Way of the Samurai 4

The WoS games from the developers at Acquire are all about being immersed in a truly Japanese tale, complete with warring factions, intense katana battles, and an expansive, branching storyline that has many endings depending on the choices your character makes throughout the game. Each entry in the series has added major features and improvements over the previous one, with the last mainline title, Way of the Samurai 4, being the most feature-rich, narratively-dense game in the entire series. It increases the level of wackiness while also maintaining the serious tone of the story it tells, and the new characters introduced here would go on to become fan favorites. If you’re looking for a samurai action game with awesome sword fights, strange minigames, and some questionable content, Way of the Samurai 4 is your game, and here is everything you need to know about it.

A Brand New Story

In Way of the Samurai 4, you will create your own custom samurai in an in-depth character creator, and then align yourself with one of the three warring factions in the game: the government supporting forces, the rebels who oppose them, or the British Navy who are in the town to negotiate an agreement of peace with the government. Which faction you choose will play a part in determining which of the 10 possible endings you will get, as well as the actions you take in the small-town setting of Amihama over the 5 day long period of the story. Compared to previous games, Way of the Samurai 4 is purported to have a story that is easier to follow, making the final game in the series the most accessible for both returning and new players.

New Features And Gameplay

Select from a multitude of fighting styles, utilizing multiple weapon stances and skills. And, for this fourth entry in the series, all learned skills are now usable between your many weapons, instead of being tied to whatever weapon you learn them with. A new flashy special combat mode is now available as well! In it, time slows down, and your character can attack multiple enemies rapidly before sheathing your weapon, returning time to its normal speed, and watching all of your enemies collapse on the ground.

Other new features for Way of the Samurai 4 include Night Crawling, Torture, and various side jobs to earn money. In the Night Crawling minigame (called Yobai in the game), players can romance the many characters of the game in a concerning way. You have to sneak into the characters house, either avoiding or knocking out their family, and then convince them to get on a futon with you. Yikes. In Torture mode, another concerning minigame, you can play a series of uncomfortable minigames after being arrested for commiting crimes around the city. These minigames include being forced to ride a wooden horse that has been lit on fire, being strapped to a water wheel, and having large stones thrown at you.

Pros

• Lots of fun gameplay
• The character creator has many options
• New features make this game much better than previous ones

Cons

• Some of the “extra” content might be offensive
• The story mode is relatively short, but encourages multiple playthroughs