retainer or rogue.
The game progresses through two patterns: turn-based tactical maps and real-time battles with large unit groups.
Each unit is differentied with its own diverse class, skills and statuses, and special techniques.
*This is an original scenario based on Vahrenturga. Check out Vahrenturga itself, as well as other original scenarios, too!
*Depending on your play environment, you may receive an error message upon attempting to start the game from a shortcut. In that case, you should start the game directly from "Vahren.exe" from within the game folder.
*If you get an error message about d3dx9_35.dll and the like, download the dll file online and stick it into the folder where Vahren.exe is.


Hikari no Me wiki
Patches are listed here.
After downloading the game from Freem or Vector [game/ software download sites], download the patch and overwrite it.
(If there is no link to the patch, the registration site has the latest version.)

[Screenshots, left to right]
- Also has a cute heroine.
- Choose one from about 30 territories.
- Simple events also pop up during battles.
- Battle scenes accurately recreated from recent times
- (Example Battle) Footsoldiers and war elephants step into the hornet's nest of riflemen
- The computer proficiently utilizes knights on the field
- The stronghold is fiercely guarded by artillery and emplacements.
- Desert, tundra, and mountain maps also included
- Elaborately-adjusted game balance
- With an excusable amount of singular battle scenarios

Highlights
- A game where you simply hire units and invade enemy territories.
- It seems that you can clear it in five turns.
- There's a tutorial and manual in there. Have at it.
- If there's any character you dislike, crush them with an enemy territory.

Language Difficulty: ★★★ ( 3 / 3 )
Yeah, you're going to be busy enough with the fast-paced real-time battles to fumble around with a dictionary for any words you don't know. For those looking for the real thing, you've found it! For those seeking a Japanese strategy game they can play without learning an entire language, especially if this title piqued your interest, come back next week. I've got some exciting news for the both of us.

How to Download
Press the blue button under the social media icons in the freegame mugen page above, find the third green link on the page (as of 12/23/2017, it says "光の目 v6.63"), and click the small button under the URL that says "ダウンロード".

That's all for this week! Next week will bring another strategy game and a good reason for the long silence.