Supported Language Update
- The latest update adds support for Japanese language.
- The latest update adds support for Japanese language.
Way of the Samurai 4
ACQUIRE Corp. · Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd.
- Released
- Jul 23, 2015
- Platforms
- Last updated
Updates & announcements
- Developer postOriginal post
- PC Gamer
Robbing Geisha in the entertainingly rubbish Way of the Samurai 4
My name’s Phil, and I have a confession: I love janky games. It’s why I’ve spent days in the buggy sandboxes of Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls series. It’s why I once spent an afternoon hunting flying jaguars in an unpatched version of Boiling Point. It’s why I’ll always have a fondnes
Original postMy name’s Phil, and I have a confession: I love janky games. It’s why I’ve spent days in the buggy sandboxes of Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls series. It’s why I once spent an afternoon hunting flying jaguars in an unpatched version of Boiling Point. It’s why I’ll always have a fondness for a particular type of Japanese game that combines quirky writing and a heap of systemic jank to create something entertaining.
The best of these is Sega’s excellent Yakuza series, but they’re not on PC, so I’m playing Way of the Samurai 4 instead. I’m not expecting it to be good—Andy’s review of the PC port, released in 2015, warns that it’s “fundamentally a bit rubbish”. But as long as it’s entertainingly rubbish, I’ll consider my evening a success.
Set in 19th century Japan, the story opens with an attempted trade deal between the British and the port town of Amihama. A faction of traditionalists arrives to oppose the foreigners and fighting breaks out on the streets. My nameless samurai, a new arrival in Amihama, is dragged into the conflict. For a second I worry that Way of the Samurai 4 might be playing things straight.
And then I’m introduced to the commander of the British forces. She’s a competent warrior, undermined only by the fact that her name is Melinda Megamelons. Ian Fleming would be proud.
Eventually I’m let loose on the town. I find a thief casing a nearby house, and he offers me a job stealing from a geisha by bumping into her when she’s not looking. This is the sort of bullshit minigame that I was hoping for, and I eagerly accept. I find the geisha, and wonder how the game will telegraph the moment to steal her stash. It answers with some pop-up text, reading, “Hint: Now.”
I abscond with the treasure and return to the thief. He sets me a more difficult task: stealing from sumo wrestlers. I arrive at the location late at night. The wrestlers are nowhere to be seen. Finding a bed roll nearby, I sleep until the next day.
When I wake up, I’m surrounded by angry men in cloth nappies. Bingo. I grab their stash and run, but they give chase—preventing me from leaving the area. I turn to face them. It’s a difficult fight. I have few restorative items, and no spare weapons. My blade breaks. I slash at a couple of guys with the hilt of my sword, but they beat me to death.
I reload and explore the town instead. I buy some noodles, and am delighted by the option to refuse payment. I do, just to see what will happen. Predictably, I’m attacked. I’m more confident in a one-on-one fight, but the security guy is the toughest opponent I’ve yet faced. He connects with a massive combo of attacks that wipes out my health bar. I die, again. A ratings screen declares me ‘Good For Nothing’. I can’t help but agree.
Despite my failures, I’m happy. WOTS 4 is just as bizarre, shoddy and surprising as I’d hoped. It may not be good, but it is good for something.
- Developer post
Way of the Samurai 3 is out now on Steam!
I’m delighted to be able to say that Way of the Samurai 3 has now been released on Steam priced at $19.99 (£14.99) with a 20% launch discount. Honour, sacrifice, betrayal… Your choices make you who you are. How will history remember you? Jump into the sandals of a mysterious lone
Original postI’m delighted to be able to say that Way of the Samurai 3 has now been released on Steam priced at $19.99 (£14.99) with a 20% launch discount.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/427510
Honour, sacrifice, betrayal… Your choices make you who you are. How will history remember you?
Jump into the sandals of a mysterious lone samurai during Japan’s turbulent Sengoku era, in one of the most atmospheric action RPGs ever created!
