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Fighting Fantasy #20
Sword of the Samurai
Can You save Hachiman from chaos?
Hachiman is in great danger. The Shogun's control is slipping. Bandits roam the land freely and barbarian invaders have begun to raid across the borders. All this because the Dai-Katana, the Shogun's great sword, has been stolen from the Shogun. YOU are the Shogun's champion, a young Samurai. Your mission is to recover this wondrous sword from Ikiru, the Master of Shadows, deep in the Pit of Demons.
Two dice, a pencil and an eraser are all you need. You have a choice of warrior skills which will affect the outcome of your mission. There are Honour points to be won and lost. YOU decide which route to follow, which dangers to risk and which monsters to fight.
Hachiman is in great danger. The Shogun's control is slipping. Bandits roam the land freely and barbarian invaders have begun to raid across the borders. All this because the Dai-Katana, the Shogun's great sword, has been stolen from the Shogun. YOU are the Shogun's champion, a young Samurai. Your mission is to recover this wondrous sword from Ikiru, the Master of Shadows, deep in the Pit of Demons.
Two dice, a pencil and an eraser are all you need. You have a choice of warrior skills which will affect the outcome of your mission. There are Honour points to be won and lost. YOU decide which route to follow, which dangers to risk and which monsters to fight.
364 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1986
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
August 4, 2015
An Asian adventure
21 June 2012
I must admit that this Fighting Fantasy game book rather surprised me. It was actually the first time that I read it (though since it is a game book that took me a couple of hours to read I am not going to include it as a part of my reading challenge in the same way that I am not including graphic novels as a part of the reading challenge) and I must admit that I quite enjoyed it. I guess it has something to do with when I was a teenager I really was only interested in the medieval style swords and sorcery gamebooks rather than with the ones that had different themes.
This one is set in the world of Titan but in a different land on a different continent. The realm is sort of based on a mix between China and Japan and tries to capture the essence of adventuring in a medieval Asian culture. The problem that I found is that it was written by a couple of Anglos which means that we are trying to create an Asian culture from an Anglo perspective. I suspect that the book would have been much better if it had been written by an Asian (or at least had an Asian consultant in the process, however that may have been the case - though I note that there is no Asian name in the credits).
Basically you are a samurai serving the Shogun and he has lost the magical sword that gives him the authority to rule. As such the empire is breaking apart as lords are ditching their alliance to the Shogun in favour of the Lord of Shadows, who happens to have stolen the sword. You, as the samurai, have the task of attempting to break into the Lord of Shadows' fortress and get the sword sword back (which will in turn restore the Shogun's legitimacy – a concept which is actually quite Chinese).
This runs like a typical Fighting Fantasy novel though they have included an extra stat called honour. At first I thought that having honour as a stat was simply adding flavour to the adventure until I discovered at the end that honour plays a very important role in being able to easily complete the adventure. Basically to be able to survive your honour needs to be 5 or higher, and to be able to do so easily you need it to be 6 or higher. However, if your honour drops to 0 you die. This is not surprising because dying is very easy in this adventure.
There are actually two ways to complete the adventure and these paths are chosen right at the beginning. One path makes the adventure a little easier to complete than the other, however it does not matter which path you chose because you can still complete the adventure. What you need to do is to find some 'charms' which enable to you recruit allies for the penultimate battle, and even then you need to be able to chose the correct ally to fight the correct enemy. There is one gripe that I had though: there is a part where you have to answer riddles. To answer the riddle you have to turn each of the letters into their corresponding number, add them together, and turn to the appropriate paragraph. This was dubious because you had to pretty much guess the correct word as opposed to the correct idea. Interesting, but it made it quite difficult to solve the riddle.
21 June 2012
I must admit that this Fighting Fantasy game book rather surprised me. It was actually the first time that I read it (though since it is a game book that took me a couple of hours to read I am not going to include it as a part of my reading challenge in the same way that I am not including graphic novels as a part of the reading challenge) and I must admit that I quite enjoyed it. I guess it has something to do with when I was a teenager I really was only interested in the medieval style swords and sorcery gamebooks rather than with the ones that had different themes.
