In terms of content and visuals, this game is right up my alley. I'm definitely a Samurai fan and trained kenjutsu, so this just works for me. Especially the one hit, one kill dynamic just fits real Samurai training just as well as it harkens back to the movies, of course. I like the game modes, love the campaign os far (only a few levels in). What is kind of insane is the variety: You could easily make a game like this and just repeat assets for a level ad naseum but the dev switches it up so often, there is no way to get bored. Except... The difficulty of the campaign seems pretty crazy. I'm a decent gamer I'd say. But being a few levels in, I need a bazillion tries for one level. I heard the game was difficult, so I started on "Easy". I haven't tried, but if this is easy, then I won't last a second on any of the other modes. Either I've just not gotten used to the counter mechanics enough, or this is a very bad case of difficulty creep during production because the dev is too good at his own game.
I love this game. I'm a regular pop-culture-affine, enthusiast gamer in my 30s. I don't mind mowing down hordes of enemies with machine guns, adult themes and humor. But damn, I did not know that I needed this kind of wholesome experience. The gameplay mechanics are incredibly fun. The physics based movement is just great. The design, the animations, the lovely retro-inspired (!) graphics, all perfect. The soundtrack: Really nice and fitting. And the way the different tasks come together in the very simple and purely wholesome storyline is just a perfect match. This can be played with kids (or by kids) but it really doesn't have to. It's just a well-crafted indie game from start to finish. Fully recommended.
