Gaming
Games
Follow our beginner tips to become a Samurai Shodown pro
Disarm your foes and cut them where they stand with these 9 beginner-friendly tips for the latest Samurai Shodown release.
It's been a while since the Samurai Shodown series reared its head, so long ago that you'd be forgiven for being more familiar with its characters through their guest appearances rather than from their main game. Almost a decade after its last entry, Samurai Shodown: Edge of Destiny, the fabled fighting series makes a grand return to modern consoles.
As the wait has been long and the landscape of fighting games has changed, there's bound to be lots of fresh-faced players wondering where to start and what everything means. That's why we’re here. We've collated a list hints and tips to transform you from a samurai in training to a contender for the number one headband – yes, that's an Afro Samurai reference.
Play the tutorial
While it's a fairly generic tip, completing the tutorial is extremely important in Samurai Shodown. It contains nearly every mechanic in the game and shows you the use and purpose of most of the moves. As the only learning resource, you'll probably need to jump back here from time-to-time to make sure you know exactly what some mechanics are and how they function.
Understand this is not a combo heavy game
Unlike the vast majority of modern fighting games, Samurai Shodown is not combo focussed. In fact, you'll find that there are very few combos and those you may be able to find are based on a jump-in move, followed by a close grounded attack and then into a special move. In moment to moment gameplay, you'll often lose that jump-in and resort to a singular attack cancelled in to your special move. That's it. So, instead of losing countless hours trying to work out a combo, your time would be better spent playing real opponents.
Learn your spacing
As there are no combos, spacing is imperative, thanks to close proximity normals. This means that your character has different attacks based on their position to the enemy; close and far. Far normals are typically more poke-based and used to keep your opponent at a distance. You can't normally cancel far normals into special moves on hit. Close normals work at close range, like really close. They allow you to stave-off attackers and can be cancelled into special moves for extra damage.
Thanks to these differences in buttons, it's important to always consider exactly where you are and what the correct follow up is. It also means that punishing your opponent might require a few steps forward after you've blocked a move.
Maximise your throw damage
Throwing in Samurai Shodown can be a complex mind game. It involves being incredibly close your opponent and missing a throw will absolutely lead to your demise, thanks to the full second it takes to recover. So, when a throw does hit, you'll really want to capitalise on the situation. As throws can't be broken and have incredibly fast start-up, you'll want to use them as a guessing game between your running moves, attacks performed by pressing forward twice and an attack, to keep your opponent on the back foot.
When a throw does land, some characters will be able to follow-up with a running move, a weapon flipping technique, or even small combos from a normal move to a special attack – it's all character dependant.
Make the most of disarming your opponent
There are a select few ways that you can remove your opponent's weapon in Samurai Shodown, be it through your Weapon Flipping techniques or Super Special Attacks. When an opponent loses their weapon, they'll take more block damage and dramatically lose the range afforded by their weapon. So, when you do disarm an enemy, you'll want to camp their weapon and prevent them from picking it up. You could even lure them in to pick up the weapon, which has a long animation, and then punish them for even trying.
Earthquake poses for the camera
© Athlon Games
Learn the ultimate act of disrespect
Samurai Shodown's mental game, also known as Yomi, is just as important as the literal game. So, getting inside your opponent's head is imperative. One way to do so is through disarming yourself. This hidden command is especially infuriating if your opponent is low on health and you have enough to spare.
Simply press down, medium slash, heavy slash, and kick at the same time. Inputting this command will make your character place their weapon in the ground and fight barefisted. Disarming yourself is not recommended, but if you manage to win without a weapon you'll not only leave the match with the sweetest of victories, you'll also acquire your opponent's soul.
Extra uses for Rage Burst
There are some pretty clear uses for Rage in Samurai Shodown. It can knock opponents back, gain access to Issen (also known as Lightning Blade), you get unlimited meter for your weapon flipping technique, and some special moves are powered-up. But, what's not mentioned is its ability to cancel an opponent's specials and attacks on hit. This means characters, like Jubei, can be punished for hitting you.
For instance, when Jubei confirms an attack in to his dragon punch-like special, you can use Rage to burst out of the animation and punish him with Issen, a Weapon Flip Technique, or your super special move, as he lands. It's a massive, near 70%, turn of the tide for you. Unfortunately, it's a one off occurrence, but if you can seal out a game with this advanced technique, you'll leave the crowd in awe.
There are even some very specific characters, such as Wu-Ruixiang and Genjuro Kibagami, that can create scenarios in which they use their burst to break your guard and force you in to situations where their Issen attacks are unblockable.
Cancelling your recovery
Cancelling your recovery is an interesting technique only afforded to light and medium slashes. When a move is blocked, you'll often see your character recoil backwards. It's during this recoil that you'll be able to input a special attack to cancel your recovery. For some, this is an extremely risky technique that's an all or nothing gamble, but others (like Shiki and Hanzo) can cancel to evasive moves and projectiles.
Regardless of the risk attached, cancelling the recovery of your deflected slashes will discourage more active players trying to capitalise on blocked normal attacks. As a catch, all characters can also cancel their recovery in to deflect, which will devastate players challenging with slashes after a blocked attack, and result in massive damage.
Understanding when it's your turn
Above all else, even the fancy techniques and some of the more interesting mechanic uses that we've outlined above, the most important tip is to learn when to take your turn. It seems so simple, but Samurai Shodown is a slow game that rewards patience and every single hit counts. If there's a risk attached to following up a blocked normal attack that could cost you the game, it's always best to avoid it. Play it safe, play patiently and play until your heart's content.
That's all we have, for now. It's time to unleash your own unique way of the sword (or spear) on the world. Hopefully this won't be the last time you hear from Samurai Shodown.
Samurai Shodown is out this month on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC.
