Bushido Blade (PSX) - 5. Utsusemi Story Mode Playthrough [Normal Ending]

Описание: Square Enix might forever be known as the company that makes Final Fantasy, but at one time they dared to make exciting and original titles beyond the world of dungeons and dragons or Role Playing spectacles.

One such game that they held production credits for included Light-Weight’s seminal 1 vs. 1 fighter: Bushido Blade. Less so much a flashy affair, a la Street Fighter Alpha, and even less like some of it’s “3D” peers such as the technical Virtua Fighter 2, Bushido Blade has more in-common with gimmicky outfits like the modern Nidhogg, with it effectively playing as a one-hit-one-kill fencing simulator, where one false move can spell disaster for your fight.

Why Bushido Blade continues to hold the reputation it does derives more from how confident its design choices truly are. Bushido Blade controls beautifully, no question, and the three different stances you use present a rock-paper-scissors approach to combat. You can play with high risk and high reward tactics, but likewise you would succeed in holding back and capitalising on the mistakes your opponent makes. Getting your weapon stuck in wall, or losing balance on the edge of a climb, is a regular occurrence in Bushido Blade, as you should be able to tell through this playthrough series alone. However playing dirty in throwing sub weapons, or even chucking dirt in the eyes of your enemies can factor into deciding a fight's outcome, and as things continue to turn chaotic, match-ups becomes more exciting as well, especially given the different weapons you can use and multitude of environments you can fight in. Do you fell trees to knock your opponent down or do you force them off a cliff as you prepare a finishing blow from height?

Limb damage plays as much a part in Bushido Blade’s duels as picking the location you choose to fight in, and disabling arms from progressing into heavier attacks, or restricting movement by slicing feet can similarly change the balance of a battle. Because of all this, Bushido Blade remarkably feels like one of the most 3D fighting games out there, next to obvious arena examples like Virtual-On or Destrega anyway. I applaud whatever executive producer gave Light-Weight the freedom they needed to make this game a reality in 1997, and OK, sure, the costumes are definitely… Something…Utsusemi may be cosplaying as Gambit, and Red Shadow might be the most blonde looking Shinobi this side of Ninja Warriors, but Goddamn does Black Lotus’ Zorro esque vibes look absolutely awesome, same going for Kannuki’s blue combat suit. In fact the opening sequence, with the Samurai led EDM beats of Shinji Hosoe go a long way in putting across the vibes of this thing. Pop-in issues be damned!

Alas, beyond the story mode, with its limited six playable characters, including the secret endings, and survival “slash mode”, the lifespan of Bushido Blade lives and dies on who you know want to play it with. To be honest, it is still the perfect game to break out in parties, even to those who have no idea how to enjoy a 1 vs. 1 fighter, because the conventions are so straightforward compared to traditional competition titles on PlayStation. Why learn a dozen combos in Tekken when you can win fights with one elegant, well timed, press of the circle button?

Light-Weight would go on to make a sequel, and several spiritual successors even, that expanded on the concepts of Bushido Blade, however the first entry will always remain a curious oddity in computer gaming, especially given the relatively small cult following it has generated ever since. I think a lot has to be said for the way you learn how to play Bushido Blade. The localisation is limited in a way where following a code of honour, or understanding the dynamics of the story and its characters can be difficult to follow, but the rewarding nature of picking up those alternative, secret, endings or besting slash mode and unlocking the gun-wielding Katze, generate a feeling of satisfaction that keeps it long in the mind of this Youtuber. I only wish, like many other original PlayStation releases, that this was more readily available to play on modern systems today, but again, preservation is left only to those who actually care about such a thing, which is also a crying shame.

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