Way of the Samurai 2

"A letdown from the original"

Way of the Samurai 2 is an open ended, "choose your own adventure" style game featuring samurai in the late Edo period in Japan. As such, it is more like a prequel of the original rather than a sequel. Like in the first game, it has a short adventure with many possibilities and many endings and storylines. It is not made to be beat once, but rather dozens of times.

As a fan of the original Way of the Samurai, I was much anticipating this release. And while I still enjoy playing Way of the Samurai 2, I must admit I found it to be somewhat of a letdown, and rather disappointing.

Way of the Samurai 2 has some improvements over its predecessor. Amahara is larger than Rokkotsu Pass, and so is the adventure. However, it is still quite short. Fighting is more challenging (though this can be bad too), and the game now features real voice acting (though this can be bad too). It has more cutscenes and more endings than before. There is an additional stamina attribute. And there is an RPG-esque repertoire of wearable items that you can buy and sport. There are also new sword types (i.e. fencing). And the annoying game save mechanism from the original has been fixed (best improvement).

However, more has gotten worse than better. Fighting is more challenging, but it becomes so that there is only one effective way of fighting (parrying), which makes fights slow, boring, and repetitive. This is a major blow to the essence of the game. Fights in the original one were more stylish. Another major blow is the removal of the versus mode. This was like a standalone game, not as good as Soul Calibur, but fun nevertheless. And now it's GONE. And the voice acting? Terrible!! I'd rather have the text with the grunts as before, believe it or not.

Graphics wise, the original wasn't that good, but for its time it didn't look that bad. Now that there has been virtually no improvement whatsoever, graphics look dated.

It was also disappointing that you cannot walk through different areas, you are forced to warp through a map screen, and the story, though good, is not as well put-together. There are times and places where nothing happens, and you are left wandering around doing repetitive things and not sure where to go, only to find out later you could have slept those off.

So, balancing out the good and the bad, can't help but to be disappointed, though the game is still worth a play if you liked the previous one.

If you are new to the series, stay away, or try out Way of the Samurai 1 instead.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 07/13/04