The Spirit of the Samurai Review - A Unique Blend of Art and Action?

The Spirit of the Samurai

PC/Steam

12/12/24

Digital Mind Games/Kwalee

From 2D fighting franchises the likes of Samurai Shodown, to Musou releases such as Samurai Warriors, we’ve had no shortage of samurai representation in video games. In the indie scene we’ve seen excellent standalone titles such as Katana Zero, and in more recent times, cinematic action games such as Trek to Yomi. I’m not complaining mind you, as Samurai and gaming go together like hot chocolate and marshmallows. Today we add yet another indie release to the ever-growing catalog of available games starring or featuring a Japanese warrior, as we are reviewing The Spirit of the Samurai! But is the spirit strong in this unique looking indie? Or does it live a life without honor? Let’s find out in our full review!

The Spirit of the Samurai is a 2D action-adventure title. While the developers claim that it features Metroidvania elements, it is fairly linear, leaving little room for exploration. You also won’t find a giant sprawling map, nor does the game feel all that interconnected, therefore using the term feels like a stretch. Instead, The Spirit of the Samurai feels more level based in its approach, hosting distinct checkpoints throughout each of its uniquely contained areas.

You’ll battle against an army of the undead playing as Takeshi, though, you will also occasionally control his companion cat, and a tree spirit? It’s your typical tale of defending a village, fighting for honor, and vanquishing evil, but one that is told through some of the most ambitious, cinematic art direction that I have seen out of an indie release. Digital Mind Games won’t win any awards for their script writing, but the unique presentation makes up for many of its narrative shortcomings. Cutscenes are sprinkled throughout this 8–10-hour campaign, animated beautifully using, much like the rest of the game, a fascinating stop motion technique that brings this world to life in striking fashion. Few games come to mind that look like The Spirit of The Samurai, with the closest comparison I can conjure being the Mortal Kombat series, more specifically, MK Mythologies.

Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero isn’t a game you typically want to be compared to. Released in 1997 as a spin-off to the popular fighting game franchise, it placed Sub Zero into a 2D action platformer while attempting to retain the feel of previous entries in the franchise with mixed results. And yet, there is an undeniable charm to the game, a feeling that constantly hit home with me during my playthrough of The Spirit of the Samurai. Mythologies was chalk full of terrible platforming, laughable FMV sequences, and blood boiling traps, and yet something kept me playing. Perhaps it was the hope that things would improve? Or maybe I just wasn’t the same cranky old man that I am today. At least one of those things is probably true. 

In similar fashion, The Spirit of the Samurai is equal parts entertaining and irritating. Before we get into all of the reasons why I both like and despise this game, let’s discuss the options, though not all that many exist. For video settings players can select between resolutions up to 4K, however a bug in my review build prevented me from choosing that resolution, and so I opted for 2K. Apparently this is a known bug that will hopefully be ironed out in time for release. Outside of that, there are options for Vsync, FPS, and subtitles along with volume toggles for in-game sounds, and a few different languages to choose between. 

As I alluded to earlier, The Spirit of the Samurai is a 2D action game that places an emphasis on combat, stealth, platforming, and storytelling. Rooted in Japanese mythology, you’ll explore dungeons, caves, burning villages, and more as you take down Yokai. When playing as Takeshi, the game’s lead character, you’ll dice up enemies by stringing together combos. Periodically, you’ll also take control of Chisai, the adorable kitten, who relies more on stealth and platforming than offensive attacks. Later in the game you’ll control a spirit who has both sword skills and magical abilities. While each character does play differently, Takeshi is by far the most enjoyable of the three.

The Spirit of the Samurai does appear somewhat open at first, allowing players to wander around a lively village and speak with different NPC characters. Initially controlling Takeshi, you’ll do plenty of back and forth wandering to complete various fetch quests. Unfortunately, this brief sense of freedom is mostly an illusion, as the game soon begins to follow a linear path, one that mostly consists of clearing out screens of enemies and progressing towards the endgame. I was a little disappointed that the game didn’t lean more heavily into its RPG elements. Instead, most characters you encounter aren’t given much backstory at all outside of the few that are crucial to the narrative. There feels like a lot of empty space for more side quests, more hidden treasures, and more dialogue in general, but The Spirit of the Samurai never delivers on that potential. World building isn’t one of the game's strong suits and instead ends up creating a lot of missed opportunities.

Controlling Takeshi isn’t all that complicated. You’ll move freely towards one side of the screen or another while having the ability to dash in order to get around quicker. Dashing and performing actions or being hit by foes will lower your resistance bar. Should that resistance bar run out, you’ll lose one of your three lives. Lose all three lives and it's back to the last checkpoint. To the left of your resistance bar is an experience gauge, which as you might expect, fills up as you defeat enemies. Filling this bar completely means that you’ll gain a level and be awarded runes. These runes can then be spent on upgrading your character's stats such as strength and resistance. Consumable items can also be equipped to the directional pad, similar to many souls and Metroidvania titles.

Occasionally, Takeshi will also need to crouch underneath areas and rely on his platforming skills. Platforming never feels great in this game, and for whatever reason, the developers are convinced otherwise. There are entire sections dedicated to testing your platforming abilities, but more often than not it’s the games clunkiness that costs you your life, not so much your personal skill set. 

