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 is a game about politely talking to people with words, then politely cutting them to pieces with swords. Released in 2002 by Spike and Acquire, the game got picked up by Capcom for a sequel and then some other games carried the mantle on. None of the children captured the spirit of the parent at all, which is a shame. The reason I like this game so well is how strict it is about being a game. The events of the game take place over the course of two days in a mountain pass in Japan in the early Meiji era, meant to (loosely) recreate the events of the Satsuma Rebellion (also called the Seinan War). There are many ways the scenario can play out, and the decisions you make have direct consequences. I had never before seen a game more directly and completely give a player real choice in how a series of events unfolds, and in another dozen years, I still have not. All imitators and even the descendants get this wrong. The game is far less about chopping down goombas and far more about interacting with people. Your sword is the last means of negotiation rather than the first. This is not as to say the combat system is bad or suffers. Far from it. The combat is technical, demanding, and complete. You must talk your way into a swordfight, and then fight your way out. There are six styles and many swords and techniques. Generally, if you see a man with a sword you want, you kill him and take it. If you die, your swords are destroyed, so in a very real sense, you are the sword rather than the man. As you collect and upgrade swords and unlock moves and costumes, you advance in difficulty and play and re-play the scenario to complete six endings and accumulate ten titles (and three secret titles). Master your skill, be wise with the fights you pick, and you can accomplish great deeds. I will be beating the game ten or more times, showing as many of the sub-scenarios and dialog options as I can, showing all six endings, and showing off swords, moves, outfits and secrets. Keep death in mind at all times. Episode 0: Some Kind of Fool Episode 1-1: The Samurai Elite Episode 1-2: A Mad, A Kaz, Akadama Episode 1-3: Betrayer's Blast Episode 2-1: The Black House Episode 2-2: A Black Duty Episode 2-3: Black Betrayal Episode 3-1: Nice Guys Start First Episode 3-2: Drawn and Thirded Episode 4-1: Naginata Care in the World Episode 4-2: Short Words and Long Swords Episode 5-1: Few Can Overcome Many Episode 5-2: The End of an Era Episode 6-1: Lofty Ideals Episode 6-2: Rotten Choices Extras: Hard Mode Extras: Stances Extras: Rich Samurai Extras: Onna Bugeisha My Name Is Kaz fucked around with this message at 20:27 on Aug 12, 2014 |
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May 8, 2014 03:49
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| # ? Apr 28, 2024 21:38 |
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Some Kind of Fool https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rG7QtVoqwt8
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May 8, 2014 03:49
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I was hoping someone would eventually do this. I'm awful at these games, but the combat is just fun as hell. I'll comment more when I have a chance to watch the video.
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May 8, 2014 03:57
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The music, the hair, the laughs, this game has got a lot of style. Dojima is Johnny Five Aces and I can't think of anything else when you talk to and/or fight him.
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May 8, 2014 04:15
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Oh poo poo My Name is Kaz is doing WotS! Sign me the hell up. I was originally planning on LPing through the latest installment released by XSEED since its more......modern? But since we have this now I am on-board. I'll try not to backseat LP I promise Kaz. I love this series!
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May 8, 2014 04:21
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Death is certain
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May 8, 2014 04:36
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It certainly says something about this game that it's possible to play it in a way that made me as uncomfortable as that did. I'm just not sure what exactly it says. Looking forward to seeing where this goes.
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May 8, 2014 05:20
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Man right away I remembered the music once it started playing. And I only watched my friend play this game. Also, Kaz rules.
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May 8, 2014 05:27
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Ah, I remember playing this game and it's sequel extensively. One thing I love about both is that the combat forces you to balance between playing offensively and defensively. Too much of one or the other just gets you killed. Shame the first game doesn't have the fencing stance swords found in the sequel. Those were really fun to use.
