Shin Satomi Hakkenden: Hikari to Yami no Tatakai

Not to be confused with SNK's Satomi Hakkenden, Toei's Shin Satomi Hakkenden: Hikari to Yami no Tatakai is a tie-in video game of the samurai flick known in the West as "Legend of the Eight Samurai" from the same parent company. The game is a Japanese RPG in the vein of Dragon Quest. At the beginning of the game, you select one of the Eight Canine Warriors represented by their respective rosary beads, and set out to recruit the other 7 plus Shizu to assemble a party for the final fight against Tamazusa.

The game is highly non-linear. Most of the areas in the game are available to free-roam, provided you can survive their random encounter levels. The Eight Canine Warriors can be recruited in any order. One of which - Sousuke - is more unique than the rest. He cannot fight upon initial recruitment and has to be cured of his condition first. If you select Sousuke as your first party member when starting the game, random encounters will be disabled entirely until you recruit your first combat-capable Canine Warrior.