In regards to the game world itself, the entirety of Way of the Samurai 3 takes place within Amana, a fictional Japanese land and within its boundaries there are eight different villages, forts and other places of interest which may be visited. It’s this sort of sense of humour which permeates Way of the Samurai 3 throughout too, with a deftly handled localisation effort providing some proper laugh out loud dialogue choices which in turn provide yet further levity to the game. Side-missions can be completed to earn precious yen that can be spent on new equipment or food to keep your health topped up, while the variety of such quests proves commendable indeed, ranging from using your sword to fillet fish for a samurai lord to finding the missing underwear of a village elder.
From here, players can opt to choose a side, or simply not pick one at all and just ride the conflict out, since Way of the Samurai 3 is as much about finding the place of your character in the world as it is being a part of the events that define it. Once into the game proper, the story wastes no time in setting up the three opposing factions of the oppressing Fujimori Clan, the anarchic, yet free-spirited bandits of the Ouka clan and, of course, the villagers of Amana county who find themselves caught in the middle of the strife generated by the conflict.
#Way of the samurai 1 factions how to
Those Ouka Clan lads sure know how to throw a party Consider this a forewarning for anyone playing this for the first time. This proves to be a somewhat clumsy solution because the game allows you to interrupt dialog scenes with an attack or submissive motion depending on how you wish to play your character I actually missed out the tutorial lady entirely because I didn’t let the dialogue cut-scene run its course. Of equal annoyance is that the tutorial is actually doled out to the player via an NPC who you meet very early on in the game. For starters, there is no minimap or waypoint-based UI whatsoever which means that you must constantly switch to the map screen in order to orient yourself towards your next objective. Gameplayįrom the outset, if you’ve not played a Way of the Samurai game before, a handful of nagging frustrations immediately set in.
Based on the evidence that we have in front of us, it’s an assessment that proves difficult to disagree with.
#Way of the samurai 1 factions series
An action adventure that combines sophisticated combat, branching narrative choices and dialogue against the romantic backdrop of Japan’s Sengoku feudal period, many fans of the franchise have argued that Way of the Samurai 3 represents the apex of the series so far. Imagine Groundhog Day crossed with Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai and you’re not far off. Speaking of such events, each playthrough of Way of the Samurai 3 takes place against a fixed number of days before it concludes with one of the game’s twenty-two different endings being triggered depending on the actions taken during that time. The upshot of this is that by plonking the player slap-bang in the middle of a clan war, Way of the Samurai 3 weaves a far more traditional tale that captures the essence of the samurai stories of old all the while enabling the player sufficient freedom to guide events however they see fit. Eschewing the foreign invasion storyline that served as the narrative backbone for Way of the Samurai 4, its prequel instead looks to the inter-clan warfare and disputes that defined much of Japan’s tumultuous history long before the first western foot ever struck the sand of its shores. Frequently using a particular weapon will make you more efficient in combat when using it, granting additional moves and damage as a resultĪgain similar to the previous release on PC, Way of the Samurai 4, freeform third-person action adventure beats are played out against a historical backdrop.