Samurai Shodown Sen



Samurai Shodown: Edge of Destiny, known as Samurai Spirits Sen (サムライスピリッツ閃) in Japan, is the fourth 3D game in SNK's popular Samurai Shodown series of versus fighting games and the eleventh title in the series. It is a title made to celebrate the series' 15th anniversary. The developer K2 LLC is best known in America to have developed various installments to the stealth game series Tenchu, beginning with Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven, the series' third installment. It was released for Japanese arcades on April 17, 2008. It is scheduled for a X Box 360 and PS3 port for May 2009.

The main artist for the Samurai Shodown 64 series and Samurai Shodown: Warriors Rage, Senri Kita, returns for official illustrations.

Development
The game was first announced in development to the public at the All Nippon Amusement Machine Operator's Union (AOU) 2006 event where it was given a tentative release date of sometime by the end of 2007. However, at the 2007 Tokyo Game Show, the date was pushed back, but was mentioned to be nearly ready for future release in Japanese arcades. Since late October 2007, the game has been undergoing severe beta testing around arcades in Japan. On December 13, 2007, the official website to the game was created, along with a bulletin of four locations sites which are in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Osaka, and Chiba. Testing begins on December 20th and ends on December 24th. The official site also confirms an eventual release in 2008. The first overseas testing location took place in Hong Kong during December 20~21. Along with this announcement came the game's international title. Beta testing was also made in Mexico on March 14.

The game's producer, Mitsuo Kodama, feels indebted to SNK since it was one of the reasons why he could become an independent game maker. He adds that this series is the hardest one to make the transition from 2D to 3D and actively listens to SNK's staff for artistic direction. He hopes that the finished product feels more like a polished 3D title than its predecessors. Soichiro Hosoya, the current president of SNK Playmore, stated that this game is the "revenge" of the Samurai Shodown series. Aoi Nanase, character designer to the series' first OVA, has reported in her personal blog that the official staff intend to take a great departure from the Makai and are going for a sengoku-jidai effect. Most of the new characters were voiced by newly graduated students from Amusement Media Entertainment, a technical education program that launches its attendees into the pro league of the entertainment industry.

Director of SNK Playmore USA's Marketing Department, Mark Rudolph, says eventual home release is anticipated to be made on current next gen consoles.

Story
The following is the game's story given by SNK's English Hong Kong site:

"In the last part of the Edo period...

The prince of "Lesphia", a small country in Europe, with his wife was surprise attacked during their voyage.

At the time, regrettably both got killed, but their only daughter had a narrow escape with help of one guard.

Few days later, miraculously the girl drifted to the feudal domain of Amori-han in Japan, and lord or Amori-han decided to raise her preciously.

Since then, 10 years have passed..."

The game takes place in the year 1791, when the American Revolutionary War veteran, Golba, tries to start a worldwide revolution.

Gameplay
The assignment for the four buttons are horizontal slash (A), vertical slash (B), kick (C), and special maneuvers button (R), whereas strong slashes are accessed by (A+B) and (B+C) combinations (horizontal and vertical strong slash respectively). The R button can allow players to perform a grab, deflect, and an unblockable slash attack (with all of the other buttons). Elements from previous games, such as the rage explosion and its fatal slash (Tsurane Giri), have been kept.

The moveset for characters were drastically simplified and to be made more like other 3D fighting games. Multi-hitting moves that were automated, such as Charlotte's Splash Front, are now more interactive, as players must press the A or B buttons to continue the sequence. Projectiles have been modified to being stylized close range attacks. Characters who have helpers (ie: Galford, Nakoruru, Rimururu) now summon their pets from an off-screen location, and are only seen during winposes or attacks. Fights are also extended to being three rounds long.

Fatalities also make a return to include the finishers seen in both the 2D titles and previous 3D titles of series. Decapitations and impalements are added as new ways to kill an opponent. The blood graphics and fatalities are present only in the international versions of the game.

In-game cutscenes are made for character interactions with the bosses and other story scenario moments. Endings are scrolled-text over a background (similar to Samurai Shodown III).

Cast
Nearly half of the cast revealed during beta testing are new comers to the series. Characters Killian and Rimururu were revealed to players during the second phase of beta testing in December. On January 17, 2008, two characters were listed on the Japanese official site. Each character has their own stats sheet, sample moveset, and backstory. Since then, the site continued to update in the same fashion on a weekly basis. The entire cast was fully revealed on April 10, 2008. Some characters are homages to traditional swordplay (a Korean spear fighter Kim and elderly spear-wielding samurai Jinbei) while other characters take contemporary and artistic liberties (J, an afro samurai and Gallows, an axe wielding Viking). Confirmed characters from previous game titles are:
 * Takechiyo
 * Suzuhime
 * Angelica
 * Gallows
 * J.
 * Kim Hye-Ryen
 * Walter
 * Jinbei Sugamata
 * Black Hawk
 * Killian
 * Claude
 * Draco
 * Golba
 * Haohmaru
 * Nakoruru
 * Hanzo Hattori
 * Galford
 * Ukyo Tachibana
 * Wan-fu
 * Kyoshiro Senryo
 * Charlotte
 * Jubei Yagyu
 * Genjuro Kibagami
 * Rimururu
 * Sogetsu Kazama
 * Kazuki Kazama

Edge of Destiny

 * Footage from the 2008 Game Developer Conference

Sen

 * Kazuki vs Jubei
 * Kim vs Haohmaru
 * J vs Gallows
 * Last part of Galford's story mode