Way of the Samurai 2

"To Make it Short - Plainly Too Short to be An Epic Game"

Way of the Samurai 2 - Reviewer's Note

Way of the Samurai 2 is an action game that resembles between a mix between an RPG, a choose your own adventure game, and an action game in which you play as the main character who is a samurai and you make decisions that are based on the samurai's code of conduct or bushido. Each action will cause the story to end in a different way, making this a rather fascinating game.

Difficulty: Medium (Learning Curve 0.5-1 hr)
Time to Finish: 3-5 hours

Game Mechanics/GamePlay: 8/10
In the Way of the Samurai, the game is played by using 2 maps. The first map is the world map, in which the player can decide to go to various places on the map. Once in the map, the player then reverts to a 3D adventure game type in which the player roam the street and can talk to various NPCs or even fight on the streets.

The interesting part about this game is that the player can collect the weapons of the enemies if they die, and the player can keep adding to their collection or either use it as their next weapon. Each weapon has a unique fighting style, and our player moves are influenced by the weapon. Its sometimes funny to see the main character using ninja like weapons and moves, but it adds alot of facet to the variety of the game.

Other than that the game plays like a realtime RPG in which decisions and action takes time in real time, and after certain events are done, the day progresses. The player has to get their character to rest at certain intervals which makes the game rather tedious - like going to sleep - which I assume alot of our insominia game players dread that ;)

This real time clock does influence alot with how the game will play and then ultimately end, as the various endings in the game are influenced by the action of the main character along with the timing, which is the major reason why this game is famous - its multi-ending.

Graphics: 8/10
The graphics in this game are interesting of ancient japanese architecture. The characters are modelled relatively well, capturing the essence of Japan during the samurai times well.

Sound/Music: 7/10
There are a few interesting tracks in the game though it won't qualify much as masterpieces. The soundeffects are done rather well especially the sound of sound strikes which gives a feel of real action.

Replayability: 9/10
Since there are practically so many endings this game is a highly replayable game if you want to get all the endings which is in the 2 digit count. Also by finishing the game repeatedly we can get new character models and dresses which does add alot especially for the vain game players ;) As long as the player is not irritiated by the repeatedness of replaying the game all over again, this game does have high replayable value.

Overall: 7/10
Overall, I would say The Way of the Samurai 2 is a good and solid game that deserves our playing time. The major drawback to the game is that to put it straight - the game is simply too short, as finishing the game would take only like 3-5 hours which is a short time in playing time. This game simply finishes before the game can get us to the climax which leaves the game player hanging for something greater than this. The multiple ending is a interesting idea, but with single player games, sometimes the sake of multiple ending compromises the game as a whole, and makes this game just plainly too short to be an epic game that we must have in our collection - though might be a good game to take out for a few sleepless nights :)

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/29/04