Way Of The Samurai 2

[Meng De]

I picked this up about a week ago, after loving the first game; I was quite excited about this. The game has a similar basic plot line to the first; you play a wandering samurai who strolls into town, getting yourself caught up in various events that happen over a ten day period.

The first game was a charming, if a little short, free roaming GTA-lite samurai sim. The free-form elements are back, but are now hampered by the games newfound morality. In the first due to its speed and relatively small number of events and characters, you could pretty much either kill everyone, or no-one without any real punishment. Now if you decide to play the evil ronin, cutting down everyone, you can wind up in real trouble. Although this adds to the game in some ways (for example if you are really bad, children will flee in the streets and do-gooders will openly try to attack you) in others it fails (quite simply, all shops and business refuse to sell you anything, leading to a frustrating dead-end to one of the games new elements - the job system)

Shenmue-style, you will have to do various jobs for money, to buy food and improve you weapons. There are three different factions to work for, giving the player plenty to do on a ten day jaunt. However some jobs can get in the way of the plot line, and as it's the players role to be in the right place at the right time, you can miss key plot lines by pick-pocketing, or rescuing babies.

To sum up then

Good
The game is based around replay, so it has a lot of value there
Lot's of swords/items to collect
Unique play style, if a little hampered by its own ambition
Cheap at ?29.99 or less
Fun to play at being a really evil ronin
60hz option
Much improved saving system

Bad
Horrible voice acting (luckily you can skip it)
Combat has a cheap exploitable move, which can lead to some dull battles
Not the most advanced game graphically
You need to be alert to hunt out the various plotlines
Not for pure action fans

Overall after a disappointing start, I'm now really enjoying this. Anyone else played this yet? I'd be interested to see what you all think.

[Tom Salter]

I absolutely loved the original, I'll be getting this in ASAP. Cheers for the impressions

[Kungfu]

What can I say, great game. Rarely does a sequel surpass the original but WOTS2 succeeds.

To anyone who played WOTS1 the biggest improvement is the revised save feature. Improves the game tenfold.

Now you have the incentive to unlock multiple endings, swords, costumes and accessories.

So far I have unlocked all the costumes, 8 endings and have upgraded my ninja blade to 300atk - 255def.

Great replay value with varying difficulty settings to suit your ability.

[Kungfu]

Furthermore anyone know if there are more than the rumoured 12 endings?

[Darwock]

Also a huge fan of the original, can't believe they've ditched the awase/thwart aspect of the swords. In all my years playing WotS I only ever got a 49% enhanced sword (a dokumushi)

[Balou]

Can you tell a bit more about the combat?

From your impressions I get the feeling that the combat system has been simplified in comparison to Way of the Samurai I. (cheap moves and no awase possible)
So, is the combat really simpler (more hack ?n slash) than in the first game?

[Jashin]

Has this got a 60Hz option PAL fans?

[Darwock]

Yes on the 60hz, can't answer Balou's question but I also want to know...

[Meng De]

About the combat - well I didn't do much awase-ing in the first game, so I have not felt it's absence. I have found that the combat seems roughly about the same as the first. It's fun, particularly when you get a good weapon, with all the moves unlocked, as you can choose to dispatch people with speed, or style. The big problem that I have is the introduction of the new instant kill move.

This is cheap move I referred to in my first post. Basically there are two main styles of attack, from above, or from the side (there is still a jumping attack, but the enemy AI, for the most part, ignores it.) When a enemy attacks you, if you block the move correctly you can stagger the enemy and counter, which for the basic, non-boss characters means instant death.

I'm having a hard time deciding about this. On the one hand it's cheap, as (at least on the easy and medium difficulties) most fights can be ended this way. This rather spoils the sword-play, and in a roundabout way makes most of the sword collecting redundant. On the other hand, it looks very cool to wade into a group of combatants, and slice down all but the boss in a matter of moments. It makes you feel like a more competent samurai to cut through the peons with such ease. Overall I've come to regard this as a deliberate thematic change to the combat. Most of the fights can become tense stalemates while both combatants wait for the other to make the wrong or right move.

I will add that it is still possible to fight in a free-form way, and when you do the game is as enjoyable as it ever was. I think that pleasure derived from the new style of combat will be a matter of personal opinion.

Oh and watch out for ninjas! - they are much more skilled than the ones in the first.

[Balou]

Thank you, Meng De!

So, they basically made the game more realistic by allowing one well placed blow to finish off an opponent?

Is the "instant kill" move executed easily or does it need some practice to perform it on a regular basis? (or is it even a standard attack?)
Also, do you mean by "blocking correctly" the pushing and pulling from the first game? Or did they include a new system to block/parry enemy blows and gain advantage afterwards?


Again, thanks for the information.
I think I will now give the sequel a try (and maybe sell the first one).

[Meng De]

No problem Balou, glad I can help.

The instant kill move is very easy to pull off. Basically depending on the attack type; you simply guard and press up or back on the controller when the attack comes in, then whilst the opponent is staggered you press one of the attack buttons to finish them off. My memories of the first game are not so fresh, but I believe that this is an addition to the "pushing and pulling" tactic of the first game. You can perform this move on boss-type characters for a reasonable amount of damage too.

After playing some more, (although not as much as Kung Fu - sorry I can't help you with your question about the 12 endings, if I discover anything I'll let you know!) I feel that a bit of the style has been lost from WOTS 1 (not on the scale of say the jump between Devil May Cry 1 and 2 though.) At first I couldn?t place my finger on why, as the game is as cinematic as ever in certain scenes, and has far greater character design options.

I think it's all down to the environments, they all are a little too clean and nice (with the exception of the yakuza headquarters and the edge of town areas.) this can lead to a bit of blandness in the overall look. I would recommend this title, as I think I have spent far more time with it than I ever did the first and I do hope that Acquire continue the franchise (an additional Co-op mode would be fantastic) as there is a lot of promise here.

Just a final note, this game is set time-wise about ten years before WOTS1 and so you get to meet some very familiar faces,
SPOILER ALERT! So far I?ve met Tesshin, Doujima, tsubohatchi and a spy whom I believe to be Hyuga End of spoilers - Has anyone found any others?

[Kungfu]

Furthermore I am currently aware of 14 endings in total. Managed to get 13 but havent figured out how to get the last.