This one is set in the world of Titan but in a different land on a different continent. The realm is sort of based on a mix between China and Japan and tries to capture the essence of adventuring in a medieval Asian culture. The problem that I found is that it was written by a couple of Anglos which means that we are trying to create an Asian culture from an Anglo perspective. I suspect that the book would have been much better if it had been written by an Asian (or at least had an Asian consultant in the process, however that may have been the case - though I note that there is no Asian name in the credits).
Basically you are a samurai serving the Shogun and he has lost the magical sword that gives him the authority to rule. As such the empire is breaking apart as lords are ditching their alliance to the Shogun in favour of the Lord of Shadows, who happens to have stolen the sword. You, as the samurai, have the task of attempting to break into the Lord of Shadows' fortress and get the sword sword back (which will in turn restore the Shogun's legitimacy – a concept which is actually quite Chinese).
This runs like a typical Fighting Fantasy novel though they have included an extra stat called honour. At first I thought that having honour as a stat was simply adding flavour to the adventure until I discovered at the end that honour plays a very important role in being able to easily complete the adventure. Basically to be able to survive your honour needs to be 5 or higher, and to be able to do so easily you need it to be 6 or higher. However, if your honour drops to 0 you die. This is not surprising because dying is very easy in this adventure.
There are actually two ways to complete the adventure and these paths are chosen right at the beginning. One path makes the adventure a little easier to complete than the other, however it does not matter which path you chose because you can still complete the adventure. What you need to do is to find some 'charms' which enable to you recruit allies for the penultimate battle, and even then you need to be able to chose the correct ally to fight the correct enemy. There is one gripe that I had though: there is a part where you have to answer riddles. To answer the riddle you have to turn each of the letters into their corresponding number, add them together, and turn to the appropriate paragraph. This was dubious because you had to pretty much guess the correct word as opposed to the correct idea. Interesting, but it made it quite difficult to solve the riddle.
July 24, 2012
Imagine a combination “Choose Your Own Adventure” and solitaire Dungeons & Dragons module. That’s my impression of the Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks from Games Workshop innovators Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone. One can move through the interactive story several times and still not be certain that the entire book has been experienced. Plus, it’s brutal. Although I was very fortunate in character creation, my character was still overwhelmed the first two times through the story—only the final encounter being different each time.
As one might expect, Sword of the Samurai is set in feudal Japan with elements of the fantastic (or maybe, “phantastic”) embroidered into the tapestry. Characters are sent on a mission by the shogun and, in the course of following their lord’s instructions, may find themselves facing traitors, undead ronin, or riddle-spewing dragons (they’re simple riddles—think food for the first and something self-referential for the second). Combat is simpler than in Dungeons & Dragons as one has to manipulate less attributes and can only have one skill. Opposed dice throws (2d) plus the skill number will decide the winner.
Several of the classic fantasy tropes are found in this story. As you seek the legendary sword known as Singing Death, you will encounter a number of “door” encounters through which one enters various planes of existence, face revivified corpses of samurai, and a potentially deadly duel with the ultimate bad guy—Ikiru, Master of Shadows. If you’ve done all the right things, you can probably defeat him, but there are a few hidden matters here and there to bear in mind. First, remember that in Asian folklore, the best path to your goal is not necessarily the straightest. Second, don’t be blinded by the game mechanics. Remember that even though you are playing a game to get the story, you must consider that “Honour” (British spelling) attribute to have more significance in story terms than it appears to have in game terms. Don’t be fooled.
Truthfully, although Sword of the Samurai has story elements and is an enjoyable experience, its story fails at the very point where it should be strongest—characterization. Since the reader is the protagonist, the authors don’t offer any internal motivation other than the most general ideas of giri (“duty”) and loyalty. Worse, the antagonists mostly seem like characters from an Asian shadow play. You have the demons, the undead, the mysterious female, the dragon, the supernatural tiger, and phoenix, as well as rebel samurai. Yet, we really don’t know why they do what they do. If you’re just looking for an entertaining couple of hours to adventure by yourself, the lack of motivation isn’t much of a problem. If you’d like a meaty story to go with your solitaire adventure, you’ll be disappointed. Don’t get me wrong; I enjoyed the experience. Yet, I think the idea of an adventure packaged as a book had me expecting a bit more story than if I’d found it in module form.
