Way of the Samurai 3
8.5
10
10
10
You have to be a big fan...
I simply could not get into this game in any way. After reading about this game and reading the other reviews on here I was very interested in this game, but when I plugged it in for the first time I could not be more confused or disappointed. In order to think this game is good you must be a huge, HUGE fan of the series or be a HUGE fan of samurai. It was difficult to start, I wandered aimlessly for an hour before finding something that resembled a mission to do. The biggest flaw of this game is the utter lack of direction. There are plenty of 'jobs' to do, but you can't access them all the time and I was hard pressed to find things to do in the times they weren't available. The battle system is not very forgiving and I found it hard to get the feel of it. The gameplay is not executed very well. Attacks and blocks at times are sluggish and make combat more difficult. The way the character moves is irritating as is the camera, although I have seen worse. The graphics are not terrible, but certainly not great. The textures are repetative and have little detail and the characters are ugly all over the board. The core concept is good for the most part. I love the fact that there are so many different endings and ways to play, but the game is not constructed well enough to make me want to push through and play each ending. The skill system isn't broken, be there is nothing great to say about it. The music is nothing special and the voices and noises people make are super irratating. They attempted to make something like a free-roam samurai, but the small and ugly world make it not worthwhile.
3/26/11
Choose Your Destiny
Way Of The Samurai 3 is a fun and challenging action game. You play a samurai whose impact on the changing country, is yet to be decided. That's because, about 90 percent of what you do in this game, has some role in the important events taking place. There are 28 different endings in this game. The choices you make are in dialogue similar to Bioware RPGs. You can take weapons from enemies you've slain, or make your own weapons, using parts you buy at shops. You can also, upgrade weapons. When you die, the game restarts, but you keep all weapons, skills, and accessories you've acquired, which is cool. When you first start the game, you can change your name and basic appearance, but you can do more - you can play the game using the same character infinite times. Each time you load a completed game, it will be the same as if you died. By which I mean, you will be at the beginning with everything you acquired still with you. This is an awesome game! I highly recommend this game to people who like, Fable, Tenchu, Dragon Age, and the previous Way Of The Samurai games! It is awesome!
5/13/10
A Vast Improvement Overall, and an incredible game.
The Way of the Samurai series has been a huge underground hit in the US, and very popular in Japan in its own right. Overall, despite changing several hands in who published the games in the US, Way of the Samurai has done well, and the third installment is no exception. Story and Interaction Way of the Samurai 3 begins in a fairly simple fashion. Your character is in the middle of a battle as per the opening CG cut scene before you actually begin a new game from the title screen. Your character is one of the few survivors left of one side. From here, every action you take is your own. You could be a compassionate samurai that aids the towns people; fight to restore the former Sakurai Clan; or fight for Fujimori, the clan that defeated Sakurai clan and established dominance with an iron grip. This basic premise of the game is very similar to all the games, most notably the second, which was somewhat disappointed with in terms of originality. The visible number was 28 endings, but there are rumors of possible other endings, and hopefully we can get downloadable content too, which makes up for this three basic premises and offers branches for each group in different endings, or even possible endings from ignoring all the groups. Storyline endings aside, your interactions is important in the game. Doing jobs for certain clans will make some people like you, and others hate you. Working for the people in one of the two towns will earn their trust and respect, and won't change much with the Sakurai or Fujimori. But work for either of the two clans, and expect many clashes in the street. The interactions during cut scenes is also important. You can choose multiple responses to achieve a certain end. Also, two new features are introduced: the bow and drawing your sword. Bowing, or the blue symbol, will appear right before a cut scene, and will allow the player to skip the scene with no positive or negative outcomes, as if it never happened. This is excellent to avoiding accidents that would occasionally happen to players in the previous two games and frustrate them. The drawing of the blade is possible in virtually every scene with dialogue. Right from the start of the game, when two villagers come to check on you after the battle, you can scare them off by drawing your sword. This action is useful for skipping dialogue if you plan on just attacking someone anyway, or just to see how characters react, which can be anywhere from angry, amused, impartial, etc. Combat This leads to another crucial element of the game most people misunderstand and write false reviews on: combat. Not trying to be harsh to anyone here or in particular overall, but the combat is often the most difficult