Way of the Samurai 3
Way of the Samurai 3 is the continuation of the PS2 series and was released for PS3 and Xbox 360. The game is a fairly niche title that allows players to control a wandering samurai in the 16th century.
The biggest selling point of Way of the Samurai, is that it’s an open world title allowing the main character to side with one of two waring factions or work as a neutral solider fighting to protect the nearby townsfolk.
The game’s goal is to be as honorable a samurai as possible. Hurting civilians lowers your rank. The game is also designed sort of like a rouge-like game. The idea is that you only have one life. The game challenges you to beat the game within that one life. You can save, but as soon as you load that data it’s gone. If you die, you get ranked and you’ll get to move certain weapons and items you’ve acquired into your next play through.
The thing that makes replaying the same game over and over are the events. The game features tons of small events that affect things later in the game, and can make each play through unique and completely different. Events are scenes that have several options. You may have to participate in a conversation, or apologize, and new in Way of the Samurai 3 you can draw your sword at any time during an event. This will prompt a fight, or cause the other party to run away.
The game allows you to create your own character to play through. You start as the sole survivor on a battlefield, and you’re barely alive. Some villagers from the nearby town are around scavenging, and the first event begins. You can draw your sword and scare them off then continue into town yourself, or you can accept their help and you wake up refreshed in their home. The village is quite neutral and wish to remain out of the conflict, and because of this the inhabitants despite you at first. If you choose to be a good Samaritan around the village though, this will change. You can also enlist to join the battle forces for each side of the war, making for 3 unique major paths. Depending on who you’re sided with you’ll get completely different events, and access to specific places.
Events can take place at different times of the day, and time is constantly passing in the game, so you have to explore at several times in the day to see more events.
Combat in the game is pretty much what you’d expect. While your sword is sheathed you can run around, and when it’s draw you’ll lock onto a target. You can preform various attacks and dodges, and you can switch between weapons when you’re weapon is not drawn. You can hold 3 weapons at a time, and can get swords or spears. You can collect items to upgrade your weapons as well, but they can also break, and you’ll have to repair them. During combat you can choose to use the blunt side of your weapon to knock out enemies instead of killing them. This can be handy if you don’t want to actually kill your combatant, because killed NPC’s never return to the game world until you start the game over.
You’ll also be able to get a home, where you can rest, and store weapons, items, and money.
There’s a basic dating sim mechanic in the game. You can also get any of 14 different partner characters who can help you in different ways. Some events require a partner, and some partners will help you in battle. become your live in roommate in the game. If a women likes you enough they’ll agree to move in, but they’ll start to dislike you again, if you don’t come home for a long time, or bring home another woman.
While the game areas are quite large, there’s only 8 of them, and you’ll be retreading a lot of the same ground. The game’s not so much about exploration as it is about just experiencing all the different paths in the game. The game features 22 different endings, so there’s a lot to do.
Way of the Samurai’s biggest selling point, is also it’s biggest flaw. You path through the game is completely up to you. There’s no hand holding, and very little direction. It’s up to the gamer to decide what they want to do. The only help is that events are marked on your map so you can find them if you’re completely lost, but that’s not enough info to help new gamers get through the game. You learn by trying different things and going through all the areas multiple times. For players new to the series, it doesn’t make it an easy game to jump into. If you don’t have a lot of patience, this definitely isn’t a game for you, thought if you’re the type of gamer who can get into this game, it can be a great experience.
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very nice game, is this game on pc too?
Very nice clean graphics but there does seem to be rather a lot of tit-arsing about and then a bit of button hammering. I’m wondering how broad the scope of this game is?
ROCKS
you get penalized for killing civies… but at least not as bad as on assassin’s creed
game doesnt look bad kinda reminds me of tenchu/onimusha
wots series is awesome and made by the people who made the tenchu series if u like those kinda games check it out
only thing that i dun like is that as u can see the char uses 3 different moves for each weapon which is very boring
cool will check it out. Tenchu is one of my best games of all time
U SUCK U DIED ALREADY LoL ! thats for playing too cocky in game.
wow this game likes just SHIT
dang u run fast as shit
there needs to be a new onimusha
am i the only that think this game looks like tenchu
no need any skill
just press attack x 3 and the game end.
@lilCtren It was made by the same people, I’m pretty sure.
@lilCtren no i think so to but i like this better
how can you guys rate this game?? if you have one
lame lame lame wow
way of the samurai should have been made just like red dead redemption
He looks like Kiryu Kazumanosuke
u fail
it looks like a ps2 game. The graphics suck ass
does the game start all over again if u die?
@lilCtren me 2!!!! it reminds me of it so muchh…. the sound effects 2!
looks like they’ve recycled animations from the first Way of the Samurai…
@jetill1 No if you did not saved it at the beginning it starts over when you die
how manny points does it take to learn 2 sword way?
@SF01Pro red dead samurai?
@D3M0N1CY yea or superman would be sick if they made it just like red dead redemption…the last superman they made for the ps3/xbox360 was supergay…
lol at samurai “mike”
can you be a female samurai?
@8and yea if you play on easy Luls
@8and easy mode kthnx?
to everyone: how much would you pay for this game?
Sad to see that the game still looks like it belongs on PS2. By the way, did anyone notice that all 3 of the flags at 2:30 were waving in a different direction? Japanese games always lack logic and the characters always act goofy/stupid. The only way for me to have liked this game is if it would have come out back in 1998 on PS1.
Graphics =/ = Good game
I think most people forget the point of games is to play and have fun, so as long as you enjoy it the point of it being a game stands. What good is a game with incredible graphics if the gameplay is generic and boring?
Example: Most FPSs out there.
I honestly had a lot of fun playing 1 and 2 so I’ll most surely like this one as well.