Bushido Blade 2

"Squaresoft's attempt to be a 3D fighter is a average game with some unique features"

Storyline-5/10
Basically the story line is about the battle between 2 clans. There is nothing wrong with it but there isn't much that is appealing or special about it. In fact the storyline revolves around a guy you choose running all over the place to kill people. Yes and then you will meet a friend. You will take over control of that friend and fulfill some conditions to unlock this friend so that you got another cast to choose from.

Soundtrack/Soundeffects-9/10
Surprisingly I found the music and the sound effects to be nice and suitable for the mood and atmosphere.This in fact may be this game's strength.

Graphics-7/10
Hey this is Squaresoft you know the guys who were famous for their great graphics and FMV in their Final Fantasy games. Anyway well the character models are well better than Final Fantasy VII. They are actually quite well designed but the stages seemed a but dark. Wait maybe its something to do with the storyline. But no seriously the stages are terrible. The character models though good have the look of the game Final Fantasy VII in it. Sometimes they looked good and sometimes they just looked that terrible.

Gameplay-5/10
This game's learning curve is kinda badly designed. There are two type of players in this game. Players who hardly know what they are doing would need to win by luck. Players who are great just time and do their moves in some a manner that yes they cut and put an end to their opponents.

Okay you really have to give Squaresoft credit for coming out with a game where there is no time limit and health indicator. Yes there is no health indicator because battles can be finished off very quickly. A well timed slash or a lucky one can finish off one's opponents. There is also yes the presence of some cheap moves.At least to me using a certain character and a certain move has allowed me to beat my friends with ease. Seriously the battle system though unique is badly and poorly designed. They should have put more effort into this one.

Also another major flaw with this game is the AI of the two end bosses. One of the clan's enemy end boss is so easy that you really wonder why is he a end boss in the first place. The other clan's enemy end boss is so difficult that you really don't want to play this game ever again.

Conclusion-The formula of using great FMVs to trick players into fighting 1001 random encounters and still call it a great RPG really worked for Squaresoft. Since most RPGs didn't have the power to match squaresoft in terms of graphics. Also players who are new to RPGs didn't know what is called good gameplay. Anyway this game's ideas were innovative but flawed. The graphics and soundeffects do have the squaresoft style in them. Sadly the game suffers from poor game play design and poor replay value.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 06/13/03, Updated 06/13/03