In slightly surprising news, Way of the Samurai 4 is coming to PC via Steam later this year. It’s the first time the franchise has made an appearance on the platform.
You might have already guessed this, but WotS4 lets you play as a wandering samurai warrior, taking on quests, drinking sake and slicing up dudes with your katana.
If you’re not familiar with the series it works kind of like a sandbox brawler, with the main difference being that each playthrough takes place over the course of four days. Replayability comes from choosing new allegiances and making different choices in several key story events that pop up during your journey through 19th century Japan - a country split between Shogunate supporters, freedom-fighting rebels and British colonial forces.
It’s not the best-looking game ever made, and the combat’s kind of clunky, but it has an oddly singular charm. Few games out there let you beat up a horde of men in skimpy loincloths, then get drunk on rice wine and go fishing. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. It’s far, far more insane than I’ve made it sound here.
Developed in Japan by Spike Chunsoft, the game’s being converted for Western audiences by Ghostlight. ”This isn’t the first time we’ve stepped out of the RPG world,” they write, ”but I think it’s fair to say that this title represents a bit of a departure for us here at Ghostlight. While we’ve always worked hard to bring Japanese games over to our shores, we’ve mainly focused on JRPGs so this will be the first big Japanese action game we’ve ever worked on!”
No set date yet, but it should be out by the end of the year.