Explore the villages, body-strewn battlefields, bandit fortresses, immense castles and local town of Amana, in an open world bustling with a rich cast of colourful characters that you can help, ignore or victimise.
Choose your friends and enemies carefully in a game where every decision has far-reaching consequences, and where finishing the game is just the beginning of your journey…
The Butterfly Effect – More than 20 different endings. Your every action, no matter how subtle or ludicrous, could set in motion a huge variety of events, allowing for huge replayability. Explore new narrative paths, reveal new allies… and enemies!
Huge Customization - Craft your own unique weapons from over 200 different parts. Create the ultimate unbreakable weapon to suit your preferred fighting style. Forge lethal swords, spears, pole axes and more outlandish weaponry and discover hundreds of new abilities as you become a true master of each weapon!
Reward System and Samurai Rating – Your actions and conduct will reward you with Samurai Points and Titles, all of which unlock new game features, customisation options, outfits and accessories. Live as an honourable samurai, wallow in the low life of a bandit or strike your own path! Your choices lead to new endings, strange followers and other unexpected outcomes.
The Pen Can Be Mightier Than the Sword - Fight your enemies by force or take the diplomatic route, using subtle gestures like the unsheathing of your sword or kowtowing. Featuring an extensive dialogue tree, combo system and much, much more!
What the reviewers had to say about the PS3 version:
“Anyone who likes swordfighting, the freedom of an open-world, and the opportunity to shape a story would be well-advised to pick it up.” – Cheat Code Central
“You're free to do whatever you want… you're encouraged to play it over and over again and try different things each time. Again, I think this design is great.” – IGN
“Multiple endings, tons of weapon customization and plenty of replay offer up a package that is a must buy for fans of the first two games.” - ZTGD
- Developer post
Way of the Samurai 3 is out now on Steam!
I’m delighted to be able to say that Way of the Samurai 3 has now been released on Steam priced at $19.99 (£14.99) with a 20% launch discount. Honour, sacrifice, betrayal… Your choices make you who you are. How will history remember you? Jump into the sandals of a mysterious lone
Original postI’m delighted to be able to say that Way of the Samurai 3 has now been released on Steam priced at $19.99 (£14.99) with a 20% launch discount.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/427510
Honour, sacrifice, betrayal… Your choices make you who you are. How will history remember you?
Jump into the sandals of a mysterious lone samurai during Japan’s turbulent Sengoku era, in one of the most atmospheric action RPGs ever created!
Explore the villages, body-strewn battlefields, bandit fortresses, immense castles and local town of Amana, in an open world bustling with a rich cast of colourful characters that you can help, ignore or victimise.
Choose your friends and enemies carefully in a game where every decision has far-reaching consequences, and where finishing the game is just the beginning of your journey…
The Butterfly Effect – More than 20 different endings. Your every action, no matter how subtle or ludicrous, could set in motion a huge variety of events, allowing for huge replayability. Explore new narrative paths, reveal new allies… and enemies!
Huge Customization - Craft your own unique weapons from over 200 different parts. Create the ultimate unbreakable weapon to suit your preferred fighting style. Forge lethal swords, spears, pole axes and more outlandish weaponry and discover hundreds of new abilities as you become a true master of each weapon!
Reward System and Samurai Rating – Your actions and conduct will reward you with Samurai Points and Titles, all of which unlock new game features, customisation options, outfits and accessories. Live as an honourable samurai, wallow in the low life of a bandit or strike your own path! Your choices lead to new endings, strange followers and other unexpected outcomes.
The Pen Can Be Mightier Than the Sword - Fight your enemies by force or take the diplomatic route, using subtle gestures like the unsheathing of your sword or kowtowing. Featuring an extensive dialogue tree, combo system and much, much more!
