Way of the Samurai

PS2

Acquire - 2002

      Acquire is best known, where they are known at all, for making Tenchu, the best ninja game ever. Having successfully made two Tenchus now, the fine people at Acquire decided to make the exact opposite game: a samurai game. You may be wondering how a Samurai game is the opposite of a Ninja game. Well, that is what I am here to tell you. Ninja games are based on avoiding fights; Samurai games are based on getting into fights. Comparing Way of the Samurai to that definition, it is a very successful game. The fighting system is extremely deep and well designed and you are allowed to fight just about everyone. The problem with this game is that it pretends to have more than cool fights. It pretends to have a story.

      Anyone who has played this game now thinks I am insane. "But it has a story," they say, "It has six endings." But I ask you to think about it. While I don't deny that there are endings, there are no beginnings or middles, thus, there is no story. For those who haven't played this game, and actually hope to gain something from this review, bear with me. I'll get to the real stuff later. First I have to explain this "story" business. This was the average story that I saw when Free Ohio and I played through the game:

Well, it's a nice day here in the valley-- What is this? A damsel in distress! Should I save her? Sure, why not? Ke-YAH! That was fun, now I'll attack her. Ke-YAH! Aww, she ran away. (marchy, marchy, marchy) Oh, look, It's the woman from the bridge! How are you and WHO IS THE BLACK MAN WITH THE AFRO?! Let's have lunch. Goodness, who are these fellows? Ke-YAH! Hmmm. . . I'll head over to the left. (marchy, marchy, marchy) Look, a bunch of red guys. Ke-YAH! Let's go into their base. (marchy, marchy, marchy) Hello, I'd like to join you. Alright, see you later. (marchy, marchy, marchy) Who is that? Ke-YAH! Oh, there's a bunch of you guys. Ke-YAH! Ke-YAH! "He's killed 10, he's good!" Ke-YAH! "Amazing, that's 30!" Ke-YAH "50! Half way there." Ke-YAH! Ke-YAH! "That's 80, keep it up!" Ke-YAH! "Wow, you killed 100 of us, have 10 yen." (marchy, marchy, marchy) Ok, what now? Hello, Mr. Policeman. Beating up an old man? Let me help. Ke-YAH! Now you want to fight? Ke-YAH! Hello, Jose. Ke-YAH! (marchy, marchy, marchy) Look, he is acting suspicious. Ke-YAH! Ok, back to the red guys. (marchy, marchy, marchy) "Hello there, stranger---" Let's settle this outside. Ke-YAH! (marchy, marchy, marchy) Look, the woman from the bridge. I'll agree to save Fifi, the afro guy, if you sleep with me. (marchy, marchy, marchy) Guys dressed in black! Ke-YAH! Fifi! Wait, I'm on your side. Ke-YAH! (marchy, marchy, marchy) Sorry, lady, Fifi, um . . . was dead when I got there, yeah, that's it. (marchy, marchy, marchy) Hello, big fella, oh, you want to talk? No thanks. Ke-YAH! . . . Ke-Yah! . . . ke-yah? Fine, don't fight me. Hey, old man, your daughter is hot. Let me marry her. No? Ke-YAH! Where is that red gang? (marchy, marchy, marchy) Hey, guys. You should be nice. I'll meet you somewhere. Ke-YAH! (marchy, marchy, marchy) "Hey, let's get the general." Ok. Ke-YAH! Ke-YAH! Ke-YAH! I win! What's the ending?
      Everyone was killed or captured by the army. But some random jackass managed to kill the general. Good Job.

What I liked: The fighting system was spectacular. It was deep, but not confusing. There are two attack buttons and a block button. The complexity comes in the balance. Fights are a constant struggle to "push" or "pull" your opponent off balance. This is done by hitting toward or away at the right time. When off balance, a fighter is open to attack. In addition to this, there are many different weapons and styles, each with unique moves. These moves are learned by fighting or parrying. Parrying is done by hitting block at the moment of impact. If done properly, the parryed move is learned, and will be blocked automatically from then on. Ideally, one could parry all the moves in the game and, consequently, be nearly invincible. I also liked the fact that this game is a fighting game. But most fighting games shine as multiplayer games, this is actually better as a one player game. Finally, I like the endings. The game has six endings based on your actions during the game. There are three different groups, the villagers, the gang, and the rich guys. The different endings are for allegience to each group, or to combinations of them.

What I disliked: I hate the weapon system. It is way too easy to lose weapons. Sure, you can keep playing on Easy for the rest of your life, but some of us strive for greater things. As a result, for about a week I thought this game was fun, getting the endings was enjoyable, working up the weapons was frustrating, learning to fight was enjoyable. However, as soon as I got the last ending, the game was no longer fun. I thought I was going to go through the game and learn all the moves and perfect a sword, but no. As soon as I started the next game I didn't want to play anymore. It no longer interested me as a samurai game, as an adventure game, or as a fighting game. While Way of the Samurai does have replay value in the form of endings, it has very little after that.

What to expect: A fighting game masquerading as a 3rd person action/adventure. It has endings, but not really a story (meaning you can decide who to join at the last second, without following their story). Expect a very good fighting system, which will carry the game for a while.

What not to expect: Don't expect an action/adventure game. This game focuses on the fighting, not the travelling or exploring. Also, don't play this game for the story. While the endings are fun to see, the story is lacking. You never really care about the characters or get to know them. Four of the six endings don't even require you to act correctly until the very end. You can attack everyone and then choose who to join in the last battle.

What sets it apart: It's a 3D fighting game with a plot. Also, it has six endings and allows for freedom of motion reminiscent of Bushido Blade. While it maintains the fighting game spirit, the "plot" and endings really flesh it out and add to the replay value.

Ratings On:

Controls: 8 - The controls were very well done. It would be easy, almost expected, for the controls to be poor with such a complex fighting system. However, each button was given one function and the techniques focused more on timing than button combinations. Also, the special moves and combos were performed in two directions (toward or away). This made them much easier to use, but also led to the main drawback: for the system to work well, enemies were considered either above, below, left, or right of the hero, even when they appeared to be at an angle. Thus, as a result of questionable camerawork, it was hard to determine whether "toward" was to the right or up, leading to failed combos.

Graphics: 8 - The graphics were very good throughout the game. With no FMV, the cutscenes looked the same as the in-game graphics, thus it consistently looked good, but never spectacular. The backgrounds showed more detail than the characters, but the people were still impressive: hair flew backward while you ran and clothes swayed realistically with movements.

Sound: 5 - The sound was pretty good, but really didn't play a big part in the game. The only sounds to speak of were music and swords. The swords sounded fine, never getting annoying. The music was was kind of Asian drum and bass. It was fast and really played up the fights. I thought it suited the game well. The "voice acting" was no more than a few grunts.

Style: 5 - It was a very glorified fighting game. The story was good, and gave it more replay value. Also, it had a very deep fighting system. Story mode is basically just a series of fights, but it feels more like an adventure game. Learning the moves on the weapons was neat, but more frustrating than anything else.

1st hour: 6 - I think it's cool, but I'm getting whipped by the first guy.

5th hour: 8 - After the tutorials, and some practice, this game is really cool.

10th hour: 5 - I've been trying to build up weapons, but I keep losing them.

1st week: 8 - Good at fighting now, getting all the endings.

2nd week: 4 - Done with endings, this game is not fun anymore.

#1 thing I hate about this game: I found the coolest weapon in the game! Look at *break* . . . . NOOOOOOO!

by Sundu