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| .............CONTENT
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Intro  It
is a time of change: the Western world is influencing your homeland, causing its
once-thriving culture and legendary wandering samurai to become things of the
past, unwelcome and unneeded by its people. This is your tale, and as one of the
last of the traveling samurai, you must lend your aid to a small town before innocent
people suffer. This is the basis to Way of the Samurai, one of the best PlayStation
2 games ever released.Gameplay: 8.5/10 Way of the Samurai is a special game, and what makes it so special is that it handles itself in a unique and enjoyable manner in both the combat and story aspects. As the player takes on the role of the lone samurai, he is confronted by a world that is being divided. As the Western influences change the landscape, samurai are no longer needed, leaving him to be one of the few left of a dying breed. Set in 1878 at the desolate Rokkotsu Pass, the Akadama Clan and the Kurou family are fighting over an iron foundry that will mean wealth to one and a means of manufacturing arms to the other. The player's role can be one of an aggressor, a bystander that helps the remaining civilians at the pass caught in the war, or a spectator who chooses to watch what is going on and acts only when necessary. The choice is up to the player. That is one of Way of the Samurai's greatest assets: the story is furthered by a series of key situations, but getting to those points can be done so in a number of ways. An example of this is as follows: the player starts off close to a bridge, where a group of men soon kidnap a woman. At this point, I saved the girl, who then offered me food at the restaurant she works for. Another time, I asked to join the guys who were taking her, which lead to my being robbed and tied to a railroad track, at which point I was rescued and forced to join one of the fighting clans, who I otherwise wouldn't have met until much later. The third time I did nothing and saw her bodyguard come out and defend her, and after he got roughed up, I stepped in and saved the day; this caused me to meet her bodyguard early and have the leader of the gang swear revenge, whereas before, he asked if I wanted to join him. That is just one example of what can happen, and it isn't even a full explanation of all the possibilities. The characters speak through comic-like text bubbles, and even their manner of talking can change the story. Various choices are given as responses which will either have you agree, disagree, or you can simply say nothing at all and see what natural response comes from that. Even though key story arches are placed in the game to keep everything on track, it can get disorienting as to what is going on if you happen to die a few times and are forced to start over. This brings me to the most controversial aspect of the game: the save feature. Way of the Samurai handles saving like so: you can save once, but that save file is saved over after you've progressed a certain distance and the you've been given the chance to save. However, once that saved game is loaded, it is destroyed, so if great progress is made and you happen to die after you save, you have to start all over from the beginning of the game. Now, I understand this emphasizes the game's story feature in that it makes your actions have much more of an impact because you can't simply load a saved game if you make someone mad, but it can also get frustrating whenever you're almost finished and are sent all the way back to the start. It's a catch-22 really; while it's very effective at what it does, it comes off as a little too effective. Combat is also handled extremely well. The closest comparison to Way of the Samurai is Bushido Blade, but while Bushido Blade featured various weapons that had three stances apiece, Way of the Samurai gives each weapon its own stances, moves, and attributes. The fact that special attacks are learned during fights is another positive element, as it not only helps to keep the list of moves in check, but it also makes them much easier to learn, thus helping the player to play the game through with a particular sword, learning all of its moves and nuances. Weapons also have various attributes: although only a few can increase or decrease your character's overall health, each one has different degrees of offensive and defensive powers, as well as toughness. The toughness of the sword is tested during combat; whenever an attack connects, the durability goes down, and even more so if the attack is blocked. Push the durability too hard for too long, and the sword shatters. Oddly enough, you can still fight with just the handle and an inch or so of blade, and although your attacks will be weak, they will still reach someone who is technically beyond your striking distance. Weapons can be upgraded at a swordsmith, though increasing the sharpness might weaken its defensive powers, so this is tricky. Another tricky option is for the blacksmith to store your weapon in a warehouse and deliver it to you whenever you come back from death. Although this is supposed to ensure that you will have a good weapon when you start over, I never managed to quite get the hang of it. Weapon-based combat isn't the only combat to be had, nor do the moves have to be special attacks. There is a light attack and a heavy attack; the light attack can connect up to three swings and break someone out of a guard with a push, while the heavy attack is meant for special moves and to use whenever connection is certain. However, there are also counter-measures to defend against attacks and to also achieve a strike whenever a move is blocked. Whenever an attacker is making their motion, a player with good timing can side-step the attack, or they can try to move away during a block, causing the attacker to stumble and leave themselves open for a hit. If a move is blocked, a push can catch them off balance so they become open, but if that doesn't work and they are consistently blocking, a solid kick will take them out of their blocking stance. If the enemy is good and you can't parry or side-step their moves, there is the ability to jump backwards, landing on your back, you can get out of the weapon's range and also kick to catch the attacker off guard. There is so much that you can do, in that the samurai also has the ability to kick objects, like chairs, towards an enemy to stop them, and also kick food up so they can be eaten during combat, without having to put the sword away first. Even though the save system got to me after a while and the sword delivery system was odd, Way of the Samurai bested those problems and whatever disorientation came from restarting several times. What's impressive is that the elements are so well done, especially combat, that it seems downright revolutionary. The sheer possibilities for every action within the game are mind-boggling and while the phrase, "never the same twice" is used often when describing certain games, it proves to be true in Way of the Samurai. Making different choices will result in different outcomes for most every situation, in sometimes small, and sometimes drastic ways. I can't sufficiently express how extraordinary the combat system is, either; the attacks, counter-attacks, and defensive moves are all tuned in to each other and done so well that it makes for some incredible fights. Add all of this to a fun unlockable two-player fighting mode and you have one outstanding game.
Graphics: 7.5/10 Sound:
7/10 Control:
8.5/10 Overall:
8.5/10 [ top ] | |||
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