What the reviewers had to say about the PS3 version:
“Anyone who likes swordfighting, the freedom of an open-world, and the opportunity to shape a story would be well-advised to pick it up.” – Cheat Code Central
“You're free to do whatever you want… you're encouraged to play it over and over again and try different things each time. Again, I think this design is great.” – IGN
“Multiple endings, tons of weapon customization and plenty of replay offer up a package that is a must buy for fans of the first two games.” - ZTGD
- Rock, Paper, Shotgun
Way Of The Samurai 3 On The Road Towards PC
I feel like the Way of the Samurai 3 trailer is quite telling about what the game’s priorities are. It’s a 2008 open-world action game, originally for PS3 and Xbox 360, which should be gracing the PC with its presence before the end of the year, following in the steps of its sequ
Original postI feel like the Way of the Samurai 3 trailer is quite telling about what the game’s priorities are. It’s a 2008 open-world action game, originally for PS3 and Xbox 360, which should be gracing the PC with its presence before the end of the year, following in the steps of its sequel Way of the Samurai 4.
If editing and screen time mean anything at all, the game is about as proud of its crafting system as it is of its silly sex scenes and their embarrassing innuendos.
- Developer post
Way of the Samurai 3 is coming to Steam!
Hi everyone. I hope you’re all excited about this announcement, as I certainly am! :) I’m delighted to be able to tell you that we’ll be bringing the fantastic Japanese open world action game, Way of the Samurai 3 to Steam in the very near future. We’ve had loads of emails asking
Original postHi everyone.
I hope you’re all excited about this announcement, as I certainly am! :)
I’m delighted to be able to tell you that we’ll be bringing the fantastic Japanese open world action game, Way of the Samurai 3 to Steam in the very near future. We’ve had loads of emails asking us to release this one on Steam. In fact, it’s been one of the most requested Steam releases in recent years.
Honour, sacrifice, betrayal… Your choices make you who you are. How will history remember you?
Jump into the sandals of a mysterious lone samurai during Japan’s turbulent Sengoku era, in one of the most atmospheric action RPGs ever created.
Explore the villages, body-strewn battlefields, bandit fortresses, immense castles and local town of Amana, in an open world bustling with a rich cast of colourful characters that you can help, ignore or victimise.
Choose your friends and enemies carefully in a game where every decision has far-reaching consequences, and where finishing the game is just the beginning of your journey…
The Butterfly Effect – More than 20 different endings. Your every action, no matter how subtle or ludicrous, could set in motion a huge variety of events, allowing for huge replayability. Explore new narrative paths, reveal new allies… and enemies!
Huge Customization - Craft your own unique weapons from over 200 different parts. Create the ultimate unbreakable weapon to suit your preferred fighting style. Forge lethal swords, spears, pole axes and more outlandish weaponry and discover hundreds of new abilities as you become a true master of each weapon!
Reward System and Samurai Rating – Your actions and conduct will reward you with Samurai Points and Titles, all of which unlock new game features, customisation options, outfits and accessories. Live as an honourable samurai, wallow in the low life of a bandit or strike your own path! Your choices lead to new endings, strange followers and other unexpected outcomes.
The Pen Can Be Mightier Than the Sword - Fight your enemies by force or take the diplomatic route, using subtle gestures like the unsheathing of your sword or kowtowing. Featuring an extensive dialogue tree, combo system and much, much more!As I mentioned in last week’s blog, we’ve been hard at work on the PC port for quite a while now, and we’re not far away from release. We should be starting our closed beta shortly, and assuming everything goes as expected with that then we’ll be ready to announce a release date very soon after. Exciting!
Before I go, I’d just like to say thank you for all your patience while we’ve been teasing our announcement. It’s taken a lot longer than we’d hoped to be able to announce this one, but I’m sure you’ll all agree that it’s been well worth the wait! :)
- Developer post
Way of the Samurai 3 is coming to Steam!
Hi everyone. I hope you’re all excited about this announcement, as I certainly am! :) I’m delighted to be able to tell you that we’ll be bringing the fantastic Japanese open world action game, Way of the Samurai 3 to Steam in the very near future. We’ve had loads of emails asking
Original postHi everyone.
