Satomi Hakkenden is an RPG game made by SNK similar in style to Dragon Quest but based on historical legends. The player can walk around towns conversing with NPCs, equipping themselves with weapons and armor and receiving quests and directions to new areas before leaving the safety of the town to fight random encounters on the overworld map that links locations together. Combat follows the tactical turn-based pattern, allowing the player input their characters' desired actions before watching each turn play out. Most of the enemies in the game are based on classical Japanese monsters, usually youkai.