The Spirit of the Samurai

“It is obvious that it is put much effort into the game but the frustrating moments shadow all experience.”

“With frustrating combat and linear yet opaque progression, this samurai fails his mission.”

“The Spirit of the Samurai is a gorgeous game to look at, and while it can be enjoyable to play, some of the movement and combat is stiff.”

“The Spirit of the Samurai takes a bold approach; therefore, Digital Mind Games deserves praise for that alone. Flawed as it is, the game is enjoyable enough for people who play experimental games. A flawed, memorable ride awaits within the game, which testifies to the creative energy of the game industry that has yet to end. If you can put up with the flaws, it gives just that.”

“Spirit of the Samurai brought a fresh and engaging theme to the gaming world by employing a stop-motion art style and a combo customization system. However, the lack of polish in some of the game's mechanics made the experience somewhat annoying and its high potential was largely lost.”

“The Spirit of the Samurai has a great and evocative imagery and a delightful stop-motion style. The merits end there, because the game developed by Digital Mind Games has problematic hitboxes and lacks of precision in attacks and jumps, ending up frustrating the players.”

“The Spirit of the Samurai is an ambitious game that opts for a different artistic style and a risky combat system for this type of game. With this combination, the guys at Digital Mind could have backfired, but in the end they have created a game that not only fulfills everything it promised in its trailer, but also shows exquisite taste and know-how for being the first game from this Murcian studio.”

“Despite the frustrating hitboxes, the voices that break the immersion in the game's atmosphere or the flaws in the story's narration, The Spirit of the Samurai offers a reasonable experience in a well-detailed 2D world with an interesting combat system and stop-motion animations that synergize well with each other.”

“Even if The Spirit of the Samurai does little to endear you to its story, the animation provides a decent jumping on point. Unfortunately, it's squandered by the terrible quality of everything else.”

“Inspired by stop-motion animation, The Spirit of the Samurai leans too heavily on its inspirations, failing to stand out with anything particularly unique, aside from its issues and poorly tuned mechanics.”

““Spirit of the Samurai” feels unfinished. A lot of gameplay elements feel half-baked – especially the annoying platformer passages. The story didn't grab me either, although the dark setting in feudal Japan would actually be right up my street. In the end, the stop-motion look is by far the best aspect of the game. And that alone is not enough for me to recommend it.”

“I want it to be known that I really wanted to like The Spirit of the Samurai. I am a massive fan of stop-motion animation, and any piece of media that utilises or seeks to evoke or pay homage to that style has earned my respect. That said, as well put-together as the cutscenes are, The Spirit of the Samurai is just not very fun as a game. From the clunky and unresponsive controls to the linear and murky levels filled with oddly placed traps and pitfalls, it can often feel like a slog to actually play. If you are a fan of stop-motion animation, then you may get something from the experience, but it is unlikely to be too satisfying for just about anyone else.”

“The peculiar trio in historical Japan has an impressive appearance, but sometimes unbalanced gameplay.”

“As fresh as it is dark, and as fun as it is challenging. The Spirit of the Samurai transports the player to a feudal Japan full of mythological creatures from Japanese folklore, with a haunting and immersive atmosphere. The stop-motion animation makes this metroidvania with touches of soulslike a unique experience.”

“The Spirit of the Samurai is an interesting samurai adventure, whose wonderful art style and use of a stop motion animation technique give it a unique personality. A game that although it does not revolutionize the genre, it presents a very elaborate artistic style with a dark, gloomy and desolate atmosphere, with a wonderful level of detail. The 2.5D backgrounds, together with the design of the enemies, generate an immersion that at times is really impressive.”

“The Spirit of the Samurai has more flaws than I could possibly list here and frustrated me for large parts of my time with it, but damn, does it have a vibe.”

“The Spirit of the Samurai’s steep difficulty curve, clunky controls, and sparse, underwhelming puzzles may frustrate newcomers. While optimization is solid, the UI and limited customization options need improvement. Despite these shortcomings, the game’s visuals, atmosphere, and rewarding combat mechanics make it a promising title with room for polish.”

“And that’s the crux of The Spirit of the Samurai: it is a gorgeous game, with an excellent sense of atmosphere, and decidedly troubled gameplay.”