Once upon a time, there was a quaint farming village nestled upon a hillside. There were six farmsteads and three families peacefully tending their produce. The village cemetary was nearby, where previous generations were laid to rest. It was high noon and the humble scene was accentuated with nature’s chirps and whistles. Suddenly, shadows overcame the hilltop.
“Raiders!” one of the children shouted.
Kikuchiyo was pushing the plow himself when he heard the cry. He looked up; the sun’s glare made him squint. He could make out around 20 men rushing malevolently down the hillside. He darted towards his house, grabbing his daughter along the way. “My sword!” Kikuchiyo yells, as his wife takes their daughter inside. “Lock the doors and windows, stay hidden!” he shouts, running outside. She nods.
Kikuchiyo is joined by three other Samurai; Katsushiro the wise businessman, his battle brother Gorobei, and Kyuzo an elder master swordsman.
“This will be a long day my friend,” Gorobei smirks.
“One at a time”, Kyuzo says in a steadfast stance.
Katsushiro is first up, two raiders barelling towards him, in bullet time he analyzes which of his opponents is weaker and lunges forward, knocking the other out for the round. Yet the raiders possess masterful swordplay; and the samurais are becoming surrounded.
Gorobei catches one of the raiders carrying a blistering torch and forces him into his defense line. Kyuzo is blocking simultaneous attacks from 5 raiders with a stern yet serene look in his face. Kikuchiyo is deeply wounded, muscling with three brutes as large as he.
At the corner of Kikuchiyo’s vision a raider creeps up behind, just as the rouge lunges forward, Kukichiyo ducks, causing the raider to stumble to the ground… in front of the three other brutes, startling them momentarily. Kikuchiyo decisively thrusts his sword towards the chest of the biggest brute, then pulls the sword out in a wild swing, snaring the newcomer and other brute by the neck and torso. The last raider swore, and in that very instant his enemy changed to a tiger with talons sharper than any katana.
One by one the raiders fell. The heroes met a few sneaking around the village trying to burn the homesteads; fortunately they were all seized in time. It was night when the rest of the raiders started to run back to the hill’s forest cover. Kyuzo mutters, “They will be back with vengeance”.
Samurai Spirit is a cooperative game with simple mechanics yet very difficult to win. Designed by Antoine Bauza, Samurai Spirit encapsulates the cinematic thrill of feudal Japan movies like Seventh Samurai or even Kung Fu Hustle, where normal looking folk defend their own, humbly hiding the fact that they are masters of animal martial arts.
On a turn players choose to fight, support or pass. If you fight, you either put the enemy in your combat line or you put it on your defense line. In your combat line you need to mitigate the total force of the raiders you are in combat with making sure they do not go over your maximum value. If you make it such that you hit exactly your max value, then you get to perform your special power. One should not forget though, about their defense line, as these represent quests that are crucial to the village’s survival, missing one of these results in dire consequences. When you support, you share your Samurai power to your peer allowing them to say prevent, a barricade fire or receiving a wound. The act of supporting though allows some raiders to get through which you will then resolve at the end of the round.
The game plays in just three rounds, each round is increasingly difficult and ends when you have dealt with the last raider for that round. You win if you survive all three rounds with at least a family and a homestead intact. You loose when there are no more families or homesteads or if one of you dies.
The awesome part of the game is when you get to turn into your animal spirit which happens when you die consequently or intentionally. Your powers increase, the amount of raiders you can hold in your combat line increases but you are also nearer towards defeat.
Ultimately an fantastic game, simple enough that your family can play, gets even better if you roleplay your characters, a definite recommendation for you guys to check out. Until next time, make your games count!
Written by: Ronald Villaver
Edited by: Reg Tolentino