Thankfully, combat is at least somewhat more enjoyable, though it comes with frustrations of its own. Most attacks are executed by pressing the right stick in a specific direction. For example, pressing the stick upwards can result in an upward sword thrust. Holding down the right trigger will block incoming attacks and pressing it at the exact moment a foe is about to strike will allow you to parry, temporarily stunning them. This style of combat does create some fun and thrilling moments, further heightened by brutal executions that can occur on a killing blow. The downside is that the game feels a bit slow and clunky, meaning that I was often vulnerable to attacks from behind. This can feel a bit cheap at times, especially when multiple enemies appear on screen at one time. It’s difficult to fight off multiple foes at once, meaning that your best strategy is to lead one enemy away from the action and take him out individually. Healing creates additional points of frustration, as Takeshi performs a slow drinking animation leaving you wide open to attacks. Mercifully, a dodge roll is available to help alleviate some of the aggravation. A bow can also be mixed into your attacks, which is admittedly a good deal of fun to use. Even still, there is no escaping the fact that the combat never feels as fluid as you would hope. 

One of the more interesting aspects of gameplay is the combo system. As you level up, you’ll gain new attacks. These attacks can then be placed together to form combos as you see fit. There are slots for frontal attacks, jumping attacks, upward strikes, and even cover. It’s a neat idea and does allow for some degree of experimentation, but ultimately, doesn’t change the core gameplay issues. 

Many of the game’s shortcomings seem to stem from its pretty packaging. That gorgeous art direction that probably drew you into this game is the same thing that’s going to turn you off.  Beauty comes at the cost of gameplay fluidity, whether it be clunky platforming, middling combat or dreadful stealth segments.  When controlling Chisai, you’ll be required to hide behind rocks and survive scripted attacks. As an example, in one area, a giant demon looms in the background. As incredible as it looks, dodging it’s one hit insta-kill required near perfect input times that the game simply doesn’t allow for. This meant repeating long sections ad nauseum, which made it feel like the game wasn’t respecting my time. Later sections are also guilty of time-wasting as checkpoints become fewer and far between. When playing as a spirit, you are forced into seemingly out of place collect-a-thons.  These sections of the game were long-winded, tedious and otherwise boring retreads through the same dull areas.

The Spirit of the Samurai is a far cry from being what I would consider a Metroidvania game, but it does have a few moments of light exploration. Some dungeons allow you to take paths upwards, leading to items such as keys to unlock doors, restorative potions, and even unwanted encounters. Ultimately, you’ll need to return from whence you came, so even the small bits of exploration that are present feel rather arbitrary. Whether it is trying to be a platformer, Metroidvania, or a stealth game, it never felt as though the developer fully committed to a cohesive identity. I’m all for games mixing different genres, but sadly in this case, The Spirit of the Samurai feels stretched too thin. This is a classic case of being a jack of all trades and a master of none.

I would be remiss not to discuss the stunning art style featured in The Spirit of the Samurai. Inspired by the works of Ray Harryhausen, known for films such as Clash of the Titans, I can honestly say no game looks quite like this. I mentioned Mortal Kombat earlier, but the rendered monsters and characters featured here are vastly different from the live actor sprites that were so often used during the 90s. I was a bit young when Harryhausen was producing his greats, but looking back at his work you can immediately see his influence in this title. The jerky, almost haunting animations are incredible, backdrops sometimes jaw dropping, and smoke and particle effects, all of which were seemingly done by hand, look remarkable. It hurts my soul to think of how many hours went into painstakingly animating every small detail of The Spirit of the Samurai. It's highly impactful and left me wanting to see more games of this style in the future. 

The sound design is impressive in its own right, with solid voice performances that are a cut above your average indie release.  Each line was delivered with enough conviction to at least hold my interest in an otherwise rather generic tale. There are some disgustingly satisfying sound effects, accompanied by a soundtrack that remains faithfully in the background, swelling up in all the right action-packed moments.  All told, the game looks and sounds incredibly cinematic. 

The Spirit of the Samurai is a complicated product to review. On one hand, it is one of the most striking indie games I’ve ever played on this channel, with art and audio that left a lasting impression on me.  On the other hand, it is a flawed gameplay experience that left me underwhelmed.  While the combat has its bright moments, it was often a true test of my patience.  The combo system was a cool idea, but most encounters could be dealt with through basic button mashing, apart from the need to occasionally block or parry. The game never fully commits to its RPG elements, with exploration that has a lot of missed potential. And, while the performance was mostly good with a locked 120FPS, I did encounter a few annoying bugs, including one devastating glitch where a key that I required would not appear. Even with the proper patches and bug fixes, it’s important to understand that The Spirit of the Samurai is more about appearances than satisfaction, and yet I can’t completely dismiss this title.  There’s something here that’s worth experiencing, with an understanding that it’s perfectly imperfect. 

Despite its shortcomings, there is going to be an audience for this title that is willing to look past its flaws.  Beauty may be skin deep, but there’s enough substance to warrant me awarding The Spirit of the Samurai the BRONZE Genie Lamp of Approval. 

GOOD