Way of the Samurai

Overview

Way of the Samurai, known in Japan as Samurai, is a historical-fantasy third-person action-adventure game developed by Acquire and published by Spike for the PlayStation 2 in Japan on February 7, 2002, with a North American release by BAM! Entertainment on May 30, 2002 and a European release by Eidos on September 13, 2002.

Developed by the studio behind the Tenchu series, Way of the Samurai puts players in control of a customizable rōnin in the year 1878, after the start of Japan's Meiji period and the abolition of the samurai. Wandering into the small Japanese village of Rokkotsu Pass, the lone rōnin becomes entangled in a feud between two rival samurai clans, the Kurou Clan (the ruling samurai family) and the Akadama Clan (a group of samurai dissatisfied with Kurou's rule), with the fate of the village resting in the player's hands.

Along with its swordplay, which utilize weapon durability and sword-based stances, the game is best known for its branching storyline, dialogue trees, and multiple endings. It also includes an unlockable one-on-one versus mode, which can be played in multiplayer.

The game later received multiple sequels and spin-offs, a Japanese bugfix re-release on January 16, 2003 (as Samurai: Kanzenhan), and a handheld Japanese PlayStation Portable release on September 18, 2008 (as Samurai-dou Portable). This installment's setting, as well as several of its characters, later appear in the 2020 spin-off game Katana Kami: A Way of the Samurai Story.

Customization

You can both customise the appearance of your main character in this game, as well as equip them with a specific sword. Swords can be acquired in 1 player mode and upon completion (survival) of a timeline. There is a large range of weaponry in the game, with various differences in technique and durability.

Saving in the game

You can only save once for each play through. When you load a saved game, which is only allowed at the end of a day in the games timeline, that save game gets deleted. This encourages the player to play through the game multiple times to see the different branches in the storyline rather than simply reload. Obviously game saves can be copied between memory cards, but the process can become tedious.

Multiplayer

The games multi-player mode, not found in its sequel, allows 2 players to fight each other using characters from the game. As a competitive game, it makes much better use of the swordplay system the game uses, having a similar balance to the Soul Calibur games through the use of not only blocking, but deflections and parrying. The durability of weapons in the game can also make the strategy of breaking a 'button-bashers' sword a legitimate tactic.