Way of the Samurai 3 [PS3]

Acquire's Way of the Samurai 3 is already out in Japan, but here in North America fans of the series can expect the third entry to show up this October. If you have no idea what this game is about, you should no it's definitely not a conventional experience. Read on for impressions of the opening sections.

When first starting up the game you're given a profile screen where you can see a shot of your character, as well as a variety of records for chain kills, distance traveled and total times apologized. The difficulty can be set to easy or normal, your fighter can be outfitted with unlocked clothing, and you can look through your weapon selection, items and accessories, though of course at the outset there isn't exactly much to choose from. With a level 1 Moderate Blade, no money, and basic clothing, I started the game.

Across a still screen voiced dialogue sets up the plot, with warlords fighting across the world, and eventually the action begins on a rainy battlefield with your character stumbling around amongst corpses, holding his side. Two villagers wander by and start a dialogue, and you get an option to immediately attack them as they're in the middle of talking. Which I did, and one swiftly fled before I could kill him. Such behavior probably wasn't the most sensible considering the game was still starting and trying to establish itself, but by checking an overhead map I was able to see an objective marker. Upon arriving, another NPC was waiting, and by hitting the appropriate button during dialogue I was able to avoid hostilities by having my character drop to his knees and touch his forehead to the ground.

By moving out of the small zone, I came upon a town and initiated a fight with two thugs harassing a young woman. They unsheathed blades and came at me with slashes and leg sweeps, partially draining but not depleting my health reserves. After a few spinning slices I took them down and picked up their weapons and a poison mushroom from their corpses. The lady thanked me and proceeded to explain the basics of the game. She went over how many options were available to me as I moved forward. I could take up arms with one of the warring factions, run around and save those in need, or choose to operate entirely on my own. I chose instead to head to an empty house on the other side of the village and take a nap until morning, since it was getting dark anyway.

With a full health bar and a full day ahead of me, I set out into the town to find out what there was to do. From a merchant I could buy mushrooms and eggs to restore health points, or scrolls to learn basic skills. There was also a mask on the sales block that was used for appearing as a woman from Kyogen, which I didn't have enough money to pick up. In fact I basically had no money at all, so I bowed down in front of the merchant and he was nice enough to hand over a rice ball, though it was rotten. I picked it up anyway.

A blacksmith was set up inside one of the village's low hills where I had the option to upgrade and create weapons, though without any parts yet this wasn't really of use. I could have drawn my sword during the exchange, but the blacksmith seemed like too useful an NPC to chop down. On a dock I ran into an old lady that gave me my first job…to find her underwear. While it wasn't exactly the most glamorous assignment, I took it up anyway. The garment had apparently been dropped in a different town, which was odd, but off I went.