I hope you’re all excited about this announcement, as I certainly am! :)
I’m delighted to be able to tell you that we’ll be bringing the fantastic Japanese open world action game, Way of the Samurai 3 to Steam in the very near future. We’ve had loads of emails asking us to release this one on Steam. In fact, it’s been one of the most requested Steam releases in recent years.
Honour, sacrifice, betrayal… Your choices make you who you are. How will history remember you?
Jump into the sandals of a mysterious lone samurai during Japan’s turbulent Sengoku era, in one of the most atmospheric action RPGs ever created.
Explore the villages, body-strewn battlefields, bandit fortresses, immense castles and local town of Amana, in an open world bustling with a rich cast of colourful characters that you can help, ignore or victimise.
Choose your friends and enemies carefully in a game where every decision has far-reaching consequences, and where finishing the game is just the beginning of your journey…
The Butterfly Effect – More than 20 different endings. Your every action, no matter how subtle or ludicrous, could set in motion a huge variety of events, allowing for huge replayability. Explore new narrative paths, reveal new allies… and enemies!
Huge Customization - Craft your own unique weapons from over 200 different parts. Create the ultimate unbreakable weapon to suit your preferred fighting style. Forge lethal swords, spears, pole axes and more outlandish weaponry and discover hundreds of new abilities as you become a true master of each weapon!
Reward System and Samurai Rating – Your actions and conduct will reward you with Samurai Points and Titles, all of which unlock new game features, customisation options, outfits and accessories. Live as an honourable samurai, wallow in the low life of a bandit or strike your own path! Your choices lead to new endings, strange followers and other unexpected outcomes.
The Pen Can Be Mightier Than the Sword - Fight your enemies by force or take the diplomatic route, using subtle gestures like the unsheathing of your sword or kowtowing. Featuring an extensive dialogue tree, combo system and much, much more!As I mentioned in last week’s blog, we’ve been hard at work on the PC port for quite a while now, and we’re not far away from release. We should be starting our closed beta shortly, and assuming everything goes as expected with that then we’ll be ready to announce a release date very soon after. Exciting!
Before I go, I’d just like to say thank you for all your patience while we’ve been teasing our announcement. It’s taken a lot longer than we’d hoped to be able to announce this one, but I’m sure you’ll all agree that it’s been well worth the wait! :)
- Developer post
Way of the Samurai 4 V1.06 Take 2
The new build should fix the mismatched sound effects, particularly when walking and also contains some other fixes relating to the initialisation of volumes and saving out correctly to the ini file.
Original postThe new build should fix the mismatched sound effects, particularly when walking and also contains some other fixes relating to the initialisation of volumes and saving out correctly to the ini file.
- Developer post
Way of the Samurai 4 V1.06 Take 2
The new build should fix the mismatched sound effects, particularly when walking and also contains some other fixes relating to the initialisation of volumes and saving out correctly to the ini file.
Original postThe new build should fix the mismatched sound effects, particularly when walking and also contains some other fixes relating to the initialisation of volumes and saving out correctly to the ini file.
- Developer post
Way of the Samurai 4 V1.06
We've just uploaded a new build which should fix the mismatched sound effects when walking. Edit - Due to this build causing issues with the mouse support we have now removed it from Steam. We're are continuing to work on it and you can expect a build that fixes this issue in the
Original postWe've just uploaded a new build which should fix the mismatched sound effects when walking.
Edit - Due to this build causing issues with the mouse support we have now removed it from Steam. We're are continuing to work on it and you can expect a build that fixes this issue in the near future.
- Developer post
Way of the Samurai 4 V1.06
We've just uploaded a new build which should fix the mismatched sound effects when walking. Edit - Due to this build causing issues with the mouse support we have now removed it from Steam. We're are continuing to work on it and you can expect a build that fixes this issue in the
Original postWe've just uploaded a new build which should fix the mismatched sound effects when walking.
