Reviews for Forever Samurai

[XxPeanutxX]

That was cool

Fast paced and more skilled then the average hack and slash, the special attacks really made this game for me, just how there were different ones you could perform and they all required different mouse movements, it really made the character feel like a samurai with numerouse techniques at his disosal, the special attack system while cool is identical to the one in another flash game called straw hat samurai, I guess it could be argued that the special attack system in that game is also identical to okami so I'm not gonna play the whole "you ripped so and so" off game and just say it's an awesome feature and more games should use it.

Nuice graphics, fun game play, I like it.

acrazycanadian responds:

It's cool, I don't feel the need to hide when I rip people off. Okami is a game I love very dearly, and I have played Straw Hat Samurai as well. I wanted to take ideas from them and integrate it into a different type of experience that has more of my signature movement and flow. I guess it worked?

What's really crazy is Muramasa: The Demon Blade, which developed a very similar special attack system at the same time I was making this game. That was not intentional at all! Reassuring, though, to know such an awesome studio was moving in the same direction.

[TheReviewGuy]

Ridiculously enjoyable

This is proof that sometimes you have to abandon all sense of boundaries and just go over the top with everything.

Almost everything is exaggerated. The exaggerated movements when slashing launching you forward miles even if you don't want to go that far; the exaggerated slashing animations regardless of how small the original sword really is; the exaggerated enemy sizes; the ridiculously over the top and totally unnecessary animated giant background; the exaggerated pastel colours - on the scale of 1-10 in subtlety it just went straight into the millions. And it was fantastic.

Of course the result of all this was slightly taxing on the computers, but it's worth it. It was very enjoyable. I do like the combat system as well, though for me when it started to lag a little bit I found performing the sweeping strokes a little harder. Sometimes it felt like it refused to hold down my mouse click. Granted I am using a touchpad so I can't say much.

The beginning was a little annoying the way those stupid scrolls would appear telling you what to do and they'd appear for a particular section in the game and there was no way of closing them aside from moving out of that section. I found this really annoying because with the automatic forward lunging of the attacks, I found myself scooting back a little only to have those darn things pop back up on screen again.

It would've also been a little extra fun if there were more special attacks. Some moves that were a little more complex like a circular pattern or a zig zag pattern. Or the idea of combining attacks like if I drew a horizontal line and then a vertical one like an L shape, I'd dash forward and at the end of it jump up. That would make boss fights even more interesting because you could pull out all these crazy moves.

It's one heck of an over the top game. But it's ridiculously primal and entertaining. I had a lot of fun with this one.

acrazycanadian responds:

What's funny is how massive his sword is to begin with (it's almost as tall as him!) yet it was STILL way too small to be fun so I had to make the slashes themselves massive. Oh Reality, you're just too boring for me ;)

As for the scrolls... tutorials are truly a no-win scenario and BY FAR the hardest part of designing a game. No matter what approach you take, 90% of people will hate it. The best I know to do is make it as blantantly obvious how to play as possible, without actually impeding progress, even if it takes up a little more room than is ideal.

[djhannesx]

Great game

The game is well done. It uses only classic Japanese mythological monsters, so that's a reason why it doesn't have as many enemies as many would want. If you want to know what else you could add if you make a sequel, try looking at Okami's roster of enemies.

However, the end of stage scoring bonuses seem a little too low. The game also could have been longer. I realize that you opted for no dialogue or text whatsoever, but there's no backstory. I have no idea why the protagonist even goes after Shida, the giant dog creature.

There is an exploit (or maybe a built in game feature) though: On Hardcore mode (where you normally can't regenerate health, not even with the healing spell), running back to the shop will restore all of your health. It's impossible on the last boss, of course, as the wall seals up behind you.

Finally, a useless, just-for-fun glitch is that you can actually go high enough in the very beginning (using the uppercut slash repeatedly) that you can actually glitch past the left cliffside. (I wanted to see if you could go to the area in the beginning) The result? Character just goes through and falls forever.

acrazycanadian responds:

I thought I blocked that off high enough you couldn't get past it ;) Ah well, you got your just reward of falling forever for breaking the game ;)

The points you bring up are all valid, but I hope they didn't impede your enjoyment too much. You can read through some of my responses to other reviews if you want to know why things are this way. In general, I'm just one guy, so I only have so much time to work. But that's no excuse and I will keep striving to make things better!

[AcetheGolden]

Excellent!!!!!

I can't begin to tell you how much I love Okami, and since this game is (perhaps not purposely) similar to it, I love it as well! The animation is beautiful, the sounds fits and I love the music. And of course the gameplay is fantastic. I wasn't expecting that little death mini-game thing. Though I'm still not sure whether I'm supposed to catch the souls/skulls or avoid them...only problem with the game is it's length. When a game is this good, you want it to last. Any chance of a sequel? Perhaps with a bit more RPGish qualities?

acrazycanadian responds:

Okami is a massive inspiration and one of my favourite games and I think one of the best games ever created. If I can even just REMIND you of it, that's a huge success to me, so thanks for the mention.

As for the mini-game, I kept it ambiguous on purpose (no one seems to mind!) but the real trick is to avoid the souls as long as possible so you can get in lots of free attacks while the enemies can't see you.

I figured, why should death stop you from kicking ass?

In terms of a sequel, or being more RPGish, I would love to do it. There's actually a story behind the samurai and his world and the enemies, and a fairly deep one at that, but sadly I don't currently have the resources to do it justice so I left it out altogether. If I get the chance one day, you may very well see this universe more fleshed out.

[Deuxhero]

Solid, a few issues though

The controls are nice (although spells are a little touchy), both oriignal and fun. There were too few enemy types (less than a dozen). There was only 3 (or 4) levels and only one boss (could be longer). The end of level bonuses feel really really small for the effort they take (not getting hit is only 10 or 20 xp, a single Oni give more than that).

acrazycanadian responds:

You know, that's a good point. I boosted the XP gain from enemies at some point but never really boosted the checkpoint rewards, so I guess they're pretty poorly scaled. My bad.

As for the length, well, look two reviews down.