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Samurai Maiden Review

I wanted to like this game but it does have many flaws but still I enjoyed my time playing this game.
Gameplay:
There are two misconceptions about this game, the first is that the game combat is a mosou game. Not true at all, you cannot just hack and slash and expect to win. This game is really difficult and in hack and slash games I could press one button really fast and still win but this game when I do that I die-a lot. A part of what makes this game difficult is sadly itself: the camera and the lock in system. When I lock in on an enemy and move around (using a controller) pressing R it will change enemies or lock off enemies even though I do not mean that. No way to change the lock in button either. Also when locked in, your camera will be focused on that enemy obscuring any potential hazards. This would be okay if the lock in system was faster. If it was easier to lock in one enemy and lock out quickly to check your surroundings but instead there is a delay to doing this. Also the camera, I keep getting stuck in attack animation effects and I can’t see anything and just die what bullshit!
Ninja skills are also something you will have to be patient with and I found it disappointing you cannot not rapidly deploy ninja skills (unless they are the 3 gauge skill). You will have to wait until the animation for one is over before using another girl's ninja skill or you will cancel that first girl's skill. My genshin impact brain made me cancel ninja skills multiple times wishing that we can have more than one skill on the enemy at once. This makes it harder though when you can only deploy one at a time.
The ninja arts you also have to be patient with because deploying the ninja arts is slow and aiming the ninja arts is not always accurate and will not do what you want all the time (again controller might be really bad for aiming for this game.) I mostly used one girl's ninja arts in battle. I think the other ninja arts were useless in combat really.
There are platforming and puzzle type elements in the stages. I am really bad at platforming but I enjoyed the small puzzle parts. I wish they could have included more puzzle aspects. They were fun.
Even with all the negative aspects to the combat, and me cursing the camera A LOT! I really thought this game was fun. It was difficult and often I had to redo boss fights, and I enjoyed trying to do different combos and seeing how fast I could clear a stage.
Stages and Art:
The stages were very bland and boring to travel through.They felt dead and the same for the most part tedious to go through. The enemies were mostly re-skins of each other with some getting harder having additional moves. There were about three bosses that just repeated themselves. I really hated how the boss stages repeated the same bosses, even though they were harder and had different moves I was just tired of battling the same people.
The devoted heart animations were really cute and well done! I really enjoyed them all at each level of affection for each of the girls. The CG kiss scenes were lazy, copied and pasted poses just switched out girls but I am glad we got a kiss.
Story and Yuri:
I was not expecting a good story and the story was just okay. I mean I did press A quickly at some parts but the last few chapters are good with a plot twist.
The characters and the character interactions were what I enjoyed the second most. I liked reading about the girl's stories and the backstories were interesting. I do not feel like they had to include more girls other than the three although I would have been cool to have more girls as well. The time/parallel worlds were interesting and could be part of a sequel. I was especially intrigued by one of the girls' worlds at least.
The second misconception about this game is that there are multiple female options that the player can romance. While there is an affection system and you can kiss and grow close to each girl, in the main story there is only one girl who kisses you and one girl you say "I love you" too. The in-story kiss was not a romantic kiss either. There is no option to pick a girl to romance and have that affect the story in any way. There is a clear canon choice for the protagonist. The other two girls in the affection side stories are on the line of romantic vs friendship and considering that they do not affect the story in any way I would say friendship.
As for the romance between the MC and canon girl it started off as a crush with one girl having obvious romantic feelings for the MC. There is a slow progress and it is a very subtle romance. Characters commenting on the MC and this girl flirting. No kissing scene or declaration of love until the end. It is a very bittersweet romance.
Censorship:
The video game developers censored upskirt and taking photos of the girls underwear for whatever reason in photo mode. There is a mod to uncensor the game but this game is not ecchi at all. NO clothing rips, no dressing room mechanics... BEWARE TO ANY COOMERS THIS GAME IS NOT FOR YOU!
Interestly the only thing I remember from this game often compared to game: Valkyrie Drive, is the ecchi but this game I remember the combat and the explicit yuri so which is better??
Conclusion:
There was a lot in this game I was disappointed about: mainly the censorship, jank and the stages but I do not regret buying this game. I treated this more like an arcade type game with a side of yuri and it was enjoyable/frustrating at the same time. I would like to see a more polished game in the future if they make a sequel. The steam page says that the user reviews are mixed which is fair assessment this game will not satisfy everyone. For me I would rate this game mostly positive; recommended on sale for yuri and action game fans.