With such distinct historical richness it's no shock popular culture has embraced Japanese samurai mythos over the years, including, of course, video games. Samurai Shodown wasn't the first game to take on the subject, but it certainly was the most successful at bringing samurai duelling to the tip of our fingers. Namco’s Soul series successfully took the action into the third dimension and to a lesser audience Square’s cult Bushido Blade games perfected the genre by ditching arcade shenanigans for lethal, realistic one strike killing moves. One Strike is a blade-swinging effort in the same vein on Switch, but is ‘One’ truly enough?
Never mind half a dozen different buttons for individual attacks complemented by several special moves unleashed by combining D-Pad motions – there are only two buttons used here: ‘A’ attacks, ‘B’ defends. You can only move or dash left or right with the aid of the shoulder buttons, there is no crouch or jumping. The action takes place in a single screen, and there's no scrolling of any sort. If you were expecting a large serving of different characters, we are sorry to report there are only six on offer. Single and multiplayer modes player offer Arcade (five lives per player), Team Duel (build a team of three warriors) and Tournament (up to eight players taking turns). For the hardcore lonely player ‘The Only Life’ mode will take your warrior of choice to face the other five to determine the greatest warrior in all of Japan.
You may have been led to believe from the previous paragraph that One Strike is a package that's light on content when stacked side to side to recent offerings such as BlazBlue or Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection. You are absolutely right, there would never be any chance to compare a small indie game to those fighting games. And yet… we have been unable to put this game down since it landed on our Switch.
'Strike or Die' greets you in huge letters at the beginning of each duel. This binary outcome is your only certainty in One Slash. One warrior wins, the other dies, simple and to the point. Each of the six available characters is truly unique and discovering each one’s little quirks is part of the fun to be had: Kenji is your average disciplined samurai and fights with a katana. He can hold the attack button to place his weapon overhead and unleash it for a lethal downward slice on command.
Soujirou is a monk who wields a nodashi. He wears a traditional kasa and is thus unable to dash forward, but his blade has such a long reach it takes him little effort to get into striking distance. Tomoe is a female assassin and fights with a wakizashi. She strikes so fast opponents often get hit with the second strike after parrying the first. Hangaku is a rather distinct female fighter who uses a kusarigama. Her chain takes a moment to wind up, but once unleashed it has unsurpassed reach and it is very tricky to properly block. However, she is unable to defend herself and pressing the ‘defend’ button will instead perform a quick strike of the sickle, effectively making her the only character with two weapon options.
China is represented by Bai long who fights with a traditional guandao. This pole weapon does need some charge up to deliver a strike, but gives him exceptional defensive capabilities by rotating it around his body - he's also the only character that attacks when dashing back, turning this defensive move into an attacking one at the same time. Last, but not least, is the kunoichi Hinode, who fight with dual sais. As one might expect, her speed and the way she unorthodoxly lunges herself at you makes her a true threat. Mix and match these six characters for some truly stellar duel possibilities.
While the three levels of AI difficulty are more than a competent contest to match your skills, it's when you pass on a Joy-Con or Pro Controller to a second human player One Strike shines at its brightest. Duels can go from anything between two seconds to several minutes, depending on how successful you are at tricking your opponent into making a mistake. It didn't take us very long to figure out that physically distracting/harassing our opponents mid-match would more often than note take their head out of the game just enough to ensure a somewhat dishonest (yet hilarious) victory. We found great success by simply screaming “死ね!” (“Die!”) on top of our lungs at the moment of striking in our best Japanese, but results may vary (and your neighbours may be less than impressed).
The game’s visuals are halfway between 8 and 16-bit. Highly detailed character portraits clash against the actual character sprites who despite not having proper facial features betray their perceptive hardware generation with some fantastic animation frames (even when they become showers of blood). There is an individual stage for each character and they look like demakes of Samurai Shodown stages. Music is also a mix of traditional Japanese instruments to straight out Sega Mega Drive/Neo Geo Yamaha YM2612 sound chip emulation.
Conclusion
One Strike is a truly unique, 'pure' video game. For the asking price, you get a rather fresh take on the one-on-one fighting genre and it can quickly become your go-to game when you are in need of a break between other more complex games or just need a quick burst of intensive reflex exercise. Find a group of like-minded players to play it with you and it becomes your current best, most efficient option to ruin friendships on the Switch (at least until Super Mario Party is released). Grab it without fear and then... either strike or die. There are literally no other options.