These books (Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks) aren’t easy to find these days, but they are part of gaming history. As a result, both volumes that I recently found are worth far more to me than the rating I’ve given them here. As a pure solitaire adventure, Sword of the Samurai is probably closer to four stars; as a story, it wouldn’t even quite rate two stars. As a combination of adventure, story, and artifact of gaming history, it’s much more.
As one might expect, Sword of the Samurai is set in feudal Japan with elements of the fantastic (or maybe, “phantastic”) embroidered into the tapestry. Characters are sent on a mission by the shogun and, in the course of following their lord’s instructions, may find themselves facing traitors, undead ronin, or riddle-spewing dragons (they’re simple riddles—think food for the first and something self-referential for the second). Combat is simpler than in Dungeons & Dragons as one has to manipulate less attributes and can only have one skill. Opposed dice throws (2d) plus the skill number will decide the winner.
Several of the classic fantasy tropes are found in this story. As you seek the legendary sword known as Singing Death, you will encounter a number of “door” encounters through which one enters various planes of existence, face revivified corpses of samurai, and a potentially deadly duel with the ultimate bad guy—Ikiru, Master of Shadows. If you’ve done all the right things, you can probably defeat him, but there are a few hidden matters here and there to bear in mind. First, remember that in Asian folklore, the best path to your goal is not necessarily the straightest. Second, don’t be blinded by the game mechanics. Remember that even though you are playing a game to get the story, you must consider that “Honour” (British spelling) attribute to have more significance in story terms than it appears to have in game terms. Don’t be fooled.
Truthfully, although Sword of the Samurai has story elements and is an enjoyable experience, its story fails at the very point where it should be strongest—characterization. Since the reader is the protagonist, the authors don’t offer any internal motivation other than the most general ideas of giri (“duty”) and loyalty. Worse, the antagonists mostly seem like characters from an Asian shadow play. You have the demons, the undead, the mysterious female, the dragon, the supernatural tiger, and phoenix, as well as rebel samurai. Yet, we really don’t know why they do what they do. If you’re just looking for an entertaining couple of hours to adventure by yourself, the lack of motivation isn’t much of a problem. If you’d like a meaty story to go with your solitaire adventure, you’ll be disappointed. Don’t get me wrong; I enjoyed the experience. Yet, I think the idea of an adventure packaged as a book had me expecting a bit more story than if I’d found it in module form.
These books (Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks) aren’t easy to find these days, but they are part of gaming history. As a result, both volumes that I recently found are worth far more to me than the rating I’ve given them here. As a pure solitaire adventure, Sword of the Samurai is probably closer to four stars; as a story, it wouldn’t even quite rate two stars. As a combination of adventure, story, and artifact of gaming history, it’s much more.
December 3, 2007
Among my favourites in the Fighting Fantasy series, and one of the few that I managed to complete without cheating!
July 11, 2016
SWORD OF THE SAMURAI is a Fighting Fantasy gamebook that I never encountered as a kid, probably because I didn't have enough pocket money at the time to buy it (and maybe because I didn't know what a "samurai" was). Thankfully I've now played the book properly as an adult, and I can report it's one of the most vividly-described and enthralling of all Fighting Fantasy adventures.
The adventure is set in a remote, Far Eastern land, cut off from the rest of the realm. We're basically in a medieval Japan here, one full of supernatural evil and the usual devils and demons popular from Japanese folklore: kappa, forest spirits, the angry dead, and more besides. The quest is of your garden variety (kill the evil warlord, etc.), but it's the journey that makes this adventure so special.
The encounters that the player has seem particularly horrific; at one point I unwisely ventured into a village and discovered to my disturbance that the villagers were actually evil spirits whose heads separated from their shoulders to attack me! Sinister stuff indeed. The opponents are also pretty difficult to fight, and the inclusion of an 'honour' system is a remarkably clever addition to the usual rules. I only got a small way into this adventure before making an unwise choice and dying, so I'll be sure to come back to it shortly for a second (and probably third and forth) attempt.
