YMMV / Soul of the Samurai

• Awesome, but Impractical: 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-only sword moot.
• Complete Monster: 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 "Soul Bugs"—slugs that infect people and turn them into monsters. When Urabe fails to defeat Kotaro Hiba, Oda deems him 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.
• That One Sidequest: Obtaining the secret sword Rakuyo in Lin's route is not as simple as killing 300 zombies to obtain rusty sword in Kotaro's route. The player must obtain all hidden codes in her route, then visit the blacksmith, who happens to be an undercover ninja. Fortunately, it is not mandatory, and the game can continue even if Lin fails to get the secret sword.