Way of the Samurai 3

[Vigil80]

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/7904/samurai3box.jpg
The rundown
Way of the Samurai 3 is the third (obviously) installment of this Japanese action series developed by Acquire (http://www2.acquire.co.jp/). It was released in Japan in November 2008. The US version is scheduled for release this October, and is being published by UFO Interactive for the Xbox 360 and Agetec for the PS3.

The first two Way of the Samurai games were released for the PS2, and take place in 19th century Japan. In both, the player is a wandering ronin who stumbles into a town where at least three factions are vying for control. The short, branching stories in the first two boast endings numbering in the teens. WotS3 takes place in feudal Japan, and has 20 endings. Naturally, it is the ronin's actions which dictate what ending is reached.

Items and weapons collected in each playthrough persist to the next. WotS3 has over 100 weapons, each with different stats, moves, and one of seven stances. In addition, the town blacksmith in each game can improve a weapon and, in WotS3, even craft new ones for the player from collected parts like hilts, blades, etcetera. According to an official blog, there are approximately 200 parts with which to contruct weapons, and as many as 750 moves available to assign to a crafted weapon.

New for the third game are NPC companions for the player to recruit, including an afro samurai and a cat girl.

A "plus" version is soon to be released in Japan for the PS3, with additional content and recruitable NPCs. There are currently no announced plans to release an english "plus" version.

Japanese trailer at Gametrailers (http://www.gametrailers.com/user-movie/way-of-the-samurai-3-trailer/270010).

[MachEnergy]

As much as I loved the first game (sadly haven't played the 2nd), I'm glad I never paid full price for it. I'm hoping that if this version is going to have a full $60 price tag, then it will have enough features to make it seem worth it. I'm fine with short games that focus on multiple ways to play through it and collect things, but for some reason I don't want to pay full price for that.

I'm very interested in learning more about this release.

[Vigil80]

The previous games were always rentals for me. Funny thing is, I ended up renting the first one at least three times. Based on that, this might be going on my purchase list.

The choose-your-own-adventure style of storytelling never quite jived with me, but that's just because of my own perfectionism. I'm going to have to get past it for Heavy Rain, may as well work on it for this one too.

[Purple Santa]

Interesting. Gamefly has the first one available to rent but not the second. Although it's taking trade in for the game. No copies left of the second? Maybe so many people had their copies "lost" in the mail :)

I put this on my GF for the PS3. Usually, if it's a multi-platform I go with the 360 copy (I like boosting my measly gamerscore) but i'll be able to play more on my PS3 during the fall semester than on my 360. When I need a break from Uncharted 2, I'll have this for backup.

[TheSilentDeath]

The previous games were always rentals for me. Funny thing is, I ended up renting the first one at least three times. Based on that, this might be going on my purchase list.


I actually did the same thing with the first two games, however this is a game that screams purchase me if you want to play me.

Man, I've been excited about this game ever since I saw it an ad for it on the Japanese Xbox Live dashboard back in May. Before that I hadn't even heard that they were making a 3rd game in the series so think of the shock I had when I saw that there was indeed a 3rd game and that it was also on the 360. Crap I get giddy just thinking of how many times I'm going to actually play through this game.

[GunnyMo]

That looks sweet. I really enjoyed the first one.

Finally! Games coming to the PS3 that spur my urge to pick one up. ;)

[JayK47]

So this is supposedly out. There are few reviews out and none so far are raving about the game. I am still interested in the game, but I don't know if I am willing to pay $50 full retail for it. Has anybody picked this up and given it a go? Impressions?

[Vigil80]

Waiting on it from Gamefly. I don't think either of the previous two exactly rose to critical acclaim either, but I still had fun playing.

[Xerxes]

Can you play with the Japanese track on?

[MachEnergy]

I look forward to any impressions from you guys. I have way too many games on my plate right now, but this is a sure-fire rental for me at some point.

[JayK47]

I have finally gotten around to this game. I am enjoying it so far with the understanding that I don't reload an old save when I die. You keep your gear and points after death, so I guess the point is to keep starting over and with better gear and ability, perhaps you won't die as much. It is going for $30 new at Amazon for the 360. It is a slow starting game though, since you start with nothing and are quite weak and limited to what your starting options are. As you get more points, you unlock nicer outfits and character options during startup. So you need patience. I was just about to give up on it and am glad I stuck with it. However, one issue I am having, is crashing of my 360 with the game. I have to do a reboot. It could be my 360 or my scratched game disk though. Hard to say.

Edit: My system finally took a steaming dump. So the freezing issue I believe was a hardware issue, not a game issue. I was just starting to have fun too. Now I get a forced 360 vacation. So red ring is covered for 3 years right? If so, I just barely made the cut off. I'm feeling retarded lucky.