Comments 45
Kind of reminds me of IK+ in terms of style. That was also a superb two-player game. This is tempting.
God that pixel art is rough. Maybe this game looks better animated, but the screenshots do it no favors.
So this game is as good as Hyrule Warriors Legends...
I think it's time to reconsider the way we review games.
Great review! Like the look of this, think I'll pick it up tonight.
One thing I really liked about Samurai Shodown is that I could play it quite deliberately compared to other fighters, blocking and countering (much like I played the old Fight Night games actually). I wonder if I'll get a somewhat similar experience with this.
@harouhiko No sir, this game is reviewed under a different policy, namely the fact that this is a digital eShop title (that started as a Unity browser game), it is a different genre than Hyrule Warriors, it has a different price point, It is 2D sprite art instead of 3D polygon model and all the challenge that come along with that. I could go on, but I am sure you understand the point I am making.
Review grades must take into account a lot of things like "Is this game fun to play?", "Does this work as a single player game only?", "How does it stack up to other offerings of the same genre?" or the obvious one "Is the money being asked for this game justified by it's content?". No two games are made alike and as such no two exact same grades hold the same value. They're just both 8 which translate as "Great!" within their respective genres. You need perspective. You need experience.
Hope that is sorted.
@Shiryu Then it is better to say if it is recommended or not instead of using a scoring system.
Another sprite art
@Fake-E-Lee I get it too. But we can't please everyone! What @Shiryu said is absolutely correct and I couldn't agree more in terms of the way we award a game a score.
@harouhiko No it isnt, and no they dont. Nor does any other site. Most rational folk understand how reviews, and their scores work.
So is it worth it if you’re only doing single player?
@AG_Awesome Yes, but you will be missing a very special competitive side of things.
@Shiryu I hear that, sadly I don’t have friends. Lol. So I only buy good single player stuff.
@harouhiko review scores have always been and will always be imperfect for comparison. I recall this site was considering dropping review scores a while back, but readers voted to keep it(I was happy to see the score go, but it didn't go that way). For me, review scores are almost meaningless without context anyway. I find the conclusion paragraph far more useful and I don't worry much about the number.
@Fake-E-Lee Thank you for the feedback and for your support with reading our content! Although reviews are often seen as opinions of the author, I tend to write in a way of:- 'This game is trying to do something - is it doing it well and why or why not?'. Of course, the opinions surface, but we're looking to see if a game succeeds in doing what it's set out to do in a way that's worth spending your hard-earned cash on!
I got it cause it was cheap if you got the cheap game robonauts.
Both are pleasant enough.
@frogopus Thanks man!
@harouhiko What?
I agree scores are dumb, but putting games on a point grade doesn't mean you can compare apples to apples; genre, platform, price, age, etc. all factor in (and I feel like you know that...)
This isn't a spin-off Musou, it's a retro fighter. Compare it score-wise to ACA Neo Geo fighters if you need to draw those kind of conclusions.
Why couldn't it just look like the concept 'cover art'?
Ugly, eye strained mess... could have been cool but they cheaped out with shovel-ware.
Bushido Blade is still the king of this genre... PASS.
Nice review. I bought it at launch, and it's definitely a fun little game!
As someone mentioned earlier, the graphics are certainly rough, but they are serviceable. Some fighters and stages are indeed better than others...
The music ranges from annoying (yellow grass stage) to quite good (wooden bridge stage), depending on which stage you're on.
I've only played the single player game and enjoy it immensely! It's a wonderful little time-waster, especially if you have just a few minutes to kill (a playthrough could potentially be completed in under 5 minutes). And yet I can certainly see the extreme amounts of fun that local 2 player could bring!
This game is awesome. If you ever played Bushido Blade you know what to expect, I love it.
@SomeWriter13 This is definitely the type of game that looks better in action.
I'm waiting for the Limited Run Games physical boxed collector's edition.
@JayJ I’d love to have Bushido Blade on Switch. Maybe this is the next best thing? I’ll bite 🙂
So this is like a single screen Nidhogg?
@Shiryu You factor the game's price into the Review Score?
If so, I think that's a bad idea... a game is either good or it isn't... value is a totally different judgment.
If Zelda BOTW were $1,000... it would have received a lower score?
@The_Pixel_King
Have you played the Deadliest Warrior games on PS3 or X360?
In my opinion, they are pretty much a modern Bushido Blade especially if you activate Slice Mode or Sudden Death.
