A reader explains the significant changes to SNK fighter Samurai Shodown over the past five years and why this is not reflected in review scores.
Nowadays, games rarely release in their final form. Season passes and downloadable content are common, so when a game is reviewed, it only reflects its day one state.
Reviews at the time of launch end up on sites like Metacritic and can give a misleading impression of a game when you look back a few years later, after it has received updates, tweaks, and add-ons. An unfinished game at launch could be improved later on, turning into a great game over time.
The game I want to discuss today is the 2019 Samurai Shodown reboot. It wasn't a bad game at launch, but it lacked content initially. Even now, it's still lacking in game modes, as noted by GameCentral in their original review. their original review, but what it now does have is more characters, which affected its review score at its initial release.
The game now runs at 120 frames per second on the Series X, where I play. It's extremely smooth in motion, and it's the first game I've played at this frame rate, which is a joy to experience. Xbox Samurai Shodown is a Japanese game with all spoken language in Japanese, even with English subtitles. You'll hear 'Iza Jinjouni, ipponme, shoubu!' a lot when starting a match, which means ‘to a fair duel, round one, fight!’
Samurai Shodown is a unique fighter where massive combo strings are not necessary. Combos are almost non-existent, and the game focuses more on deliberate weapon hits to inflict significant damage, which can even outpower the special moves. Leaving yourself vulnerable can result in massive damage if the weapons connect.
Samurai Shodown is a highly tactical fighter with deep underlying game mechanics. The characters have a wide variety of unique weapons, from a samurai sword to a boomerang, a bladed spear to a three-bladed weapon on a chain, and a huge stone pillar to a parasol, each with their own pros and cons. The roster comprises a multitude of very distinct characters, making it a delight to choose any of them and see what they can do in a fight.
It’s a very tactical fighter and has good depth to its underlying game mechanics. The vast array of different weapons that the characters have range from a samurai sword to a boomerang, a bladed spear to a three-bladed weapon on a chain, and a huge stone pillar to a parasol.
The game released with 16 characters on its base roster, which is a bit low in today's standards, especially when compared to SNK’s other fighting game, The King Of Fighters 15 (2022), which launched with 39 characters. In GameCentral’s original review, the game scored 8/10, with one of the cons being the small roster of fighters.
Samurai Shodown’s roster has nearly doubled in size, with 14 extra season pass characters, bringing the final roster to 30. This is a substantial improvement over the original game release. Impressively, each character feels genuinely different to play and of high quality, with no unnecessary bloat or filler. The character designs and animations are also excellent.
These additional characters in the season pass are not just for adding numbers, they are essential to completing the Samurai Showdown game. In my opinion, they have transformed it from a good game to a great one. In my view, it now deserves an extra point, taking it to a 9/10 rating.
The characters included in the season pass are Basara, Kazuki Kazama, Rimururu, Shizumaru Hisame, Wan-Fu, Gongsung Li, Iroha, Mina Majikina, Sogetsu Kazama, Warden, Baiken, Cham Cham, Hibiki Takane, and Amakusa. I would like to share some images of all the new characters to display their designs and also to highlight the many characters that were absent from the initial game release.
If you enjoy fighting games and are interested in trying a fighter that is completely unique and distinct from other games in its genre in its final form, then I highly recommend giving this one a try. It has my approval, and I have been a fighting game enthusiast for a long time.
Samurai Showdown 2019.
The Samurai way is to understand death.
The Shura way is to understand victory.
I am the ultimate fighter, and anyone who opposes me shall…
FALL!
– Quote from Haohmaru in the opening sequence of the game.
By reader Nick The Greek
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