Way of the Samurai 3 short review

What it means to follow the path.

WoS3 is the first game of the series on this generation of consoles, debuting for the first time on a Microsoft machine, after 9 years of Sony exclusivity. The premise of this 3rd game is however unchanged: you play the role of a ronin (an unemployed samurai, so-to-speak) during a particular conflict; this time the story/ies unfold in the Amana county during the Sengoku period (the civil war which ultimately led to the unification of the country). Four factions can be aligned with, the result of which shapes your playthrough’s unique story.
Indeed for a game which develops itself unto the general idea of an almost Shakespearean setting (one can understand Akira Kurosawa’s obsession with the writer in his period-films), and that places the burden of unfolding that drama solely on the actions of the player-character, giving so much emphasis on understanding the character’s ambitions, it is more than a little queer how little relevance and presence the lead is granted: the player is forced inauspiciously into the role of stage director, an almost invisible presence in the production. This is not to say that effort was not made to go against this, although it seems poorly executed. You can make very egotistical choices to attain more powerful roles within the drama, you can decorate yourself with a slewth of accessories and apocriphal customization options, but these aspects seem to detract even more from giving charisma to your character. In the end, you either become a walking anachronism or an invisible mute.

The best way it did manage to give relevance to your actions (the one way to define yourself in the world of Amana), is through the reaction you ellicit from vulgar NPCs (but rarely in story sequences). Generally, you’ll become well loved, loathed or ignored in the various regions and to the various factions that compose the meta-world. This leads to the game’s main source of charm, as characters might kick you, praise you, or follow you around, considering your actions. The variety of responses are a good way to compensate for no voice-overs in non-story sequences, as they’re quite varied and entertaining.
This might constitute the most relevant and charismatic of a game that does little to distance itself from its predecessors storywise and rewards players with sandbox tinkers, like the before-mentioned accessories, invisible mode, instant-kill difficulty or being able to play as an NPC you’ve blunted.

This little world gains credence as per the people that inhabit it. You have the snooty castle soldiers, the rude rebels, the annoyingly humble peasants and the greedy merchants. Their character flaws, despite slightly exaggerated, but within reason, give a layer of humanity to the game, and are a far cry from the robot-personality of most western open world games. This is better emphasized in the new partner system, which allows you to develop relationships throughout the game, enabling you to know some otherwise irrelevant NPCs a little better.

Above all, WoS3 is a game that prides itself in its uniqueness. There is a constant feeling that not everything has been seen, and of an incredible depth that isn’t avaiable on the first playthrough. Its fault is that it pratically purportedly takes away most of its juice from the casual player and rewards only the most hardcore gamer. While a single playthrough might take some 3 or 4 hours on your first try (and can be concluded much quicker), the game is actually meant to be played for dozens upon dozens of hours, as you finally understand just what it means to follow the way of the samurai.