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May 8, 2014 05:36
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A Kaz LP?! With Medibot in tow?! *watches thread and votes 5 IMMEDIATELY*
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May 8, 2014 05:36
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This is gonna be cool, I always wanted to play the Way of the Samurai games because they looked so interesting, unfortunately they're out of my budget range so I never got around to it. But hey I have a feeling this is gonna be a great lp and I'll definitely be watching it.
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May 8, 2014 05:42
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You taunted that first guy you fought in the middle of the fight. Does that mean you can start fights and then change your mind and make peace? Or do they not let you try to be friendly after attempting to kill them? Also, is there a threshold you have to get their health below before that option appears?
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May 8, 2014 05:46
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 Clearly the work of Onis! 
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May 8, 2014 06:23
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I've played (And raved and recommended) 3 a tonne to people, but never played the original. I always found it funny how in that game (which takes place in the Sengoku era, and thus before the actual Way of the Samurai became a thing) about half of the endings lead to "and then Nobunaga showed up and stomped a bitch." you could go and forge a pair of master-work 300+ Attack swords, cap your HP at 9999, and kill Shuzen only to be informed that Nobunaga showed up the next day and stomped a mudhole in your rear end.
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May 8, 2014 06:52
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My WotS history started with 2, and I've played through 2, 3, and 4 extensively. I really enjoy the games and I'm pretty interested to see how WotS 1 differs in the way you say.
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May 8, 2014 07:09
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This game seems pretty awesome, but it would be cool if you guys owned more samurais in this game. Other then that, I'll be following with great interest and wish you well in your samurai journey.
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May 8, 2014 07:42
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I absolutely love this game series. Godspeed!
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May 8, 2014 09:08
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I'm not entirely sure what I just watched but it is clearly extremely ambitious so I will give them kudos for vision.
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May 8, 2014 11:32
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Eagerly awaiting more sword action.
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May 8, 2014 13:33
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You never showed it off, but it was hinted at. Does stealing someone's sword actually give you their moves? Did you willingly choose not to break-dance-fight?
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May 8, 2014 18:09
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I can only approve of a game that presents a sledgehammer as a viable solution to all problems.
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May 8, 2014 18:44
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The playstyle in your video was a little different than I expected from your description of the game, but I approve nonetheless.
Momplestiltskin fucked around with this message at 23:00 on May 8, 2014 |
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May 8, 2014 18:59
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A friend and I spent uncountable hours on this game, back in the day. Really looking forward to watching how you do the LP! Also, will you try to show off all the styles?
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May 8, 2014 19:15
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Momplestiltskin posted:The paystyle in your video was a little different than I expected from your description of the game, but I approve nonetheless. This was my initial reaction to the video as well, but then I realized that, yes, this is exactly how you introduce the game, because this is exactly how someone who has never played the game before has their first go around, albeit with less skill at the sword fights. Of course, this is assuming that the following videos are going to be a little more serious, but I'm basing that off the OP.
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May 8, 2014 19:21
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Is this... What is... Oh... I see...
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May 8, 2014 19:33
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Activate Beast Mode
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May 8, 2014 19:35
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Marvelous. Watching this!
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May 8, 2014 19:48
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Momplestiltskin posted:The paystyle in your video was a little different than I expected from your description of the game, but I approve nonetheless. I think Episode 0 is named the way it is for a reason. Some contemporaries include Dynasty Warriors 3 and Devil May Cry, so it's only fair to attempt this game as a flip out and kill people with swords simulator before getting into the real content.
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May 8, 2014 20:59
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Kaz doing WotS? Hell yes. Hopefully you'll do the rest of the series, too, but either way I'm down for this.
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May 8, 2014 22:20
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Every copy of this game I have owned has been stolen by someone. I consider it a mark of its quality.
