What are the greatest samurai video games? Samurai are the topic of ceaseless fascination for a lot of players because of their ornate armor, razor-sharp weaponry, and the tales which have been informed about them in different media because of administrators like Akira Kurosawa and Yôji Yamada.
With few choices, we’ve needed to get a bit inventive with our decisions, so anticipate some video games that solely function samurai in restricted roles, video games with characters like samurai, ronin video games, and heaps of various genres. The whole lot from hack-and-slash video games and technique behemoths to action-adventure video games and multiplayer brawlers is on the playing cards for this samurai video games record. Be a part of us as we break down among the prime samurai video games on PC, from outdated video games classics to new samurai video games.
Listed here are the perfect samurai video games:
For Honor
Should you’re after a samurai recreation that dials in on the distinct weaponry and preventing type of those warriors then For Honor is arguably your greatest wager. This multiplayer preventing recreation options Wu Lin warriors, Knights, Vikings, and Samurai, and because of the For Honor class system you’ll be able to even choose a particular sort of samurai warrior as your primary.
There’s the adaptable Kensei, a strong all-round samurai warrior who decimates their foes with a nodachi sword; or the Orochi, an murderer who has mastered the artwork of counter-attacking with a katana. Should you want heavier instruments, you’ll be able to strive the kanabo-wielding Shugoki, who golf equipment his opponents right into a bloody pulp. Lastly, there’s Nobushi, who makes use of a naginata pole weapon to regulate area and whittle down enemies from a protected distance.
Nioh
Nioh is a samurai Soulslike that blends historical past with the Japanese supernatural to create a very twisted imaginative and prescient of the Sengoku interval. You play as William, an Anglo-Irish sailor who arrives in Japan in pursuit of somebody, however it’s not lengthy earlier than you turn out to be embroiled in a battle between Tokugawa Ieyasu, supernatural monsters, and Edward Kelley, one other Westerner driving the battle utilizing occultist powers.
Nioh takes a number of design cues from the Souls sequence, akin to its difficult hack-and-slash fight, bonfire-like shrines the place it can save you progress, and the truth that you’ll have one likelihood to get better all your XP out of your physique after dying earlier than shedding it eternally.
The conflict of fiction and actuality means you’ll be preventing different samurai warriors in addition to monstrous demons, making certain fight is assorted, and also you by no means run out of latest enemies to hone your katana abilities in opposition to. This samurai recreation additionally options numerous historic figures from the Sengoku interval, providing a enjoyable entry level should you’re not a historical past buff.
Complete Warfare: Shogun 2
The one technique recreation on this record, and probably the greatest technique video games of all time, Complete Warfare: Shogun 2 sees you assume the position of clan chief and basic of considered one of 9 main clans from the Japanese provinces (12 should you embrace DLC). You’ll have to oversee the event of settlements, develop your army, and broaden your financial system, and technological analysis, all whereas attempting to deal with diplomatic conundrums and quell political subversion.
Relying on which clan you determine to rule with you’ll even have vital strengths and weaknesses to bypass all through your marketing campaign. For instance, should you determine to regulate the Mōri clan you’ll have an extended historical past of naval triumph to attract upon, whereas the Takeda clan boasts the perfect cavalry within the recreation. No samurai recreation affords a larger overview of feudal Japan than Complete Warfare: Shogun 2, making it an absolute should for followers of this era.
Onimusha: Warlords
Onimusha: Warlords is the Resident Evil of samurai video games, and because of a latest HD re-release, probably the greatest Onimusha video games is lastly obtainable on PC.
In Onimusha: Warlords you battle in opposition to hordes of demons as swordsman Samanosuke Akechi in a quest to rescue Princess Yuki of the Saitō clan. The plot will get fairly convoluted from then on, however the gameplay is rock strong – you combat demons with a katana and an assortment of magical weapons, take up their souls, and use them to improve your arsenal. There are additionally puzzles to unravel, providing a pleasing break from demon-slaying, and infrequently you’ll acquire management of Kaede, your kunoichi assistant with a completely completely different set of acrobatic talents and weapons to grasp.
The pre-rendered backdrops and stuck digital camera actually lend the HD PC launch of Onimusha: Warlords a dated feel and appear, however that’s a part of its appeal.
Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada
Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada will not be nearly as good as among the greatest sword video games from its sibling franchise Dynasty Warriors, however it combines a lot of these video games’ greatest parts with a narrative that facilities on the Sanada clan throughout a closely romanticized Warring States interval.
