History YMMV / WayOfTheSamurai

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The story for ''Samurai Western'' is about a traditionalist samurai hunting down his brother in the old west for abandoning the way of the sword, but aside from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjVEN0U_pYs one scene]], it doesn't really call out the protagonist's [[StrawmanHasAPoint inflexibility]] or acknowledges the brother's implicitly more forward-thinking attitude, in an era of rapid industrialization. There was an opportunity to have a narrative that acknowledges that BothSidesHaveAPoint, but instead the story essentially sticks by [the heroes'] romanticized image of a samurai, and goes with a RedemptionEqualsDeath route for the brother.

** Arguably, the Vegetarian title in the third game falls close to this, as it can be abused to unlock everything that can be unlocked from Samurai Points in under 20 minutes, getting 700-plus of them on each 1-minute-fifteen-second "run" through the game.

** In ''2'', dueling style swords have good damage and easily linked attacks (Plus the most prominent sword in the style, Zannkimaru, has insane range), but suffer from high blade stress and difficulty in getting a hit in with their easily blocked blows. The title "God" (gotten by keeping a sword on your person long enough) halfs blade-stress, while the style eventually learns a quick shoulder slam that stops opponents guards and keeps them frozen long enough to hit (it can even be used on recovering foes to infinitely combo them).

* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: The best Amakaze ending in the second game.

* {{Moe}}: Osei in the third game is very much this. So much so that the developers took note of it and included a suit of armor with her picture and name on, Itasha-style in the DLC package.

* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming - The best Amakaze ending in the second game.
* DemonicSpiders - Ninjas, Suspicious Persons, Ronins, Killers, and generally [=NPCs=] that has a face-covering look that roams in the night. ''Especially'' the Samurai Hunter in the third game.

* GameBreaker - Especially in the second installment. Gaming the sword enhancement system via SaveScumming, careful choices of which attributes you improve on which particular sword, and smart usage of Title Appraisal will get you swords that can absolutely demolish all comers even on the hardest difficulty levels. The third game is very similar in this respect.

* {{Moe}} - Osei in the third game is very much this. So much so that the developers took note of it and included a suit of armor with her picture and name on, Itasha-style in the DLC package.

* NightmareFuel - in 4 :[[spoiler:In one of the Early Endings your character and others are boiled alive! Since this is most likely the first ending people get, we don't know what happened to them afterwards. Then we found out what happen to those characters after avoiding the ending the next time. It was implied that they were eaten by the minister and his daughters!]]
* PlayerPunch - A ''lot'' of bad ends are like this. One is in the second game in which [[spoiler:The player fails to protect Sayo during the riot at the Amahara festival. The town doctor berates him/her for it and tells them to get out of town, which s/he does. Flash forward to the player sitting on the roadside, crying his/her eyes out while eating a rice ball.]]
* ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs - ''Samurai Western''.

** In ''4'', the very first swordfighting style that you start off with has a move called 'Fujinkyaku', which, although drains a good deal of your vitality, is an unblockable throw that deals ''massive'' damage to an opponent. Combined with a sword that has at least one Able-Bodied charm or more (trait that reduces the wear of the weapon) and you're practically unstoppable even in Harakiri mode. Unlocking the move, however, requires that you must have at least slain a large number of Mooks to get to the fifth (and final) level of your style, and, while in that level, parry or counter an opponent's attack while in combat; which can be tricky if you don't time it right.

* UnfortunateImplications: Sayo in ''4'' (who appears as a special DLC character who is [[ShesAllGrownUp grown up considerably since the second game]]) when in combat mode makes grunts that literally sounds like she's a timid 12-year old. Cue Lolita overtones.
** Speaking of Lolita, Laura from the same game. To the point where you can actually engage in (toned down) ''foreplay with her'', should you choose to deepen your relationship with each other.

** Speaking of Lolita, Laura from the same game. To the point, where you can actually engage in (toned down) ''foreplay with her'', should you choose to deepen your relationship with each other.

* ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs - ''Samurai Western''.

** In ''2'', dueling style swords have good damage and easily linked attacks (Plus the most prominnent sword in the style, Zannkimaru, has insane range), but suffer from high blade stress and difficulty in getting a hit in with their easily blocked blows. The title "God" (gotten by keeping a sword on your person long enough) halfs blade-stress, while the style eventually learns a quick shoulder slam that stops opponents guards and keeps them frozen long enough to hit (it can even be used on recovering foes to infinitely combo them).

** In 2 dueling style swords have good damage and easily linked attacks (Plus the most prominnent sword in the style, Zannkimaru, has insane range), but suffer from high blade stress and difficulty in getting a hit in with their easily blocked blows. The title "God" (gotten by keeping a sword on your person long enough) halfs blade-stress, while the style eventually learns a quick shoulder slam that stops opponents guards and keeps them frozen long enough to hit (it can even be used on recovering foes to infinitely combo them).

** In ''4'', the very first swordfighting style that you start off with has a move called 'Fujinkyaku', which although drains a good deal of your vitality, is an unblockable throw that deals ''massive'' damage to an opponent. Combined with a sword that has at least one Able-Bodied charm or more (trait that reduces the wear of the weapon) and you're practically unstoppable even in Harakiri mode. Unlocking the move, however, requires that you must have at least slain a large number of Mooks to get to the fifth (and final) level of your style, and, while in that level, parry or counter an opponent's attack while in combat. Which can be tricky if you don't time it right.

** In ''4'', the very first swordfighting style that you start off with has a move called 'Fujinkyaku', which although drains a good deal of your vitality, is an unblockable throw that deals ''massive'' damage to an opponent. Combined with a sword that has at least one Able-Bodied charm or more (trait that reduces the wear of the weapon) and you're practically unstoppable even in Harakiri mode. Unlocking the move, however, requires that you must have at least slain a large number of Mooks to get to the fifth (and final) level of your style, and, while in that level, parry or counter an enemy attack. Which can be tricky if you don't time it right.

* CompleteMonster: Kyojiro Kagenuma in the second game. Full stop. No redeeming qualities whatsoever, takes sick pleasure in messily killing people, and kicks so many dogs it's a wonder her foot doesn't ignite from overuse.

** Not to mention the forged weapons in the third game. The best weapon you can acquire can have a maximum of 50 Attack (and as low as 30) before upgrades, which is powerful enough that a lot of minor enemies will die in just a couple of hits. If you're smart enough to loot corpses like it's going out of style, you can very easily make weapons with an Attack rating which hovers around 80 or 90 with very little weight. And since the moves available to your character while Dual-Wielding and Ninja Dual-Wielding are entirely unrelated to the individual skills in the weapon, there's nothing stopping you from creating absurdly powerful blades to dual wield.

* PlayerPunch - A ''lot'' of bad ends are like this. Of particular note is one in the second game in which [[spoiler:The player fails to protect Sayo during the riot at the Amahara festival. The town doctor berates him/her for it and tells them to get the hell out of town, which s/he does. Flash forward to the player sitting on the roadside, crying his/her eyes out while eating a rice ball.]]

* NightmareFuel - in 4 :[[spoiler:In one of the Early Endings your character and others are boiled alive! Since this is most likely the first ending people get, we don't know what happened to them afterwards. Then we found out what happen to those characters after avoiding the the ending the next time. It was implied that they were eaten by the the minister and his daughters!]]