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May 8, 2014 23:13
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chocolatekake posted:You taunted that first guy you fought in the middle of the fight. Does that mean you can start fights and then change your mind and make peace? Or do they not let you try to be friendly after attempting to kill them? There are a few fights that can be ended without running someone through, but for the most part the only acceptable way to deal with your differences is to reduce the other guy to a smear on the ground. I've played through every part of this series, and it's really interesting to see how it's evolved. Just comparing 1 to 2 you'll see a notable shift in tone and combat mechanics, and there's a similar shift from 2 to 3, and 3 to 4 (1 to 4 are different enough it's hard to believe they're the same series.) That said, I do wish other games would try this style of storytelling more; we've got enough long, linear games. Give us more short games with lots of branching storylines. Keeshhound fucked around with this message at 23:20 on May 8, 2014 |
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May 8, 2014 23:15
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Gensuki posted:You never showed it off, but it was hinted at. Does stealing someone's sword actually give you their moves? Did you willingly choose not to break-dance-fight? It does, but you'll have to learn the advanced moves by actually using the sword in fights. If you see an enemy use an attack (break-dancing) and you think it's cool, you can kill them and use that move yourself after you "level up" that weapon enough. Movesets are weapon-specific, and then there are separate stances that each weapon falls into.
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May 8, 2014 23:25
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As someone who really liked this game, I wasn't sold on your approach at first. After watching the whole video, however, I really can't think of a better playthrough to start with than that one.Keeshhound posted:I've played through every part of this series, and it's really interesting to see how it's evolved. Just comparing 1 to 2 you'll see a notable shift in tone and combat mechanics, and there's a similar shift from 2 to 3, and 3 to 4 (1 to 4 are different enough it's hard to believe they're the same series.) As far as I could tell, 2 was close in a lot of ways but ruined by silly grindy reputation missions, and 3 was mostly about using your sword to fight off intensely lethal radishes people throw at you. I never played 4 at all and I can't imagine exactly how that would end up, given said evolution.
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May 9, 2014 02:02
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I always loved the idea of this series, but the way you learn new moves is obtuse and irritating at times. Also the later games really love making you grind faction missions and money.
Sindai fucked around with this message at 02:11 on May 9, 2014 |
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May 9, 2014 02:09
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I wanted to do a LP of this game years ago, but had enough of dealing with interlacing. I'm pretty happy to see someone picking it up though. Will you be taking any challenges after you're done with what you set out to do?
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May 9, 2014 02:36
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Sindai posted:I always loved the idea of this series, but the way you learn new moves is obtuse and irritating at times. Also the later games really love making you grind faction missions and money. The first game got it down the best. The other ones turn into 'Grand Theft Samurai' and they weren't my cup of tea.
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May 9, 2014 02:37
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Stopwatch Crash posted:As someone who really liked this game, I wasn't sold on your approach at first. After watching the whole video, however, I really can't think of a better playthrough to start with than that one. Personally I like 4 the best and then 3 slightly after. 4 is so off the wall though that you really have to go into it with an attitude of, "I'm just going to play this and have some fun."
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May 9, 2014 02:44
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Sindai posted:I always loved the idea of this series, but the way you learn new moves is obtuse and irritating at times. Also the later games really love making you grind faction missions and money. That's pretty much why I basically spent a day just getting that all out of the way In 3. Get myself over 99,999 Yen, unlock all the costume parts, And then do the actual game. Because at that point the only required Side-quest missions are the 4 you need to go see Shuzen, which you need for I think... 5 endings? Basically all the Fujimori endings. Still the funnest part of that game was killing the Ouka clan leader and becoming the boss. Apparently there was more content in the Plus version of the game (including being able to get Osei, Itsuse, the evil Princess and Sensei as companions) but that's Japanese only.
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May 9, 2014 02:44
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This is the first I've ever heard of this game (or series), but my curiosity is piqued. I'll be keeping my eye on this one.
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May 9, 2014 03:04
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The only one of these I have played is 4, which I bought because it looked loving stupid, and it was. However the janky combat mechanics, irritating loot and crafting systems, and variety of absurdly obtuse event triggers got in the way of actually letting me enjoy it. It'll be interesting seeing where all that nonsense came from though!
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May 9, 2014 03:25
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