Ningyou Genkai

Ningyou Genkai is a first-person exploration survival horror game set in a remote region of Japan. You enter the Doll's Liminal, a strange area where an experiment called the Freight Transport Test seeks to determine whether people can cross safely. Space is measured in “Depths,” and the Doll's Liminal tries to draw intruders toward its deepest layer, Depths 399.

Explore the Doll's Liminal

You search the area for items and equipment as you make your way toward Depths 399. There, you must fire enough bullets into the Blood Trail Dominator to neutralize it and pass through the Doll's Liminal to the other side. Reaching the deepest layer unprepared can leave you without enough equipment or ammunition to deal with the dolls.

Avoid the dolls

Many dolls are scattered through the area, and many are believed to contain souls. A doll with a soul begins moving when left unseen and can sneak up on you; if it catches you, it drags you straight to the deepest Depths. You can avoid the dolls, evade them or use your gun to take them down as you explore.

Getting close to a wall and staring at it can trigger the sound of “Daruma-san Fell,” causing dolls to rush toward you. The phenomenon can also be used to attract enemies or activate something, so you must judge when to use it and when to escape. You also need to decide whether a doll is moving or has been defeated, and whether to spend ammunition searching for items or save it for threats. Shooting skill is not essential, but making the right decisions in these situations matters.

Change your body

You receive “Funerary Replacement Rounds.” Shooting a doll without a soul with one of these bullets transfers your soul into that doll. A higher-ranked doll's body may help you resist the instability of space, which causes dolls to drag you away. The effort to establish the Doll's Liminal as a transport route is ongoing, and few test subjects have successfully crossed it.