‘The Spirit of the Samurai’ Offers a Beautiful Tale That Isn’t Just Skin Deep (Review)

The Spirit of the Samurai is one of those games that caught my eye as soon as I saw its first teaser trailer. Its visually distinctive style immediately grabbed me, and I wanted to know more about its world. It feels decidedly old-school in many ways while implementing new technology to make it pop unlike anything else I’ve played this year. While its visuals had me ready to cry tears of joy, other parts of The Spirit of the Samurai had me ready to cry tears of frustration and pain.

Beautiful Stop Motion-Inspired Visuals Are the Biggest Selling Point

The first and easily most apparent part of The Spirit of the Samurai is its jaw-dropping visuals. Every environment of The Spirit of the Samurai is impressively rendered in a gorgeous stop motion style. Characters move with an eerie beauty, and the landscapes surrounding them are some of the best I’ve seen in recent years.

The grotesque horde of enemies I battled against also shared this aesthetic. Everything has this “retro feel” in mind. Landscapes are hauntingly dark and gritty, with the beautifully animated characters commanding every ounce of my screen.

The most awe-inspiring moments were when larger characters came onto the screen, where I could admire the sheer amount of detail in every fiber of their being. Seeing characters like the Spider-Woman who terrorized me while I was playing as the adorable kitten was mesmerizing. On the visual forefront, there isn’t anything that can compare to The Spirit of the Samurai.

Even the way moves and combos flow together is seamless. The Spirit of the Samurai allows me to combine up to three attacks to make my own moveset. And even these attacks are rendered in perfect detail. But, does beauty only go skin deep, or is everything about this surreal dream as beautiful as its visuals?

Semi-Clunky Combat Keeps This Samurai From Reaching His Full Potential

The Spirit of the Samurai is an ambitious game that tries to make many different things work in its favor. One thing I’m going to recommend before even diving into the combat is this. Learn how to fight with the right stick. The standard Attack Button + Left Stick combination is cumbersome and clunky, leading to far more deaths than you would normally experience.

Combat was one of the things I struggled with during the early portion of my journey. I wasn’t sure if it was just a lack of skills, or if the combat was just mediocre. As I began to experiment with the combo builder, making new attacks out of a variety of sword skills, I learned it was just the way I was controlling it during these early hours.

The Spirit of the Samurai offers two control schemes for combat: an attack button and the movement stick, or the right analog stick. If you want to enjoy the combat to the fullest, please use the right stick. It’s much snappier and more responsive overall — and made me feel like a proper Samurai as I tore through my opponents.

Sometimes, faulty hit detection could bring my attacks to a screeching halt. This was especially noticeable during scraps with the Shielded enemies, where I would roll behind them and attack, only to have my sword bounce off the rear of their shield. This wasn’t enough for me to give up, however, even though it was frustrating. I needed to see Takeshi through to the end of this journey.

Terror Lies in the Deep in ‘The Spirit of the Samurai’

My roughly eight hours of playtime in The Spirit of the Samurai shifted between three main characters. Takeshi, the noble and brave Samurai. Chisai, his noble feline companion. And Kodama, the agile and adorable Tree Spirit. While Takeshi and Kodama played similarly, with swordplay being their primary mode of offense, Chisai is a full-on stealth mission.

For those sensitive to animals being harmed, you may not want to pick up The Spirit of the Samurai. I can confirm Chisai isn’t hurt during the story. That being said, this adorable feline companion can be harmed during standard gameplay. While most of their deaths occur off-screen, a few of them are slightly more gory than I was initially anticipating.

The Spirit of the Samurai is a raw experience. It’s not afraid to put its death and destruction at the forefront of its level design. Or in the way that its characters can meet their end. Even the adorable Kodama can be brutally ripped to shreds before my very eyes. It’s shocking, to say the least, but in the horror genre, can we expect anything less?

For veterans seasoned in the art of horror, the deaths on display here are nowhere near as graphic as some film franchises like Terrifier. But, it still is shocking to see a creature flying away holding an adorable kitten before taking a chomp into it — complete with a fountain of blood. Genuinely, I do applaud them for not holding back. As much as it killed my soul any time Chisai got hurt.

Technical Woes Can Make Even the Most Patient Player Sweat a Little

The Spirit of the Samurai plays great for the most part. Some technical woes troubled me throughout my playtime. One of the most blatant issues was the audio mixing. There were more times than I could count when the audio became overwhelmingly loud for no reason, including during combat. This could become rather distracting. And in a game that requires split-second reactions, it could lead to a loss of life.

Another consistent issue was enemies hitting walls or flying into the air after performing an Up Combo on the right stick. If they would go into the walls, they would eventually make their way back out. It was more of an immersion breaker than anything major. But when enemies would go flying out of bounds with an upward hit, that’s when things became a little more concerning. Admittedly, this only happened twice during my playtime. I do think it’s still worth noting for those hoping for a completely polished experience.

Until you get the hang of the combat, there may be times it feels overwhelming to face off against multiple enemies at once. During the opening segment, in an encounter with the spider creatures, I would be volleyed back and forth. This left me unable to attack due to their speed. This is something the development team is aware of and will hopefully have implemented in the final build.

It was also disappointing to see no option for English Subtitles with Japanese Audio. This is another feature I would love to see implemented before the final release, or shortly after. I would love to do another playthrough in this style.

in ‘the spirit of the samurai,’ The Spirit Is Strong, but the Will Is Even Stronger

The Spirit of the Samurai is a flawed gem. It’s a little rough around the edges. Many times, it feels like a forgotten PlayStation 1 masterpiece that saw new life on current-generation consoles. It has an old soul, and while it does have its blemishes, it wears them with nobility and pride.

The story told about Takeshi, Chisai, and Kodama is like a ray in the darkness of the world surrounding it. While combat takes time to learn, it offers a surprising amount of depth after mastering it. The ability to create my combos was also a major plus, greatly enhancing enemy encounters.

With a few patches and some general fine-tuning, The Spirit of the Samurai could stand its own against the encroaching hordes. It offers a beautiful visual style unlike anything available on the market and a haunting take on a familiar genre. If you can look past its flaws, you’ll find a game worth your time, money, and patience.

Verdict: Recommended

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The Spirit of the Samurai will be available on December 12, 2024, on Steam and Epic Games. A code was provided by the publisher for the sake of review. Reviewed on PC.