The adventure is set in a remote, Far Eastern land, cut off from the rest of the realm. We're basically in a medieval Japan here, one full of supernatural evil and the usual devils and demons popular from Japanese folklore: kappa, forest spirits, the angry dead, and more besides. The quest is of your garden variety (kill the evil warlord, etc.), but it's the journey that makes this adventure so special.
The encounters that the player has seem particularly horrific; at one point I unwisely ventured into a village and discovered to my disturbance that the villagers were actually evil spirits whose heads separated from their shoulders to attack me! Sinister stuff indeed. The opponents are also pretty difficult to fight, and the inclusion of an 'honour' system is a remarkably clever addition to the usual rules. I only got a small way into this adventure before making an unwise choice and dying, so I'll be sure to come back to it shortly for a second (and probably third and forth) attempt.
April 8, 2013
Conhecem os tradicionais livros? Pega-se nele, folheia-se, mergulha-se nas páginas... Esqueçam esse tipo de livros e venham conhecer os livros de "Aventuras Fantásticas". Aqui quem manda é o próprio leitor e é ele que escolhe o seu destino! Necessitas de dois dados, um lápis e uma borracha para embarcar nesta aventura. Neste tipo de livro, além da histórias, precisas de ter perícia, força e sorte para chegar ao fim do livro.
Enquanto que num livro normal, vai-se lendo de forma contínua, aqui não! Vais saltando de página em página, criando uma dinâmica que nos prende ao livro. Na minha opinião, este tipo de livros é ideal para quem não gosta muito de ler mas que adora, por exemplo, um bom jogo de aventura, porque é o que isto acaba por ser: um jogo.
O leitor acaba por ser um jovem samurai em que é atribuído uma missão, mas para chegar ao desafio final tem que ultrapassar pequenos obstáculos, tais como defrontar monstros e conseguir derrotá-los. Já não bastava esta ideia inovadora, o livro ainda contém várias ilustrações.
Quem disse que um livro não pode divertido? Quem disse que para termos uma grande aventura sem sair de casa é necessário um computador ou uma consola? Aqui só necessitam deste livro e mergulhar nesta aventura em que o leitor é o herói.
Enquanto que num livro normal, vai-se lendo de forma contínua, aqui não! Vais saltando de página em página, criando uma dinâmica que nos prende ao livro. Na minha opinião, este tipo de livros é ideal para quem não gosta muito de ler mas que adora, por exemplo, um bom jogo de aventura, porque é o que isto acaba por ser: um jogo.
O leitor acaba por ser um jovem samurai em que é atribuído uma missão, mas para chegar ao desafio final tem que ultrapassar pequenos obstáculos, tais como defrontar monstros e conseguir derrotá-los. Já não bastava esta ideia inovadora, o livro ainda contém várias ilustrações.
Quem disse que um livro não pode divertido? Quem disse que para termos uma grande aventura sem sair de casa é necessário um computador ou uma consola? Aqui só necessitam deste livro e mergulhar nesta aventura em que o leitor é o herói.
October 4, 2017
Picked this up randomly as a book crossing book some years ago but only just played it. 4 stars to cover the pure nostalgia - used to love FF books and this took me right back, although I don't think I actually played this one in my youth.
Surprised at how well it reads, and also just how tense it is as an experience. Finger-bookmarks definitely spread through the book as I got closer and closer to the end.
Surprised at how well it reads, and also just how tense it is as an experience. Finger-bookmarks definitely spread through the book as I got closer and closer to the end.
Read
October 31, 2008SWORD OF THE SAMURAI (Fighting Fantasy Gamebook, No 20) by Steve Jackson (1987)
May 5, 2013
Let me just preface this with telling that I'm not a great fan of oriental culture. Nevertheless I got really hooked by this FF. It's highly intriguing and full of bizarre encounters, that prove themselves worth reading. A bit to hard to solve but one could see this as a challenge. A hard one, that is.
October 7, 2009
This is quite an interesting read despite it being a gamebook. The way the finale fight is handled makes it rather unique. Although it is for a younger audience, its theme and good depictions/illustrations/descriptions might have been slightly more mature than its intended readers.
