A Samurai’s struggle against the forces of darkness in The Spirit of the Samurai.
As a fan of both Samurai games and platformers, I was immediately drawn to The Spirit of the Samurai. This game masterfully combines the essence of feudal Japan’s warrior culture with the fast-paced, action-packed dynamics of a platformer.
The Spirit of the Samurai delivers an immersive experience where players can explore a stunning world while wielding the precision and agility that platformers are known for. It’s a perfect blend of traditional samurai storytelling and exciting platforming gameplay.
Digital Mind Games, founded in 2001 in Murcia, Spain, is renowned for its 3D animation expertise before shifting to game development. Their most notable release, The Spirit of the Samurai, blends Metroidvania-style gameplay with side-scrolling action, showcasing their growth as a developer. Working with publisher Kwalee, they’ve cemented their place in the industry by merging immersive visuals with engaging narratives.
In The Spirit of the Samurai, you’ll step into a mystical, mythological version of feudal Japan. You play as Takeshi, a samurai chosen by fate to defend his village from an ancient evil that has returned after two centuries. After a brutal encounter with the Oni, Takeshi’s spirit is transferred into a Kodama, a sacred tree spirit, while his body is taken over by a Tengu. Together with his faithful cat companion, Chisai, you’ll journey to stop the dark forces threatening the world.
The Spirit of the Samurai combines exploration and action in a beautifully designed world inspired by Japanese folklore. Along the way, you’ll face demons, yokai, and undead creatures, testing your combat skills and uncovering hidden secrets in this rich, narrative-driven adventure.
The gameplay mechanics in The Spirit of the Samurai are simple yet challenging. As a samurai, you wield a sword and bow with a single attack and defense action. However, the game adds depth with special moves like jump attacks, crouch attacks, and look-back attacks.
Unfortunately, the bow feels impractical during combat as it’s difficult to fire before enemies close in. Right from the start, the game’s difficulty is punishing, adopting a Souls-like approach where you must master parrying, dodging, and strategic movement. For instance, when enemies block, you’re forced to dodge around them to strike from behind.
One frustrating issue I encountered during my playthrough was enemy spawns. Advancing forward sometimes triggers multiple enemies simultaneously, creating overwhelming battles that feel unfair. It’s unclear whether this is an intentional design choice or an oversight, but it led to several early deaths. The game’s core combat is engaging but could use refinement.
For instance, in battles against multiple enemies, holding blocks rapidly drains stamina. If another enemy strikes while you’re out of stamina, there’s little you can do to recover. A brief recovery window after being hit or features like parry indicators (similar to Ghost of Tsushima) could make the difficulty curve more manageable.
During my 3-hour playthrough, I encountered various enemies, and some were notably fast, requiring quick reflexes and preparation to counter their attacks. However, one major frustration was the archery enemies. There are no clear indicators, sounds, or visual cues to warn you of incoming arrows, which makes it especially difficult when you’re engaged in combat with multiple enemies. Although there is a faint sound when an arrow is fired, it’s almost impossible to hear it amidst the chaos of battle.
You can crouch or dodge to avoid the arrows, but when surrounded by enemies on all sides, it becomes far too easy to be hit. The lack of a warning system for ranged attacks, particularly from archers, can feel unfair in hectic encounters, making it a challenge to focus on both melee and ranged threats simultaneously. This issue would benefit from a more intuitive design or an indicator to prevent players from being blindsided during intense fights.
The Spirit of the Samurai incorporates an XP system, allowing you to upgrade character attributes like strength, resistance, dexterity, and bow efficiency. You can also adjust sword skills to balance attack speed and damage, which adds a layer of customization. However, the steep learning curve and early difficulty might discourage newcomers, even if seasoned players might eventually adapt.
In The Spirit of the Samurai, you can acquire various items from crates and by defeating enemies. These items can be offered at shrines, allowing you to purchase useful resources such as healing potions, kunai, and other essential items. This system provides you with more opportunities to gather vital supplies and ensures that nothing is missed on your journey.
As a platformer, The Spirit of the Samurai includes puzzles, but these are sparse and simplistic. Additionally, environmental design issues make traps difficult to spot, as they often blend into the background. Platforming elements like jumping also feel stiff, detracting from the overall experience.
Despite its flaws, the game remains enjoyable. Its tough but rewarding combat provides a solid challenge, and there’s significant room for improvement. Since this is a preview build, I’m optimistic the developers will address these concerns to refine the experience further. With some polish, The Spirit of the Samurai could evolve into a standout title in its genre.
The highlight of The Spirit of the Samurai is undoubtedly its stunning graphics and art style, which are due to the use of the Unity Engine. The game immerses you in beautifully designed Japanese forest environments with a visually striking art direction that’s a feast for the eyes.
The stop-motion animations further enhance the experience, lending a unique and polished aesthetic to the game. The cinematic cutscenes are another standout feature that is expertly directed and executed with a professional touch; they elevate the narrative presentation significantly.
However, the UI design falls short of expectations. There’s considerable room for improvement, particularly with unconventional keybindings. For example, the back button is mapped to “Z” instead of the more universally standard “Esc,” which feels unintuitive. Similarly, aiming the bow with the middle mouse button proves cumbersome, especially when left-click is used for firing and right-click for blocking. Reconfiguring these controls to something more ergonomic was necessary during my playthrough.
On the bright side, the game’s optimization is excellent. I consistently achieved a locked 120 FPS on very high settings, showcasing smooth performance. However, the graphics settings are minimal. Limited to resolution and an overall quality preset. For a game of this caliber, more granular graphics settings would be expected, and the main menu UI also feels lackluster, with plenty of room for refinement.
The sound design is another strength of the game. From the authentic Japanese-inspired background music to the immersive environmental sounds like crackling fire, pouring rain, and atmospheric ambiance, the audio adds significant depth to the experience. The battle sounds are equally satisfying, enhancing the intensity and immersion of combat encounters.
Overall, while The Spirit of the Samurai excels in visuals, audio, and performance, its UI and control schemes need refinement to match the high quality of its presentation and gameplay. The Spirit of the Samurai offers a challenging, Souls-like platforming experience set in a mythological Japan, blending action, exploration, and Japanese folklore. Its standout features include stunning graphics, immersive environments, and professional stop-motion animations complemented by excellent sound design.
However, The Spirit of the Samurai’s steep difficulty curve, clunky controls, and sparse, underwhelming puzzles may frustrate newcomers. While optimization is solid, the UI and limited customization options need improvement. Despite these shortcomings, the game’s visuals, atmosphere, and rewarding combat mechanics make it a promising title with room for polish.