Edit - Due to this build causing issues with the mouse support we have now removed it from Steam. We're are continuing to work on it and you can expect a build that fixes this issue in the near future.
- Developer post
Way of the Samurai 4 V1.05
We've just uploaded a new build which should hopefully fix the PhysX & runtime error crashes that some of you have been experiencing.
Original postWe've just uploaded a new build which should hopefully fix the PhysX & runtime error crashes that some of you have been experiencing.
- Developer post
Way of the Samurai 4 V1.05
We've just uploaded a new build which should hopefully fix the PhysX & runtime error crashes that some of you have been experiencing.
Original postWe've just uploaded a new build which should hopefully fix the PhysX & runtime error crashes that some of you have been experiencing.
- Developer post
Way of the Samurai 4 V1.04 - FOV & DOF options added to ini
Hi everyone. We're just about to upload a new build which in addition to fixing a few bugs also adds Field of View, depth of field and bloom/glare options to the ini file. Fixed - Camera sometimes spinning when changing scenes Added new options to the .ini file (run the game firs
Original postHi everyone.
We're just about to upload a new build which in addition to fixing a few bugs also adds Field of View, depth of field and bloom/glare options to the ini file.
Fixed - Camera sometimes spinning when changing scenes
Added new options to the .ini file (run the game first to update the ini file)
FOV - changes FieldOfView in-game (excludes cut scenes)
EnableDOF - set this value to 0 to disable depth of field effect
EnableHDR - set this value to 0 to disable bloom/glare effectAudio volume fix – Audio between ingame voices and cut scenes should be the same.
Fixed issue with cursor displaying after saving the game
- Developer post
Way of the Samurai 4 V1.04 - FOV & DOF options added to ini
Hi everyone. We're just about to upload a new build which in addition to fixing a few bugs also adds Field of View, depth of field and bloom/glare options to the ini file. Fixed - Camera sometimes spinning when changing scenes Added new options to the .ini file (run the game firs
Original postHi everyone.
We're just about to upload a new build which in addition to fixing a few bugs also adds Field of View, depth of field and bloom/glare options to the ini file.
Fixed - Camera sometimes spinning when changing scenes
Added new options to the .ini file (run the game first to update the ini file)
FOV - changes FieldOfView in-game (excludes cut scenes)
EnableDOF - set this value to 0 to disable depth of field effect
EnableHDR - set this value to 0 to disable bloom/glare effectAudio volume fix – Audio between ingame voices and cut scenes should be the same.
Fixed issue with cursor displaying after saving the game
- Developer post
Way of the Samurai 4 V1.03
We’ve just uploaded another new build to Steam. This one contains the following changes: Fixed crash in curio shop Added Swing barrels to the right mouse button Settings are now saved to the ini file before mode change Potential run time library fix
Original postWe’ve just uploaded another new build to Steam.
This one contains the following changes:
Fixed crash in curio shop
Added Swing barrels to the right mouse button
Settings are now saved to the ini file before mode change
Potential run time library fix - Developer post
Way of the Samurai 4 V1.03
We’ve just uploaded another new build to Steam. This one contains the following changes: Fixed crash in curio shop Added Swing barrels to the right mouse button Settings are now saved to the ini file before mode change Potential run time library fix
Original postWe’ve just uploaded another new build to Steam.
This one contains the following changes:
Fixed crash in curio shop
Added Swing barrels to the right mouse button
Settings are now saved to the ini file before mode change
Potential run time library fix - Developer post
Way of the Samurai 4 V1.02
We’ve just uploaded another new build to Steam. This one fixes the audio distortion that some of you have been experiencing and also adds (as frequently requested) mouse support. We've also made several coding changes which should address some of the crashes. New mouse functions
Original postWe’ve just uploaded another new build to Steam.
This one fixes the audio distortion that some of you have been experiencing and also adds (as frequently requested) mouse support.
We've also made several coding changes which should address some of the crashes.