November 19, 2012
I liked how they went and tried several different concepts and settings with each book. This one was for samurai in a fantasy japan, and I lapped it up as even as a child, I was totally into anime and japanese culture.
Also, "Singing Death", the most awesome name for a Sword ever.
Also, "Singing Death", the most awesome name for a Sword ever.
August 16, 2017
O meu livro preferido sem ser passado no espaço.
Puro RPG no seu melhor!
Puro RPG no seu melhor!
November 11, 2025
One of the hard things about reviewing these books is that you have to have a table of some sort. So they tend to take longer to review.
SKILL 9, STAMINA 16, LUCK 12.
After the basic rules - consistent with all the other Fighting Fantasy books, you are given a choice of four expertise’s. A samurai bow with different arrow types. The ability to automatically strike first with your sword. The ability to make fantastic leaps. The ability to fight with two swords simultaneously giving you a potential second attack. I think I’ll take the fast draw ability.
The book also introduces the idea of ‘Honour Points’ of which you start with 3. If you ever are reduced to 0, go to paragraph 99 immediately! Nothing more is described!
”Background” informs us that we are a samurai of Kihei Hasekawa the Shogun of Hatchiman and area of Khul on Titan. This is greatly appreciated in that it brings even more depth to a fantasy world that already had more depth that just about anything else but Middle-Earth.
Your mission is to steal back the Singing Death sword that has been stolen. No, thank you, I don’t need anyone else but me to do this. Just my sword and a packed lunch.
Heading to the mountain fortress I notice a village burning. I head there and am attacked by a samurai horseman. Who nearly obliterates me before I cut him down.
I look around and see lots of traitor samurai. I can’t ignore the cry of the villagers. I don’t have good archery skill. And running around and killing all the samurai I can might be very tiring. I could sure use a snack about now. I think I’ll call for an honorable duel. If there is any honor left.
It works! Now I only have to fight three of them one at a time! Hey guys, you mind if I have some noodles before this duel? Actually, how about a ceremonial meal between each duel? That cool? I ask after killing the first one. Only by relying on my luck was I able to survive the third samurai!
Of course, how that my life is flashing before my eyes I realize that I should have used my fast-draw skill to automatically do 3 STAMINA damage in the first round of each fight. I didn’t need to be prompted. Well, almost die and learn.
The Samurai’s leave the village rather than face me and I do earn an Honor point. I wish I could eat honor.
But the villagers give me a nice headband which gives me another Honor point and a LUCK point! I did use up some LUCK!
These bloodthirsty villagers then bring me a wounded but not dead samurai and demand that I kill him. I let him go. With a severe talking to. To get away from these ravenous villagers he offers me his sword to be my sworn companion. Well, his loyalty is certainly questionable but I could use a meat shield.
As we head into the evil forest Moichi turns and runs away. Well, at least I didn’t get stabbed in my sleep.
In the middle of a forest I meet a dragon, Tatsu who says that he will ask me riddles and if I answer them correctly I won’t get eaten. How can I pass up a deal like that?
NO ONE TOLD ME THERE WOULD BE MATHS!
Whew! Got the first riddle right. No I am not telling you. The second one I don’t get right so the dragon tries to eat me. Can I have a last meal?
Even with a last meal and some luck I become dragon chow. But at least I died with Honor! Useless Honor!
I suppose I should rate this. It was actually pretty cool though very tough! 4 stars
August 26, 2020
Reviewing a gamebook is interesting, because I tend towards reviewing it more as a game than a book. I'm less interested in issues like character or dialogue, and much more interested in innovative mechanics, or playing "fair" with the player. There are some common elements; setting tends to remain the same, and, in the case of the Fighting Fantasy series, monsters are still as important, if not more so.
