Way of the Samurai 3 - What Would Mifune Do?
In the classic Kurosawa film Yojimbo, a lone samurai walks in to a town split apart by two warring factions that both vie for his assistance against the other side. This concept serves as the studio for Way of the Samurai 3’s set pieces, starting off with your character wounded from battle and finding your way to a nearby village. This is where Way of the Samurai 3 begins, a game that neither asks you to save the world or destroy it, but simply to survive and make choices.
Which sounds incredibly boring. And for a good long period, is incredibly boring.
At first you are given some terrible weapons and very little information about what to do. As you start exploring, and learning not to pull your sword on every farmer, child, and warlord you meet, and perhaps playing through things a bit more diplomatically, you start advancing slowly to the ending. Every time you die, or simply choose to leave the region, the game ends and asks you if you want to start over. Should you play this as simply a linear title of getting from Point A to Point B, culminating with Nobunaga’s attack on the region, then the game will last you just a few short hours. It is meant to be replayed over and over, making different choices each time to get to one of the game’s 21 endings.
Describing Way of the Samurai 3 could take all day, so I’ll just answer this question: when does the game get good? And, well, it might not for you. You’re going to be incredibly weak for a large amount of time, the only upgrades you get are for your sword and your skills, so simply choosing to kill those that oppose you will not work out so well when you leave the realm of farmers and old ladies.
If you’re unsure if you’d like the game, give it a try at a cheap price. It is nothing special, but it is interesting, and interesting might just be more than what most games offer you these days.
