Been going through a huge samurai brainrot for a while and I've been looking for games to satiate that thirst. This one in particular caught my eye, and after I played it I realised that it was really damn cool. Despite being old and a little janky, it plays really well. You get a selection of characters, each with a different weight and preferred weapons, and each one has their own little story mode where you fight the other characters and npcs. You can only kill your opponents with a strike to the head or chest, and hitting their limbs can cripple them which limits their movesets. The player can get crippled too which can lead to some very interesting and tense battles. I've had many moments where both me and my enemy were severely hurt and crawling and limping around trying to finish one another off. It's extremely fun and quite a challenge at times. You can actually traverse through the level, which is surprisingly big, and choose a spot to fight which I thought was cool, however due to the limited camera angle and the loading screens between each level, it can be a bit of a chore. My only gripe with this game is the story and the bushido mechanic. The story for each character is very loose and doesn't make much sense. At first you're at the castle, then you're suddenly at a helipad, then at the beach, then back at the castle. It's fair to say that the limited story is just there to connect the levels, but I wish they would've done more with it. The bushido mechanic is basically the game determining whether or not you maintain your honor. To maintain honor, you need to avoid fighting with dirty tactics such as throwing dirt on your enemy or stabbing them in the back. If you're dishonorable, you automatically lose the game before the first npc appears. I've lost many runs to being dishonorable even though I was sure I maintained honor, and what counts and what doesn't count towards maintaining bushido is very vague and the info online says a lot of different things. Despite its flaws, it's a cool game that I wish I could see more of.

I'll let you in on a little secret. Whenever I see people acting selfishly or dishonestly, it's common for me to think, "that's not very Bushido of them". This is who I am.

Bushido Blade is a modest little game, and I think people who bought it at full price are still a little bitter about it, but it remains indispensable. Fights are often over in one hit. Attacks are fatal. The twist is that if you want to make it through Story Mode, you need to fight with honour. That means no backstabbing, attacking while an enemy's on the ground, or jumping in before they finish their pre-fight speech. It's a neat little gimmick, and one that's gone a long way in earning my respect.

There's not a lot of content here, gameplay isn't very technical and there's odd blemishes as the tone swerves between dour historical drama and 1997 PS1 fighting game with big hair and technicolour outfits. The controls don't go far beyond Nidhogg (or Great Swordsman, for all the Taitoheads in the audience). It remains unique, though, and it's always in the back of my thoughts. Time, ticking away, until I know I have to go for another 20 minute run through Bushido Blade.

It should be said, two-player gives no rewards for good conduct, and it completely changes the game. That's where brutality and opportunism win the day. It's brilliant for entirely different reasons. The game's no Street Fighter, but there's plenty reason to own a copy.