On the subject of setting, Smith and Thompson deserve a lot of credit just in deviating from the traditional D&D pastiche that fits with most Fighting Fantasy books up to this point (book 20 in the original series; most FF books that deal with fantasy setting, anyway). Relocating into Japanese myth is, if somewhat appropriating, at least also a breath of fresh air. Mechanics-wise, there's an ability system that gives some superhuman extra options as well as some combat options (they have quasi-Japanese names, but they're roughly fast arrow, fast draw, and superjump and so forth). Some appear to be more useful than others--quick draw is more combat-related, and super jump is less used than arrow, but arrow is also finite. The other mechanics change is an honour measurement. It's based on Smith and Thompson's notion of Japanese feudal honor though, and thus has some peculiarities--for example, not attacking villagers who insult you lowers your honor, rather than as you might assume, attacking unarmed villagers. The reason given is that failure to save face is dishonorable. It's interesting as a Western take on samurai, but a bit frustrating in practice.
"Interesting but a bit frustrating in practice" describes the book fairly well. It does an interesting thing where the more fantastic elements are trickled in slowly; at the start, you have a choice of either the confrontation with villagers or interfering with a raid on a village. In both cases, a failure to dig deeper can bypass whole sections of the book and put off the engagement with mythic beings.
Besides missing story flavor, you would not want to do that, as the collection of items is absolutely necessary. The penultimate encounter of the book has the player character facing off against larger than life beings and you can only reasonably survive by calling on your own such beings. It has a wonderfully epic feel to it, but also feels a bit unfair, in that it's not clear which superbeings need to be brought against which other. Likewise, there's an extended bit with a pagoda garden where again you have to choose an encounter order with fantastic beings, only there's a lot more instant death options. The former serves as an item check and the latter as choices you don't have enough feedback on; neither feels particularly good to play through.
But the setting here is really excellent. The slow escalation really works, and some of the encounters--the kappa in the swamp, the secret behind the village--dip really well into the horror of Japanese myth. It's one worth playing, but maybe with a bit more cheating than usual.
On the subject of setting, Smith and Thompson deserve a lot of credit just in deviating from the traditional D&D pastiche that fits with most Fighting Fantasy books up to this point (book 20 in the original series; most FF books that deal with fantasy setting, anyway). Relocating into Japanese myth is, if somewhat appropriating, at least also a breath of fresh air. Mechanics-wise, there's an ability system that gives some superhuman extra options as well as some combat options (they have quasi-Japanese names, but they're roughly fast arrow, fast draw, and superjump and so forth). Some appear to be more useful than others--quick draw is more combat-related, and super jump is less used than arrow, but arrow is also finite. The other mechanics change is an honour measurement. It's based on Smith and Thompson's notion of Japanese feudal honor though, and thus has some peculiarities--for example, not attacking villagers who insult you lowers your honor, rather than as you might assume, attacking unarmed villagers. The reason given is that failure to save face is dishonorable. It's interesting as a Western take on samurai, but a bit frustrating in practice.
"Interesting but a bit frustrating in practice" describes the book fairly well. It does an interesting thing where the more fantastic elements are trickled in slowly; at the start, you have a choice of either the confrontation with villagers or interfering with a raid on a village. In both cases, a failure to dig deeper can bypass whole sections of the book and put off the engagement with mythic beings.
Besides missing story flavor, you would not want to do that, as the collection of items is absolutely necessary. The penultimate encounter of the book has the player character facing off against larger than life beings and you can only reasonably survive by calling on your own such beings. It has a wonderfully epic feel to it, but also feels a bit unfair, in that it's not clear which superbeings need to be brought against which other. Likewise, there's an extended bit with a pagoda garden where again you have to choose an encounter order with fantastic beings, only there's a lot more instant death options. The former serves as an item check and the latter as choices you don't have enough feedback on; neither feels particularly good to play through.
But the setting here is really excellent. The slow escalation really works, and some of the encounters--the kappa in the swamp, the secret behind the village--dip really well into the horror of Japanese myth. It's one worth playing, but maybe with a bit more cheating than usual.
June 9, 2021
Mark Smith (the excellent Talisman of Death) and Jamie Thomson (Talisman of Death and Keep of the Lich Lord) in Sword of the Samurai (FF #20, 1986) raise a little piece of Medieval-era feudal Japan within the Fighting Fantasy world of Titan. The book is well-researched, populated with an array of creatures from Japanese folklore (e.g. kappa, rokuro-kubi) and the names for many things are given in Japanese.
