Bushido Blade (PSX)

[bargora]

This game rocks the house!

Yeah, yeah, fighting games, 15-hit combos, whatever. How about a katana in yer gut? This game made me reconsider the basic assumptions of the fighting genre.

I am surprised and pleased that there's no pulse-pounding techno soundtrack. The impact of the raw violence of the story mode was similar to what I felt on watching Reservoir Dogs (for the first time in years) last week.

Plus, it's fun to gut your friends.

That is all. Carry on.

[hezeuschrist]

I found the demo of this game to be more than enough. It get's really old, really fast.

[Dahne]

That game depressed the hell out of me. There's something about killing all your old friends that can really get you down. I remember, once, going through story mode and beating a guy, yet in the next scene he had survived. Is there some special way to beat the person you're fighting without killing them, or is it just a story thing with certain characters?

Yeah, I hate it when people in games die. I'm a freak. :-D

[bargora]

@hezeuschrist: You know, when you pay $10 for a game, and you play through it drunk, well, you're pretty forgiving. I must admit that the thought did cross my mind that I might have been a bit salty had I paid $50 for it.

But then, on the other hand, there are a half-dozen other weapons to use, and another five characters to play through with, so there is further amusement to be had. I suppose that I'm one of those players who (upon finding a game that he likes) likes to play through repeatedly with only slightly altered variables.

Since the game is so inexpensive these days, I would recommend that you get it and give it a chance anyway. After all, it is the natural state of affairs for demos to get old fast.

@Dahne: I know what you mean. I appreciated the fact that the game didn't overly glamorize the violence, in that it didn't provide a pulse-pounding sountrack by Limp Bizkit (or some other conglomerate of wankers) and made the protagonist seem reluctant to do what apparently had to be done.

[WiseSalesman]

I might have been a bit salty

AHHHHHH! YOU SAID IT!

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9200&start=25

[Kid Fenris]

I only played Bushido Blade on a rental, though I devoted more time to its sequel. BB2 isn't quite as complex in its control or setup, but the voices were dubbed in English, instilling a cheesy atmosphere instead of the restrained art-house feel that the subtitles lent the original.

While the first BB is in many ways the better game, an often ridiculous cast and lots of cornball dialogue make the second one stand out more in my mind. If you mourned characters in the first game, you'll shed tears aplenty at the death of Tony, the afro-sporting samurai who challenges an opponent to "keep up with my rhythm."

Perhaps I should revisit the first Bushido Blade. Where did you find it for ten bucks?

[Kid Fenris]

That game depressed the hell out of me. There's something about killing all your old friends that can really get you down. I remember, once, going through story mode and beating a guy, yet in the next scene he had survived. Is there some special way to beat the person you're fighting without killing them, or is it just a story thing with certain characters?

Yeah, I hate it when people in games die. I'm a freak. :-D

You're a freak? I feel sorry for the enemy soldiers in Metal Slug. And for the troops that you can run over in Iron Tank on the NES.

[Dahne]

I feel sorry for the enemy soldiers in Metal Slug.

Wow, does that ever bring back memories of seeing people playing that in the arcade and feeling bad for the poor screaming enemy guys.

[bargora]

Good call, KF. I think that "art house feel" just about covers it. As for the ten smackers, I got lucky on ebay a couple months back. Of course, I'm probably forgetting the S&H...

I can hardly wait to keep up with Tony's rhythm. *chortles* BB2 sits on the shelf, awaiting...

[Dahne]

There's another samurai with an afro in Way of the Samurai. They seem to be disturbingly common...

[hezeuschrist]

I did own the game at some point, and I was quite salty that I paid $50 for it. I played the demo along with the FF7 demo, and I thought it kicked ass. I picked it up and realized the gameplay doesn't really have any depth. I haven't played the game in ages, so maybe it was better than I remember it being.

[bargora]

Oh, yeah--WiseSalesman, that original "salty" was, indeed, just for you! Muwahahahahahaaaah!!!!111!!!onehundredandeleven!!! !

And HZChrist, I admit that the gameplay depth against the computer is not especially deep. The (potentially) one-hit nature of the combat means that you can either win or lose in a big hurry. Nevertheless, I found it interesting to play against other hu-mans, perhaps precisely because of the nearly "paper-scissors-rock" nature of the straight side-view action. But once you start running around like a maniac in free-move mode, It seems (to me at least) that things get a little more interesting.

You are, of course, free to discount my ramblings as the product of a drunken fool.