The Spirit of the Samurai

The video game is not just another art form: it is the fusion of different disciplines in that wide creative world that conclude and harmonise in an experience that requires the participation of the user or, in this case, the player, in order to function. That's why it's always interesting when a game is designed from the beginning, starting from an artistic base, to see if that starting point manages to fit with the rest of the pieces (technical, sound and others) into something that is enjoyable. The studio based in the Spanish city of Cartagena, Digital Minds, wanted to show visual muscle in The Spirit of the Samurai, and they have succeeded. But they've gone much further.

The Spirit of the Samurai, in case you're not familiar with it, is a 2D side-scrolling action adventure set in a rural samurai village in ancient Japan. In it we play as several characters, with the warrior Takeshi at the forefront. Takeshi is a village samurai protector who for centuries has served as a watchdog against a demonic supernatural threat, the Oni of Japanese folklore. When Evil makes its way into our world, Takeshi embarks on a swift journey through the ruins of his world and his friends, fighting his way through hordes of monsters and undead to confront the source of evil, Jorogumo.

For the task, Takeshi will also have his faithful cat companion Chisai, as well as a small forest spirit (a kodama, like the ones we saw in the film Princess Mononoke), who will have their own sections in the game's narrative. But the weight of the story is carried by the warrior, who, through a simple stat system borrowed from the RPG genre, upgrades his skills and power to face even more powerful enemies.

With this introduction, you might think that The Spirit of the Samurai is almost like a souped-up version of The Messenger, Shinobi or The Last Ninja, and you'd be right, as those are some of the main influences that can be drawn from its gameplay. But The Spirit of the Samurai is also a visual work in constant motion. The story unfolds through short, beautifully animated and lit cinematic cutscenes (remember this is a very small team) that then transition into stop-motion style gameplay sections. The playable character moves and fights using this animation technique, derived from the previous work of the members of this fledgling studio, while fighting other dead samurai and monsters animated by the same technique. This creates a very particular atmosphere, which reminded me on screen of the first Mortal Kombat games. And it works: In an ingenious way, the character's movement makes you think you are the protagonist of a stop-motion movie about Medieval Japan. And then it's time to unsheathe the katana.

The Spirit of the Samurai's controls are nothing to write home about. The presets are very familiar to those of us who are ARPG fans, leaving us with a button to hit melee and another to fire a ranged bow, plus the popular crosshairs for consumable items (health or vigour potions, kunais and other throwables), a dodge, a jump button and the block/parry. These are functional, though sometimes the accuracy is not quite fine. Jumping is clunky and the timing of rolling and hitting is not very precise. It's something that can be tweaked in future patches, but even now it can 'adapt' to your play style if you take advantage of Takeshi's skill tree, which can create different combos by learning sword moves on his journey.

This system of creating combos in different stances reaffirms the concept of animating the character in stop-motion. In each combo, from attacking head-on, jumping attack, crouching... You can choose which moves to assign, and each one varies in attack speed and strength of the blow. To discover new "katas" you have to explore each section of the game in depth, clearing optional areas or completing short side quests that come your way. With each new level of experience, new moves are also discovered, and you can also increase your Strength, Stamina or Sword and Bow Dexterity stats to better suit your play style. Thanks to this customisation, the "roughness" of control precision is reduced, and The Spirit of the Samurai is perfectly enjoyable from start to finish, even if you're not an expert in this type of action game.

In addition, using incense you collect from fallen enemies you can acquire health-healing ingredients, fire arrows and other useful items. It would have seemed natural to me that certain consumables would trigger actions on the stage (for example, setting a part of the screen on fire for a few moments so that enemies take constant damage as they pass by), but maybe that's more of a consideration for future updates or, who knows, maybe a sequel.

What is clear is that the overall experience as The Spirit of the Samurai is satisfying, even beyond having such special artwork. The voice acting (in English or Japanese) is very well done, and the story, which also connects to the present in a way, kept me entertained for a few hours until the end credits. If you like more linear Soulslike games and are looking for something different, The Spirit of the Samurai is for you.