Wow, I'm supprised this game isnt gettin 9-10 ratings?
Game play: At first it can seem a little harsh, maybe even impossible, it was that way for me, considdering this was my first time playing. On normal mode one lousy thug had the chance to kill me, but as I played the game and talked to people around town I started to learn new things about the game, and acquire new skills for the style sword I was using. Ex.If an enemy is defending, you can use a power move to break their stance and go in for a 1 hit kill. It started feeling alot more like a samurai movie/anime after that :)
Graphics: I thought, the style they used worked really well, the graphics were really nice looking, it really captured how I imagine the edo period looking, granted there are a few annoyances. Most thug's , magistrate's (cops), and ronin's look the same, the only characters that really have any different looks are the main character's, every now and then you will see characters that don't appear as much though, like monk's, trader's , traveler's, they blend in with the crowd of look-alikes and really do break things up nicely.
Sound: I really loved the sound in this game, none of it actually bothered me, except the song that plays when you die, but that's just because I hate getting killed :) . Most of the voice actor's were pretty good, there were definitely a few that could use some... "re-casting" but overall I really liked the sound in this game.
Value: Wow, well, there are over 20 endings, and your stay in the town can last anywhere from 3 min's to 10 day's depending on what ending you get, or if you dig an early grave for yourself. So far the 5 ending's I have seen are really good, I've had both happy and sad ending's, and I'll admit, after being nice, I wanted to play through again as a bad yakuza to see what would happen to the character's I once befriended. The replay is really good, even if you beat the game, you can unlock hard mode, and just try to massacre as many people as possible, try to upgrade your sword so your a walking god , do what you please. :)
Overall: I would suggest this game to anyone, seeing as how alot of the reviews are quite low I would suggest renting it first, just because I loved it doesn't mean everyone will, but definately give it a try, and don't give up after loosing a few battles, gotta hang in there and learn the system!
Thanks for reading, this is Ziabatsu's review on Way of the Samurai 2.