Way of the Samurai 4 - Herschel Blue​

Look mom, I'm on a boat! Seriously, I'm on a boat and headed to Amihama. In Way of the Samurai 4, developed by the good folks at Acquire and presented to us nicely by XSEED Games, you are a wandering Samurai here to make a name for yourself. Unfortunately you came in the middle of a huge fight between the Shogunate and the Anti-Foreign forces led by Akagi Retsudo. A goodwill ambassador has come to Japan from Great Britain and it is your choice to help them, help Akagi and his men, help the shogunate, or go off on your own as a wandering samurai.



The game's graphics are a bit sub par, but for what everything in the game is worth, it's more on the gameplay rather than how the game looks. Looks can only take you so far with a choice based game such as this anyway. In WotS4, it's all about the decisions you make in the amount of time you spend in Amihama.

The custom weapon system from 3 is back as well as an extra feature of adding charms to the weapon for special effects. Along with swords and spears, pistols and muskets have been added to the game. Real nice touch if I say so myself, though the good ol' sword does quite well in most situations. Choices, choices, choices, and in Way of the Samurai, choice is a big thing that can affect the outcome of your game. Everything leads to a different ending which has been the case with the Way of the Samurai games.

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The only online interaction in the game is the crossroad killings feature. In a sense, it's basically the ghost data of other players connected to the Playstation Network that you can fight and claim the spoils for your own. Other than that, there's no multiplayer, co-op or otherwise, which I am glad for because it would take away the real purpose of the game.