Danica Davidson
September 25, 2024 
We still don’t have a date for the launch of season four of The Rising of the Shield Hero, but if you need something to keep you occupied until new episodes are here, there’s a new game for you to consider. It’s for Nintendo Switch and titled Picross: Records of the Shield Hero. It’s from puzzle game Picross and The Rising of the Shield Hero coming together.
Here is an official trailer for it to give you an idea of how it works.
Picross: Records of the Shield Hero Trailer
Jupiter Corporation explained the size of the game, commenting, “The number of puzzles is 166 each for Picross and Mega Picross, four for Clip Picross, and more than 40 piece puzzles each for a total of 175 puzzles, 47 puzzles for Color Picross and eight for Extra.”
Puzzles can be of characters like Naofumi, Raphtalia, Filo, as well as “famous scenes” from the anime. There is an episode mode where you can go through episode by episode.
This is a download-only game, and it launches on October 3.
The Rising of the Shield Hero got its start as a light novel series written by Aneko Yusagi. There is also a manga adaptation from Aiya Kyu. (You can check out Otaku USA’s interview with both of them here.) Both of these versions (plus audiobooks for the novels) are available in English through One Peace Books. One Peace Books gave this description for the first light novel:
The Rising of the Shield Hero Plot
Naofumi Iwatani, an uncharismatic otaku who spends his days on games and manga, suddenly finds himself summoned to a parallel universe! He discovers he is one of four heroes equipped with legendary weapons and tasked with saving the world from its prophesied destruction. As the Shield Hero, the weakest of the heroes, all is not as it seems. Naofumi is soon alone, penniless, and betrayed. With no one to turn to, and nowhere to run, he is left with only his shield. Now, Naofumi must rise to become the legendary Shield Hero and save the world!
Source: Crunchyroll News
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