This is makes for an interesting departure for the series; and the story, about recovering a magical sword, is passable; but the gameplay, I found, was disappointing.
One flaw is that you are given options about which route to take without being told what your character obviously already knows about where Ikiru (the bad guy who stole the sword) lives. Though, in the end, you just seem to find yourself there.
Another problem is ‘the hub’ section, a paragraph number which you return to over and over again to visit a number of locations in which you try to recruit allies. It’s repetitive and lacks momentum (and also uses up a big chunk of Alan Langford’s artwork quota, as each of the seven locations comes along with an illustration).
I read this one as a child the first time around and can’t remember thinking it was a poor one but, revisiting the series as an adult, this is one of the least compelling ones I’ve come across so far, sadly.
This is makes for an interesting departure for the series; and the story, about recovering a magical sword, is passable; but the gameplay, I found, was disappointing.
One flaw is that you are given options about which route to take without being told what your character obviously already knows about where Ikiru (the bad guy who stole the sword) lives. Though, in the end, you just seem to find yourself there.
Another problem is ‘the hub’ section, a paragraph number which you return to over and over again to visit a number of locations in which you try to recruit allies. It’s repetitive and lacks momentum (and also uses up a big chunk of Alan Langford’s artwork quota, as each of the seven locations comes along with an illustration).
I read this one as a child the first time around and can’t remember thinking it was a poor one but, revisiting the series as an adult, this is one of the least compelling ones I’ve come across so far, sadly.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 24, 2021
Sword of the Samurai is a fantastic adventure.
Having loved Ghost of Tsushima, this book was a welcomed breath of fresh air. You play as a samurai rather than a regular adventurer, and you get to chose a special ability to help aid you on your mission to reclaim the fantastical sword called Singing Death.
The encounter depicted on the cover was great, too. That said, I always thought that the skeletons in the bloody river were bloated corpses.
4/5
Having loved Ghost of Tsushima, this book was a welcomed breath of fresh air. You play as a samurai rather than a regular adventurer, and you get to chose a special ability to help aid you on your mission to reclaim the fantastical sword called Singing Death.
The encounter depicted on the cover was great, too. That said, I always thought that the skeletons in the bloody river were bloated corpses.
4/5
May 6, 2024
Apart from Rebel Planet, which was rarely seen, this is the oldest FF book I didn't play as a child. It scores high for taking inspiration from another culture and mythology, effective art, and more role play; a Samurai champion has a different outlook than the usual lone hero.
However, it crosses the boundary between being very tough to outright unfair, and could have done with a polish - some of the sections don't seem to mesh well.
However, it crosses the boundary between being very tough to outright unfair, and could have done with a polish - some of the sections don't seem to mesh well.
July 7, 2023
A great book, superbly written with interesting rules for special skills and honour. It plays like a good samurai movie. Evocative descriptions, excellent illustrations, and stellar encounters make this one of the most immersive books in the series. Sadly, it loses a star for many mandatory, difficult combats (minimum Skill 10). This is a must-play.
February 11, 2019
Probably one of my favourite FF novels of all time, excellent setting and RPG system (in particular the intriguing Honor system), but like any FF novel, it takes several read-throughs before you reach a satisfactory ending.
November 17, 2019
Unusual entry to the series as you have honour and special powers but I found this added little to the game!!
took me 5 attempts though so certainly not the most easiest book! Enjoyable adventure not a favourite of mine though.
took me 5 attempts though so certainly not the most easiest book! Enjoyable adventure not a favourite of mine though.
June 28, 2018
Review in progress... :D
May 27, 2019
A decent Fighting Fantasy adventure - nothing outrageously radical about this one, but it's certainly still enjoyable. If you like old samurai movies, you'll probably like this.
April 9, 2022
Excellent Fighting Fantasy with a Samurai theme which is included in the mechanics plus character specialisations. Beat it on my first run but do much more to do I will replay the book.
January 3, 2023
Has dated poorly and the design of the endgame is frustrating. Full review: https://refereeingandreflection.wordp...
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