Soul of the Samurai

Soul of the Samurai
North American cover art
Developer(s) Konami Computer Entertainment Sapporo
Publisher(s) Konami
Director(s) Shinichi Kudo
Producer(s) Kengo Nakamura
Koji Hiroshita
Designer(s) Osamu Shigeta
Kazuhide Shirakura
Programmer(s) Takayoshi Fukano
Tetsunori Saitō
Koji Taguchi,
Artist(s) Hidehito Okamoto
Chihiro Narita
Atsushi Nakagawa
Composer(s) Yasuhisa Ito
Platform(s) PlayStation
Release date(s)
  • JP: April 28, 1999
  • NA: August 31, 1999
  • EU: 1999
Genre(s) Action-adventure
Mode(s) Single-player

Soul of the Samurai (新時代劇アクション 羅刹の剣 Shin Jidaigeki Action Rasetsu no Ken, "New Jidaigeki Action: Blade of the Rakshasa", known as Ronin Blade in Europe and Oceania), is an action-adventure game developed and published by Konami in 1999 for the PlayStation.

Gameplay

From the start the player chooses to be either a young male ronin named Kotaro or a teenage female ninja named Lin (Rin). From then on he or she travels through prerendered levels, killing enemies and fulfilling their mission.

The game's combat system is quite detailed, and might take a while to get used to. However, when mastered, it is relatively easy for Lin and Kotaro to dispatch multiple enemies quickly from different directions, while simultaneously avoiding the enemies thrusts and swipes. There is a single attack button, but combined with different directional buttons pressed in different combinations and held down for various intervals. There are different attack speeds which correlate to the weight of the equipped weapon, and this is displayed on the sword's 'check' window (also displayed is the sword's length and sharpness, and a brief description of the blade).

Characters

Main characters:

Kotaro's Path bosses:

It is possible he is Sasaki Kojiro due to the fact that a long sword named Monohoshizao is obtained after defeating him, which was the name of the nodachi that Kojiro used in real life.

Lin's Path bosses:

After defeating Ryu Oda and saving feudal Japan from the soul bugs, both Kotaro and Lin perform their final duties to their fallen friend and brother respectively, and in the end decide to stay with each other.

Development

An early version of the game, developed under the working title Shogun Assassin, featured a young warrior named Hotaru and Hyaku, a member of the shogunate secret police (their designs were the same as these of the final protagonists Kotaro and Lin).[1][2] Earlier, the game was also known as Japan and Konami sources said the game would combine elements from Bushido Blade and Tenchu.[3]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
GameRankings63%[4]
Review scores
PublicationScore
EGM5.5/10[5]
Game Informer4.25/10[6]
GamePro[7]
GameSpot5.4/10[8]
IGN7.9/10[9]
OPM (US)[10]

The game received "mixed" reviews according to video game review aggregator GameRankings.[4] According to a positive review in GamePro, Soul of the Samurai delivered "lively action melded to a compelling story line." On the other hand, GameSpot's review stated that "those looking for a ninja game of Tenchu's caliber will unfortunately have to keep on looking."[8]

References

  1. "Shogun Assassin Preview". GamePro. Infotainment World, Inc. (115): 80. February 1999.
  2. Nelson, Randy (October 22, 1998). "Soul of the Samurai (Preview)". IGN. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  3. EGM staff (September 2002). "Konami". Electronic Gaming Monthly (158): 161.
  4. 1 2 "Soul of the Samurai for PlayStation". GameRankings. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
  5. "Soul of the Samurai". Electronic Gaming Monthly. 1999.
  6. McNamara, Andy; Anderson, Paul; Reiner, Andrew (August 1999). "Soul of the Samurai". Game Informer (76): 44. Archived from the original on May 21, 2000. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  7. Air Hendrix (September 1999). "Soul of the Samurai Review for PlayStation on GamePro.com". GamePro (122): 118. Archived from the original on February 9, 2005. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  8. 1 2 Fielder, Joe (September 16, 1999). "Soul of the Samurai Review". GameSpot. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  9. Boor, Jay (September 8, 1999). "Soul of the Samurai". IGN. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  10. "Soul of the Samurai". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. 1999.
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