SAMURAI Maiden has finally released after some time in early access on Steam on PlayStation 4, 5, Nintendo Switch and Steam to little fanfare from developer D3Publisher under the umbrella of Bandai Namco.
After spending some time with this game I obviously have some thoughts about it all – some good, some bad. I don’t think this is a bad game by any stretch of the imagination; it didn’t really have much marketing done around it, but I was intrigued by the initial trailer I saw of this game as it really looked like a lot of fun.
You start the game off as an ordinary schoolgirl, Tsumagi Tamaori, who loves spending time with her friends and living on her mobile phone – so nothing uncommon there. A voice wakes her while she is sleeping, for her to discover she s now in the historic Sengoku period, in a burning temple.
Obviously, this is not where she left her bus pass and Tsumugi is right to think she is still dreaming, only in her panic to find a way out is she confronted by a bulking man – who she later finds out is the legendary Nobunaga Oda who was regarded as the first ‘Great Unifier’ of Japan back in the 1500s.
Now while this huge fire is taking place, you will also eventually meet your three companions who will join you through your time in Samurai Maiden – Iyo, Hegane and Komimi.
Iyo, being the only one from this time period, does her best to explain the situation and that the man she met is in fact Nobunaga Odo, the historical person.
You explain your situation and realise that you must be a descendant of the Priestess of Harmony and it is foretold that in this time she would come from the future to help take down the Demon Lord who is threatening the land.
It is only after a long set of conversations that they realise, ‘Hey, we better get out of this burning temple before we all die’ that you are given a sword and battle your way out.
This is one of the main issues I had with this game. The talking. While it is fascinating to learn about each of the characters you’re teaming up with and the historical significance, I wish there was more gameplay.
The gameplay in Samurai Maiden is actually really fun with the visuals really standing out. Tsumugi is the only one who will actually fight (I’m presuming this is because of the sword she wields which is known as the Demon Slayer) with the other three characters all serving in a support role.
Progression in the game is familiar, yet it has a fresh take on things. Depending on who you have in battle with you, their affection meter will grow the more you use them. You are able to switch characters on the fly with each of them possessing a different attack – Fire, electricity and ice. With Iyo able to throw fire knives at a crowd, Hegane with her mechanical arm able to shoot out a rod of electricity and Komimi and her huge hammer doing area damage with ice. It will always challenge your approach on fighting.
With all the girls and their interest in Tsumugi’s phone, this plays a part in how you learn new moves via their affection meters, the more the affection meter rises, the more you will be able to head to your ‘Album’ in between missions to train and learn new moves by recording these sessions. Unfortunately, you won’t see these are they are, along with all talking sections, displayed in the familiar static images of the girls standing around and reading the dialogue, due to the game being voiced over in Japanese.
Missions in Samurai Maiden are eventually broken up by side quests known as ‘Bubble Encounters’ where you and one of the companions will wake up in a dream type of scenario and be confronted with a puzzle platform section where you will rely on their specific powers to get to the end of the bubble to be able to wake up. This also serves as another way of progressing the girl’s affection for each other. I found these to be a good distraction but again hindered by the constant talking before and after you complete your task.
Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed the combat of Samurai Maiden but the constant talking in between mission activities really sucked the fun out of the game.
I know there is a market for this almost ‘dating simulation’ game style. If they had toned this back about 50% I would love this game. But as it stands, this is a long game made much longer than it should be by all the constant conversations you will have throughout your time.