part of the game to master, and actually has quite some depth which has frustrated some; but in reality it is quite simple to master after a few short minutes of in game practice. Essentially the combat is a hybrid of the first and second game. It combines the push/pull system of the first game, making combat more fluid, but also more realistic and challenging. There is also a little symbol showing if a enemy is going to pull, or deflect, a weaker attack of yours, or if they are going to use a push move to break the players guard. This challenges the player to pay attention, but helps them greatly at the same time. There is an instant kill system. However, it is a more difficult move to use; it requires the player to time a block when an enemy's attack comes in, forcing them off balance greatly. This allows a player to perform an instant kill, or in some cases, a chain kill on multiple enemies. Like in the second game, this can only be done on weaker or more common enemies. Bosses or similar characters will get fairly significant damage from this, but not die. Also, 'blunt attacks' another new feature which allows you to stun, not kill enemies (though this achieves the same outcome for most jobs, and can also change character dispositions to the player if
11/5/09
Memorable game ( Series headed in the right direction)
It takes a true mastermind ( or masterminds) to come up with a game such as Way Of the Samurai 3. What this game dose is take you on an adventure through a time when war was emanate. the sengoku era. you,a lone samurai, are thrust into a world where all sides are in a conflict and it is up to you to decide who's side you join,what alliances are formed and ultimately, what happens to this world in the process. This game has enormous replay value with over 20 endings this will easily keep you entertained for days the game has made huge leeps since is ps2 predecessors new combo systems and wepon forging will make even new fans to the series say "wow!!". The story is captivating and memorable as well. all in all this is a great game and it is not given enough credit then it should be given. if you have an open mind if you like action with a lil rpg style thrown in then by this game and you wont regret it!!
10/28/09
i loved the first two
I belive this way of the samurai will make a new jump on the franchise with the duel system they have now. Also the choose of blunt sword or sharp side is great for people that try to be all good or evil. I was amazed with the first one I stayed up for hours at a time just killing not even doing any story line. The way you had to learn your swords new skills was amazing to me and you had so many sword styles to choose from it was one of the greatest games of its time it is to bad it never got the attention it deserved.
9/8/09
cant wait
ive playd the first three.....yes 3. the third game was samurai western. but one of my favoryte ps2 games has to be way of the samurai 2, and if this new one is part two plus more its gonna rock.......GOTTA GET IT
9/6/09
Same Graphics, But A New Outlook.
I've played the first and second one and it disappointing me because of how short it was. But after many years in the making and now the third one is coming out this October, I'm pretty anxious to see what this game holds from what the description said about customization of the weapons, though I think you can do that on part two and so forth. Hopefully the game won't have as many less customization to the character and the game play would be much longer. From what I see on the screen shots, it does look like a marvel cartoon and such but remembering from part 2, that's how it was also. Many people do complain about the graphics n' all but the game play is to be looked at and not just the look of it. Graphics, screw it... the game play is where it's at. This game should be rented if I may suggest, to give it a shot. If it's good, then buy it. That's what I'm going to do.
8/15/09
Samurai
Im a huge fan of way of the samurai. I own and have completed part one and two and cant wait for the release of the third part. The graphics or nice and the last 2 had an amazing storyline with multiple endings. All in all i think way of the samurai is a great game and cant wait for part three.
8/9/09
samurai
i think this is good game i completed both other way of the samurai and they were fun
8/2/09
Disappointing
From what I've seen so far of this game, it looks as though it will be an immense disappointment. The graphics look to be about the same as what I saw when playing Way of the Samurai on my Playstation 2 back in '03, which is sad to say seeing as this game is to be released on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. It also appears that they're still using speech bubbles for dialogue the way an 11-12 year old RPG would (similar to Dragon Quest VIII, however, that was intentional due to the iconic nature of the game). As for the combat, it seems to be nothing special; more or less button mashing like the last two. All in all, this game looks to be Way of the Samurai 2 repackaged for a new system with new characters, so it seems as though it will be quite disappointing, especially seeing as it is to be released in the same time frame as gaming marvels such as Halo 3: ODST, Assassin's Creed II, WET, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (almost all of which I'm looking forward to). My initial impression is that this is a game you shouldn't play unless you want to feel nostalgic... Or old, depending on how long you've been a gamer.
7/20/09