Wai! Wai! Wai!

Yeah SNK Playmore fans, we know about Samurai Spirits Zero, but so many events have been happening as of late. There has been some good ones like the upcoming Tsukihime anime, Eternal Fighter Zero: Bad Moon Edition, which already won my fighter of the year award (I'm sorry fellow SNK Playmore fans, but it is better than Samurai Spirits Zero and any other fighter out there in my opinion), Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu, and To Heart II, which will be out next year. I am feeling so good as I update my site and type this editorial at the same time. Of course, there has been some bad events like the Da Capo anime, though I am still watching it because of the seiyuu, Capcom Fighting All-Stars being cancelled, even though I knew it would be bad anyways because of the fundamentals and Clannad being delayed until probably the spring time of next year.

Anyway, if you haven't heard by now, there will be a new Samurai Spirits game called Samurai Spirits Zero. I was going to bring an editorial about this game coming out a few months back, but you know that the release had to be confirmed and well, you know the rest from there. It'll be out in a month or so and what can I say? People wanted a new Samurai Spirits game and well, we got one! Yeah, there has been some hype. Sure, there's not as much hype as the anime of Mahoutsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto/Things Precious to a Mage, but you know that people have waited for this game.

Was the wait worth it? Yes and no. How so?

"If Mina turns out to be a fun character (and I know she will be), then all is forgiven. I will pick her first. That's for sure." - Me.

Yeah, that's not the brightest of all quotes, but you know what? Mina has been talked about a lot. It's interesting that so much hype has been built around this character and the game hasn't even been out yet.

Another good part (or bad part depending on your preference on what's about to be said) is the fact that Watsuki Nobuhiro-sensei (the creator of Rurouni Kenshin/Kenshin, the Wondering Samurai if you're not an anime and manga junkie) did the designs of three of the new characters. When was the last time a popular mangaka (manga creator) did designs of characters of a game? You got me, but I know there must have been a game later than Sakura Taisen/Sakura Wars to have done this.

What else is there? From the videos, I heard Shizen no Utage/Silent Hill (Nako-chan's old classic theme). Wai! I guess that's it. I can't comment on the story or the boss or group of bosses if there will be more than one boss, but I can comment on the move list, which had good character portraits. I might as well tell what certainly kills this game.

Right off the bat, I find myself thinking, "It has been seven years and SNK Playmore hasn't updated their sprites." While it is nice to see them again, I sometimes wonder if there could have been changes for the most part. Maybe I should feel happy that I am seeing a 2D Samurai Spirits game again. At least Rimururu has a sprite that looks like her outfit in the 3D games and that Mina has a pretty good sprite, though I still wonder why I saw Ukyou glowing.

I definitely hate the character remixes as I have dubbed Rera, Rasetsumaru, Suija and Enja who happen to be the rasetsu versions of Nakoruru-chan, Haohmaru, Sogetsu and Kazuki. Not only does it feel weird as in having two versions of certain characters, but I feel that they're a waste of space since that batch is what I call lack of creativity. Keep in mind that there is no more shura and rasetsu mode (which I am glad they ditched).

The good news is that the controls have been changed. The bad news is that there is the three slash, one kick format still. D is now the movement button in which you can roll and such (though I have always been used to pressing down twice if I wanted my character to hit the ground). Now, because of this, C becomes your kick button and to do a hard slash, you must press light and medium slash together, which happens to be A and B still. Oh, how I wish that the six slash format was still there. Guard pulls and pushes are still here. At least super techniques are now easier to do.

Does it give feelings of nostalgia? Did it give good first impressions? Will this be the best Samurai Spirits game I have ever played? Is Hikki-chan that good of an artist? In this order: "Yes", "I suppose", "No" and "Hai! Hikki-chan wa sugoi na yo!"

What have we learned here boys and girls? Aside from the random insanity, we learned that Samurai Spirits is back. It may not be the best of the series, but it did attract people in a good way, including yours truly.

It is nice to see another Samurai Spirits game. Of course, it will be recognized for a month or less than that when it arrives in North America I guess and then people will flock back to Soul Calibur II or whatever is hot right now. Oh well. (Side note: major kudos goes to Namco for introducing a Filipina in a video game. I am referring to Talim (which means "sharp").

Well, I better get going. I'll see you all again when I give out my experience of the game and a review. Ja na!