The Spirit of the Samurai blends the gorgeous 2D Metroidvania stylings of Ori and the Will of the Wisps with the demonic undead hordes and Japanese Oni of action-adventure games such as Nioh 2. Stepping into the shoes of a human samurai, a Kodama, and a tiny cat, The Spirit of the Samurai has you fight and evade horrific lovecraftian nightmares in stunning stop-motion combat as you protect your village from an encroaching onslaught.
Watching the announcement trailer, the animation is the first thing that leaps out – the dark fantasy stop-motion blends the feeling of low-frame rate motion with a slick smoothness, giving The Spirit of the Samurai a distinctive look that retains the stop-motion style of classics like The Nightmare Before Christmas.
As mentioned earlier, you’ll actually play as three distinct characters in your adventures: Takeshi, a trained samurai, is the lead, but he’s joined on his journey by Kodama, a small but skilled spirit, and Chisai, a “warrior cat.” The trailer doesn’t really give away exactly if or how Chisai will fight, instead showing the tiny kitty scarpering across the environment and cowering behind a rock as a terrifying demon devours the dead nearby, but I already love them so much.
Both Takeshi and Kodama seem pretty adept in their swordplay, and the samurai also wields a bow to tackle the hordes from range. Developer Digital Mind Games promises “customizable combat through an in-game combo editor,” which sounds like a very cool way to mix up your playstyle alongside the typical options to enhance your stats and abilities.
The Spirit of the Samurai currently has no release date set, but you can add it to your Steam wishlist now to keep track of when you’ll be able to play it.
With plenty more great upcoming games being revealed over the Summer Game Fest season, be sure to keep an eye on PCGamesN’s news hub for all the hottest announcements. We’ve also got the best horror games on PC if you’re looking for plenty more ways to give yourself the spookiest.