History YMMV / SoulOfTheSamurai

* ThatOneSidequest: Obtaining the secret sword in Lin's route is not as simple as killing 300 zombies like obtaining rusty sword in Kotaro's route. The player must decipher all codes obtained by Lin in her route. Fortunately, it is not mandatory, and the game can continue even if Lin fails to get the secret sword.

* ThatOneSidequest: Obtaining the secret sword in Lin's route is not as simple as killing 100 zombies like obtaining rusty sword in Kotaro's route. The player must decipher all codes obtained by Lin in her route. Fortunately, it is not mandatory, and the game can continue even if Lin fails to get the secret sword.

* CompleteMonster: [[BigBadDuumvirate Ryu Oda and Lord Gendo Tohjo]] are behind the events of the game. The fiefdom ruler Tohjo wants to depose the Shogun and become the ruler of the land. He and Oda conspire to raid a Shogunate ship and steal the gold. Tohjo also has his minion Urabe create the parasite known as "[[ThePlague Soul Bugs]]"--slugs that infect people and turn them into monsters. When Urabe [[YouHaveFailedMe fails]] to defeat [[PlayerCharacter Kotaro Hiba]], Oda deems him [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness no longer useful]] and leaves him to die. He also says he chose a new colony to use as hosts for the Soul Bugs: a village full of innocents to serve as a corpse army for Tohjo; the player is forced to kill them all. When Lin confronts Tohjo about the infecting of her brother Shin, he dismisses him as an useful tool whose strong will made him difficult to control. Upon reaching Oda at the real end of the game, he states that his plans can be resurrected as long as he's alive. Tohjo's ambition makes him disregard the bloodshed he causes as well as the vast domain he already rules. Oda uses him and his minions for his goal of ruling the world. Their greed and ambition cost the lives of many innocents.

* CompleteMonster: [[BigBadDuumvirate Ryu Oda and Lord Gendo Tohjo]] are behind the events of the game. The fiefdom ruler Tohjo wants to depose the Shogun and become the ruler of the land. He and Oda conspire to raid a Shogunate ship and steal the gold. Tohjo also has his minion Urabe create the parasite known as "[[ThePlague Soul Bugs]]"--slugs that infect people and turn them into monsters. When Urabe [[YouHaveFailedMe fails]] to defeat [[PlayerCharacter Kotaro Hiba]], Oda deems him [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness no longer useful]] and leaves him to die. He also says he chose a new colony to use as hosts for the Soul Bugs: a village full of innocents to serve as a corpse army for Tohjo; the player is forced to kill them all. When Lin confronts Tohjo about the infecting of her brother Shin, he dismisses him as an useful tool whose strong will made him difficult to control. Upon reaching Oda at the real end of the game, he states that his plans can be resurrected as long as he's alive. Tohjo's ambition makes him disregard the bloodshed he causes as well as the vast domain he already rules. Oda uses him and his minions for his goal of ruling the world. Their greed and ambition cost the lives of many innocents.
* EvilIsSexy:
** Karasu is an attractive and skimpily-dressed kunoichi that works for the villains.
** [[spoiler: Shin is recognized as good-looking InUniverse and is infected with the Soul Bugs, serving as an antagonist for Lin.]]
** Ryu Oda is long-haired and elegantly dressed while being utterly vile.

** Karasu is an attractive and skimpily-dressed kunoichi that works for the villains. [[spoiler: Subverted after she goes OneWingedAngel, as she gains an ''horrific'' NightmareFace.]]

** Ryu Oda is long-haired and elegantly dressed while being utterly vile. [[spoiler: Also subverted after his monstrous transformation, also preceded by a NightmareFace.]]
* SpiritualLicensee: Inverted. With a ''[[Franchise/ResidentEvil Resident Evil]]'' style combo of fixed backgrounds and tank controls plus the setting of Feudal Japan involving samurai and ninja fighting demons, this game pretty much did ''VideoGame/{{Onimusha}}'' two years before Capcom.

* AwesomeButImpractical: Muramasa sword which can only be used in iaijutsu, is a powerful sword against normal human swordsmen. Unfortunately at the point Kotaro obtained the sword from one of his defeated opponents, the enemies from there on are zombies, mutated creatures, and boss characters, making the iaijutsu-onlt sword moot.

* SpiritualLicensee: Inverted. With a ''[[Franchise/ResidentEvil Resident Evil]]'' style combo of fixed backgrounds and tank controls plus the setting of Feudal Japan involving samurai and ninja fighting demons, this game pretty much did ''Franchise/{{Onimusha}}'' two years before Capcom.