Samurai Maiden Reviews
Musings over fan service aside, Samurai Maiden is wildly entertaining B-grade fun. Like many of D3 Publisher’s other most notable titles, it rolls with its trashiness and embraces B-grade aesthetics and tone in totality. It doesn’t take itself seriously (at all), and doesn’t aspire to be anything more than a genre piece, made for people that probably already knew if this was for them from the first batch of screenshots. The fact it actually plays nicely to go with its fun theme is the icing on the cake. These kinds of games are becoming less and less common, for reasons that are best left to opinion pieces elsewhere. The point is, we need to enjoy stuff like Samurai Maiden when we get the opportunity to, because when they’re done as well as this, they’re a riot, and it would be tragic to see these kinds of games disappear.
What Samurai Maiden lacks in plot, it makes up for with excellent relationship-building scenes, and surprisingly tactical hack’n’slash gameplay. While there were a few issues, I had fun throughout. It goes beyond fanservice and delivers a surprisingly great game.
Players ready for the second or third choices need little else to bring them into the experience. However, if you want to piecemeal Samurai Maiden, you’ll lose steam quickly and get distracted by long dialogues between fights and stages. Personally, I went right down the middle, and I think that’s the best course for everyone. It’s fun, it’s funny, and it keeps me coming back for more, and that’s all I want in a game.
Action packed, girls sword fighting against the demon lord? ! And wholesome love?
Samurai Maiden is mostly hack, slash, dodge, and hack some more. But, while naturally repetitive, it's not much different in that respect from many traditional arcade games. What it does well with is in expanding its combat options in enjoyable but never confusing ways; by giving your aides different skill functions in attack and healing, and in navigating stages. It's a simple but nicely layered adventure that will encourage grinders to unlock its galleries, weaponry and digital trinkets, while appreciating what is an attractive-looking and well-optimised game. Increased challenge is there if you need it, and, discounting the trite elements of its dialogue and story, the character models are exceptionally good, mildly bewitching, and do a great job of selling the product.
Samurai Maiden is an enjoyable action Hack and slash game that has great visuals. The combat in the game is solid, but not all the mechanics are quite as polished as its combat. An enjoyable story that picks up quite a bit in the second half of the game. These characters are great and I do want to see more of them in the future!
Despite having an original story and setting, many elements of Samurai Maiden bring about a feeling a deja vu.
I actually would recommend it if you’re a fan of Waifu Hack ‘n’ Slashers, but the Switch’s framerate issues keep me from issuing a full-throated endorsement. If you have access to other modern consoles, maybe check out some gameplay videos. If it’s way smoother during combat situations, maybe go for that version. I’m enjoying the game on Switch, and will be buying some of the DLC, but it suffers a lot on the performance side. That and the terrible platforming segments that, thankfully, are pretty rare.
I thoroughly enjoyed SAMURAI MAIDEN's combat with its wealth of skills and charming cast of lovely ladies. However, it does have its issues, especially if you want to take photos of the characters' panties because you'll end up incredibly disappointed. 📸
Samurai Maiden is a really fun girls sword-fighting action game that focuses more on characters and combat than a strong narrative experience. The fully voiced dialogue, frantic combat, and endearing cast of characters make for a solid action game experience from D3 Publisher and SHADE. Nintendo Switch performance is lacking with its frame rate stutters and dips, however.
Samurai Maiden is a fun but also flawed hack’n slash that embraces all the beloved anime tropes. On one hand, it’s a fun over the top game with mesmerizing visuals. On the other hand, it has flaws that should not exist in such a game.
So overall, SHADE Inc. and D3Publisher’s Samurai Maiden was a fun title to go through. While the gameplay visuals may have been a bit bland over time as you’ll only ever see the same color palette swapped enemies, there’s a ton of dialog and story to make up for it as Tsumugi travels with Iyo, Hagane and Komimi to defeat the Demon Lord.
At the end of the day, Samurai Maiden is a mediocre game that could’ve been better with just a few tweaks. There should’ve been some unlockable costumes, more enemy variety and a few tweaks could’ve been done to combat to make it feel less cheap. In the latter stages where the bigger enemies get a ton of minions, you will see just how cheap this can all be when you’re getting hacked on and juggled by things you cannot see. That being said, this is still a decent action game that has a great soundtrack, some good looking graphics and an amazing voice cast. I feel like the price tag is a bit much, but if you picked this one up on sale I think most folks would be satisfied with it. I know I really loved seeing Tsumugi and these girls grow closer on this grand adventure, even if it certainly wasn’t a perfect one.
Samurai Maiden gives players a goofy mix of hack-and-slash action, light platforming, and yuri fan service. Surprisingly, it also gives us some pretty fun combat when it's not being overly frustrating. The game will appeal more to achievement completionists than those seeking a good (or even coherent) story, so consider that when looking at this game at full price.
Samurai Maiden, in terms of content and action, is a competent hack 'n' slash, even more so for including different gameplay options thanks to Tsumugi's interaction with Iyo, Hagane and Komimi. In addition, the game has an interesting story, even if it relies on narrative clichés and fanservice. However, as much as the visual presentation is impeccable, even more so taking into account the dated hardware of the Switch, the game suffers from serious performance problems, making the hybrid console not the best option for Samurai Maiden.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Devotees of yuri, musou, or anime visual novels might find something to enjoy in Samurai Maiden. Aside from its genre trappings, fans of action RPGs won’t be impressed. The game’s combat is simply too frustrating, repetitive, and janky. Samurai Maiden doesn’t take any chances. The result is an overpriced, low-budget game with tepid combat bound to a collection of familiar genre tropes.
There's no denying that Samurai Maiden manages to deliver on its flagship role: an accessible hack and slash featuring beautiful anime-style schoolgirls, ninjas, and samurai. In fact, it even goes further, bringing some good qualities to players in general, such as challenging fights and interesting content. Unfortunately, a half-assed technical production and lack of focus on important elements leave the recommendation limited only to ardent fans of what it really has to offer.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Despite some clunkiness in its controls and camera, along with a surface-level narrative, "Samurai Maiden" knows exactly what it is and what it's trying to do.
Samurai Maiden’s action may feel generic and its story is lacking but some great characters and interactions help make this anime action game at least a bit enjoyable.
An Exercise in apathy, neither solid nor liquid. Not exactly bad, but not very good either. Just a bit 'meh,' really.