I still play both games on my PS3 from time-to-time. Would love to have Deadliest Warrior 3 on Switch!
@holygeez03 I do. If a good game costs me 5 €uros and a good game costs me 60 €uros, I must use different judgement on their content/production values. Yes, they may be both good, but how good are they from 1 to 10? The life of a reviewer is never easy because there are no correct answers to these conundrums.
@holygeez03 That's a lovely comparison actually.
@Shiryu So if a $10 game receives a score of 6... when it goes on sale for $5, it becomes an 8? Then goes back to a 6 when the sale is over?
A review score can/should factor in the presentation, enjoyment, production quality, etc... but its price/value should be a COMPLETELY different score.
For example, if a game is wonderfully enjoyable but only lasts an hour and is priced at $30.... Game Score - 9... Value - Poor
@holygeez03 Cost should definitely come into factor for a review! If this game cost $60, would you not feel a bit burned considering the game's simplicity and lack of content compared to other $60 games (genres aside) like Hyrule Warriors?
@Kilroy
No... cost should factor into a recommendation or purchasing decision, but it has nothing to do with whether or not a game is good.
This is easily overlooked for movies because all movie ticket prices are essentially the same at any given theater... but some sites will give a Movie Score (the quality of the film itself) and a BluRay Score (the value of the content provided on the disc, compared to its cost).
See my other posts for more examples.
@Kilroy To answer your question... If I read the review and made the decision to spend $60 on the game... and the game was super fun and enjoyable... I would probably be of the opinion that the game is good, but a terrible value... and I would be more careful with my shopping next time.
That being said... If I spend $0 on a download game and it is absolutely awful and nearly unplayable, should I bump the score up because it was free? No, the game is still a pile of crap.
@holygeez03 Opposite ends of the spectrum.
@Kilroy What would you score a game like Zelda BOTW or Mario Odyssey if they cost $100?
And what would your score be if they cost $500?
@Kilroy What would you score a game like Zelda BOTW or Mario Odyssey if they cost $100?
And what would your score be if they cost $500?
And should a universally loved movie like Godfather or Shawshank or Casablanca have a lower review score if a BluRay is released tomorrow that is $50? I suppose the older BluRay that is $10 gets a Movie Score of 10 and the $50 package gets a Movie Score of 8? They are the exact same movie...
@The_Pixel_King I think it is. Bushido Blade is a bit overrated by nostalgia these days and this is honestly right up there with it, better in some ways worse in others but I think it does a great job of standing out in the same way.
@holygeez03 No game like BotW or Odyssey costs $100 (much less $500), unless it includes DLC or some kind of exclusive content (physical or in-game). But for the sake of your argument, I'd change it from a 10 down to at least a 9 (for $100) and probably a 6 for $500. Production values (part of the quality of a game) is generally reflected, or at least implied, in the cost to the consumer. This is a big reason why difference games have different costs.
Not answering your last question because you noted the difference between a Movie Score and a Bluray Score.
And as I said before, we're on opposite ends of the spectrum and just running in circles. Good day, sir.
Yeah, I figured this one was special when I first saw it. It reminds me of a more involved mode from Kirby Super Star called "Samurai Kirby", which I loved to death. I definitely will be picking this up, and at that price point, I don't even have to wait for a sale... but considering my backlog, I likely would wait for one
@harouhiko "I think it's time to reconsider the way we review games." Not to be rude, but I think it's more about reconsidering how you read reviews and understanding the scores in context of what the price point and genre are. What is required for a $5 party game to get an 8 is not the same as what is needed for a big budget, $60 adventure game to be scored an 8.
Love the fact that the original postee has long since left the conversation. I think everyone has been trolled.
Yay!
Another pixel game the Switch can handle 😉
I was excited for this and I like pixel graphics but those graphics are horrible.
So like Dive Kick, but less stupid?
I bought this on that 8 out of 10 recommendation and wow I couldn't disagree more. As soon as I found there was a ranged character, I mopped up any competitor. Totally breaks the game. I love pixel art, but this is also pretty ugly pixel art.
My son and I just reviewed this game and gave it a 3. We paid nothing for it, but even at $5 this game has no business being given an 8. There are so many cheap games and re-releases of old games that eclipse this one. I understand that game reviews are subjective but this review is way off base. Don't buy this game, especially at full price. Buy one of the Neo Geo Pocket fighters instead.
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