It is a Warriors recreation, so one of many primary attracts is the massive, noisy battle sequences the place you’ll be able to decimate dozens of foes by mashing just a few keys, or ship punishing Musou strikes to complete powerful enemies off. Outdoors of battle, you’ll be able to discover Citadel Cities that provide a glimpse of day-to-day life throughout this time, albeit via the sequence’ extremely stylized lens.
But it surely’s the historic story on the coronary heart of Spirit of Sanada that makes it probably the greatest samurai video games on PC. All through the sport’s marketing campaign, you’ll observe all 48 years of Yukimura Sanada’s life, an actual samurai officer considered the final Sengoku hero and one of many biggest warriors in all of Japan. It’s an emotional story of bravery, morality, and household, so we received’t spoil it for you.
Samurai Gunn
Should you’re after a sofa co-op brawler with a distinctly bushido aesthetic than Samurai Gunn then take a look at Samurai Gunn. This hidden gem of native multiplayer video games pits between two and 4 warriors in opposition to each other in a tiny platform-strewn area of demise – every participant has a sword and a gun with solely three bullets, so that you higher make every shot depend.
It’s easy chaotic enjoyable in the identical vein as Towerfall: Ascension, and the fantastic fountains of crimson that erupt out of your victims solely add to the satisfaction of defeating your greatest buddies. There’s a sequel within the works, too, so that you would possibly need to maintain out for Samurai Gunn 2, which guarantees so as to add heaps extra co-op options to the brawler.
Sword of the Samurai
Very similar to Sid Meier’s Pirates! Sword of the Samurai was an outdated PC recreation that was method forward of its time and sorely neglected when it initially launched method again in 1989. Developer MicroProse’s bold samurai simulator has since discovered its method to digital distribution platforms like GOG and Steam, which means it’s lastly straightforward to get a replica of it.
Sword of the Samurai casts you as a fledgling member of the samurai class, struggling to realize honor in the course of the Warring States interval. Your final purpose is to unite all 48 clans and turn out to be a noble chief, however earlier than you are able to do that you’ve a number of different urgent issues to take care of, akin to beginning a household to make sure you have an inheritor to interchange you in case you die in battle.
You’ll must progress from vassal to retainer, then get promoted to lieutenant, and finally to daimyō of your clan, and the easiest way to curry favor is by rising your military, seizing land, and proving your swordsmanship in battle. The entire time you could watch out to not carry out any dishonourable actions like assassinating rivals or kidnapping key people. Relying on the way you’re found and the way unhealthy your actions have been, you’ll have to commit seppuku and even face having your complete household executed, which ends the sport.
Manner of the Samurai 4
Manner of the Samurai has its fair proportion of points, however it does happen throughout some of the fascinating components of Japanese historical past: the decline and fall of the shogunate. You play as a rōnin who has simply arrived within the fictional port city of Amihama, and it’s as much as you to create your individual story by siding with one of many three factions: pro-government troops, anti-government rebels, or the opportunistic British Navy. There are a complete of ten endings to find, and the way you select to work together with the world via occasions and NPCs you meet throughout Amihama impacts what path your samurai finally ends up taking.
It’s removed from excellent and even a bit ridiculous in locations, however there are stacks of cool concepts buried in Manner of the Samurai 4 that make it an intriguing RPG. Commit against the law and you may be taken away and subjected to water torture, which has some extremely surprising ramifications. Likewise, should you don’t need to get embroiled within the numerous dramas of the port city then you’ll be able to merely focus all your consideration on growing your individual dojo. No matter this samurai recreation lacks in polish it greater than makes up for in character.
Elden Ring
Although Elden Ring could have extra class selection than the samurai alone, for us galloping across the Lands Between, Moonveil in hand, will at all times be the easiest way to expertise FromSoftware’s iconic soulslike recreation.
As a Tarnished of no renown, you’ll embark on a grand journey to reforge the Elden Ring and take your rightful place because the Elden Lord. In your method, you’ll encounter beautiful vistas, unimaginable environmental storytelling, and loads of ridiculously onerous Elden Ring bosses to cleave via.
It takes quite a bit to get full marks in a epicgamejourney assessment, and our Elden Ring assessment is indicative of that normal. “A masterpiece by its developer’s lofty requirements,” we really feel that the expansive RPG “lights the trail forward for open-world video games typically.” Its 2024 growth, Shadow of the Erdtree, barely fell wanting perfection, but we nonetheless observe in our 9/10 Shadow of the Erdtree assessment that it “sits proudly among the many greatest videogame expansions of all time” – banger.
And that’s your lot, all the perfect samurai video games we might discover on PC. Should you fancy one other occupation, then look over our greatest police video games and greatest pirate video games record – we also have a record of the perfect ninja video games on PC. Within the meantime, wipe these crimson flecks out of your blade, unlace that cuirass, and take a load off.