New mouse functions
Moving the mouse controls the camera
Left mouse button = weak attack
Right mouse button = heavy attack
Middle mouse button = blockThe mouse should also support the various sub functions and combos involving these buttons.
- Developer post
Way of the Samurai 4 V1.02
We’ve just uploaded another new build to Steam. This one fixes the audio distortion that some of you have been experiencing and also adds (as frequently requested) mouse support. We've also made several coding changes which should address some of the crashes. New mouse functions
Original postWe’ve just uploaded another new build to Steam.
This one fixes the audio distortion that some of you have been experiencing and also adds (as frequently requested) mouse support.
We've also made several coding changes which should address some of the crashes.
New mouse functions
Moving the mouse controls the camera
Left mouse button = weak attack
Right mouse button = heavy attack
Middle mouse button = blockThe mouse should also support the various sub functions and combos involving these buttons.
- PC Gamer
Way of the Samurai 4 review
NEED TO KNOW What is it? Wandering samurai adventure set in feudal Japan. Expect to pay 20 / $25 Developer Acquire Publisher Ghostlight Reviewed on GeForce GTX 970, Intel i5-3570K @ 3.4GHz, 16GB RAM Multiplayer None Link official site After 200 years of isolation from the rest of
Original post
NEED TO KNOWWhat is it? Wandering samurai adventure set in feudal Japan.
Expect to pay 20 / $25
Developer Acquire
Publisher Ghostlight
Reviewed on GeForce GTX 970, Intel i5-3570K @ 3.4GHz, 16GB RAM
Multiplayer None
Link official site
After 200 years of isolation from the rest of the world, Japan has opened its shores up to foreigners. The ruling shogunate and the British are working together to take financial advantage of this new policy, while isolationist rebels fight to keep the country closed off. It s an interesting setting, based on real history, but for a very silly game that s about as historically accurate as Blackadder.
A wandering samurai, you, arrives in the fictional port town of Amihama just as violence erupts between the three groups. This is your first taste of Way of the Samurai s unique freeform structure. You can side with one of the factions, or choose not to get involved, and your decision will alter the course of the story. This is a short game of around 5-6 hours, but it s designed to be played multiple times. Money, items, weapons, and skills carry over, and there are dozens of branching paths that make each playthrough markedly different. It s a really cool idea.
Amihama can be explored freely, and there s a lot to do. You can eat in restaurants, shop for clothes, get a haircut, talk to anyone you see, and complete sidequests. It s like a scaled down Witcher 3, made on a fraction of the budget. Events, triggered at certain times of day, litter the world, and it s these that shape your samurai s story. You can get involved in the war between the shogunate and the rebels, or you can remain neutral, pursuing other paths like starting your own dojo.
There are loads of great ideas here. I love how you only see ?!?!?!?! when talking to British characters, until you help open a language school in a quest and they start speaking in hilariously broken Japanese. If you break the law you re taken away by the police and subjected to water torture, which can actually lead to a romance with a female character in a sequence of events that s far too bizarre to explain. There s a huge variety of daft clothes to play dress-up with, Dead Rising-style, letting you create some wonderfully absurd characters.
It s just a shame the quality of the game doesn t match its imagination. Low production values, uninspired combo-based melee combat, and a lacklustre PC port let it down. This was a PlayStation 3 game in a previous life, and it shows. It crashed on me several times and at one point refused to load a saved game, forcing me to start over. It s a shame, because there s a lot to love. But, equally, there s also a lot to make a disappointed face at, including creepy sex mini-games and a character called Melinda Megamelons . I m almost impressed by how bad that is.
Way of the Samurai 4 is, like Deadly Premonition before it, a game that s fundamentally a bit rubbish, but might be worth playing just to experience its weirdness and quirky sense of humour for yourself. The structure is the most interesting thing about the game. By replaying the story, and taking a different path through it, you get to know Amihama and its residents over time—although none of the characters are especially three-dimensional. Ultimately, this is a weird little Japanese curio that, as poor as it is, has some memorable moments and ideas.