Way of the Samurai 2

"Multi-path Adventure at its best."

Amahara, a seemingly peaceful town finds itself entangled with the conflict between the Aoto Gang and the Magistrates. A lone warrior arrived at the town gate, within his hands, he carries the destiny of this town. Experience the life of the last days of the samurai in the late edo period.

Story - 10/10
Way of the Samurai 2 is a multi-path adventure where choices you made during the course of the game will impact what happened to the town in the end. You may choose to act honorably, or without honor at all. Don't be surprised if people of the town will start kicking you out from their shops should you decide not to pay. If you decide to murder random people on the street, the magistrates (i.e. police) will hunt you down. All the news of your crime or valiant act will spread through the town, affecting the way story goes.
You can even double-cross people who trusted you if you feel like it.

Gameplay - 9/10
The game plays like the usual adventure game type. Left analog stick (or the directional pad) moves your character, while the other buttons to perform actions.
Fighting in this game is fast and fun. It takes a while to master, but the more you fight with the opponent, the more special techniques you can learn. And each special techniques are unique to each swords. Deflecting an enemy's attack is different from Way of the Samurai. When you're attacking, you can't guard crush them, unless you use specific moves. When defending, you'll have see the enemy's attack first (horizontal or vertical), then act accordingly. This adds to the sword battle, but continuous blocking will destroy your sword.
You can talk to people (or slash them, if you're feeling evil), kick them, get jobs from the street (to earn money), and much more.
Unlike the first one, travelling does not require you to move manually. Instead, when you leave an area, you'll be presented with the map of the town. You can choose where to go next. This is to avoid you accidentally triggering an event you don't want to.
The day is divided into five phases : Early Morning, Morning, Afternoon, Evening, Late Night. The way time passes is now not only event based. Loitering around too long, and you'll find that time has passes.

Graphics/Sound - 9/10
The game graphics are good. The town looked lively, and the surrounding is beatifully rendered. Characters are well drawn, moves their lips when talking, and such. Except the player character, he hardly express any emotion. And I wish they had more faces.
The music is peaceful when travelling, yet when combat begins, the music will turn into a more fast battle theme.
Voice in the game are English for the major plots. Should you decide to talk to random people, they'll say one japanese word (like "ara ara", or "irrashai" eventhough they're talking quite long.

Play Time/Replayability - 10/10
You can finish this game in about 5 minutes to 4 hours (if you didn't skip the cutscenes). 5 minutes? Yes, just walk out from the town, and the game ends, just like the first one. Should you decide to go in-depth with the story, you may find yourself playing for 2-4 hours.
And when you finish the game, you'll be able to a new game with all those earned items and weapons. This makes the replayability of the game amazing. You'll want to find better weapons, upgrade the weapons, collects more items, unlocks more things (like costumes, faces, etc.) and get more endings.

Final Recommendation
I'd recommend anyone who likes adventure/action games to buy it. This game won't be disappointing. Fans of the original Way of the Samurai should definitely get this game.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/12/04, Updated 05/15/04