- The shogun has died.
War between greedy lords grips the nation.
Daisuke Shimada, a wandering samurai, roams the country seeking his destiny.
Samurai: Way of the Warrior is a Hack and Slash action game made for the iPhone, set in Japan's Sengoku Period.
In the aftermath of a massive war and the shogun's death, ruthless tyrants have risen in power, terrorizing innocent civilians and enforcing their controls over the lands. And it's up to the ronin Daisuke Shimada to restore peace by killing all the villains.
The game has a sequel, Samurai II: Vengeance where Daisuke continues his pursuit of Orochi from the original game, who had made a Deal with the Devil for more power.
Unrelated to Way of the Samurai.
The Samurai trilogy contain examples of:
- Animesque: The game's graphics looks like manga art coming to life. Cutscenes in-between stages are even depicted as manga panels!
- Big Damn Heroes: Daisuke's introduction in each game is one of these, from rescuing Kasumi from thugs in the first game's prologue, to interrupting the Yakuza mugging some peasants in the second. Leading to him slicing up all the bad guys. The villains trying to intimidate Daisuke in turn doesn't help them either.
- Bolivian Army Ending: Vengeance ends with Daisuke defeating Orochi, but in his death throes, the villain pulls a Taking You with Me by grabbing Daisuke just as he's falling down a chasm aboard his airborne fortress. As both Daisuke and Orochi starts falling top their deaths, the credits roll.
- Camera Abuse: In the form of blood splattering all over the lens.
- Cel Shading: How the game's animations are depicted.
- Co-Dragons: Kumo and Orochi, the personal dragons to Lord Hattoro from the original game, though it's subverted when the sequel has Orochi pulling a Dragon Ascendant.
- Die Laughing: Orochi in the second game gloats all the way as he falls down a shaft to death.
- Double Weapon: One of Orochi's personal guards, a Giant Mook-type enemy, wields a two-sided broadsword as a reference to Tessai from Ninja Scroll.
- The Dreaded: Orochi in the sequel. When interrogating a mook for Orochi's whereabouts, the sheer mention of his name strikes fear in the mook who responds with he'd rather "die by the sword than answer to Orochi".
- Dual Wielding: Daisuke wields two swords simultaneously in combat, and expertly uses them to slice up plenty of mooks. There are also Elite Mook samurai who uses two weapons at once.
- Endless Game: Besides Story Mode, there's also an optional "Survival Mode" where Daisuke kills as many mooks as he can until he runs out of health.
- Half the Man He Used to Be: Landing a lethal strike on mook-level enemies in all three games will lead to a special death animation where the mook halves from the waist. In some instances they fall apart vertically.
- Idiosyncratic Difficulty Levels: Difficulty of the first game is divided into three levels: "Cub", "Lone Wolf" and "Executioner". Averted in the sequel, who goes from "Apperantice" to "Samurai" and "Ronin" instead.
- Made of Bologna: Owing to the game's manga-esque graphics, enemies killed by vertical separation have their insides portrayed in this manner.
- Make My Monster Grow: Orochi in the second game, who enlarges himself to fight Daisuke. The hero's barely as tall as his shin!
- Off with His Head!: Another recurring fate suffered by mooks, if Daisuke's finishing blow is aimed at neck-level instead.
- Ominous Floating Castle: The final stages of Vengeance is set in Orochi's flying fortress.
- Palette Swap: The game's enemies (all 3 entries!) tends to use the same sprites frequently, because of budget issues, with the only difference being colours of their outfits. Sometimes they even wear the same uniforms except the colour of their hats.
- Rolling Attack: The musclebound Giant Mook enemies have an attack where they roll towards Daisuke, capable of knocking him over instantly and stunning him for a while.
- Rōnin: Daisuke Shimada in all three games, being a wandering samurai who lives to slay evil men.
- Skeletons in the Coat Closet: Lord Hattoro from the first game wears a skull as a mask. In-universe it's supposed to instill fear among civilains and enemies.
- Spin Attack: The Elite Mook enemies who wields two katanas at once have the ability to spin around with their blades outstretched, dealing heavy damage on contact. They can only be harmed when they stop spinning.
- Sword Lines: Daisuke's sword leaves behind a crescent line after each concentrated slash. And in moments where his blade decapitates or bisects somebody, the line would be red.
- Tattooed Crook: The opening cutscene of the sequel has a burly, bare-chested musclebound yakuza whose upper biceps is covered in tattoos, leading his mooks around and threatening a civilian until Daisuke interrupts. He's the first of many mooks to die by Daisuke's sword, right before the first stage.
