The Samurai are a popular historical group in the world of video games. With their Bushidō code, which emphasises honour and loyalty, along with sharp blades, these iron-clad warriors make for perfect in-game characters to base entire settings around. And with Team Ninja’s Rise of the Ronin coming next year and Ubisoft finally taking Assassin’s Creed to Japan, it seems high time to chronicle some of the best games featuring the Land of the Rising Sun’s most famous soldiers. So, here’s a look at 14 solid samurai games to get your Bushidō spirit buzzing.
Elden Ring
Launched: February 2022
Playable on: PC, PlayStation, Xbox
Isn’t there a whole thing about samurai and their code of honour? Well if you play Elden Ring as one, I’m guessing you have none — or at least, you should be ready to be reviled by the community just a little bit. Don’t get me wrong, the game offers some really nice options that will help you bring your fantasy samurai dreams to life. But much of Elden Ring’s lifespan was spent under the terror of katana-wielding arseholes who abused the then-broken ‘bleed’ effect. By landing just a few slashes, your opponents would bleed out profusely regardless of your skill. So something as cool as a Moonveil Katana has, unfortunately, been slightly tainted.
But honestly, you shouldn’t worry about any of that. Part of the reason samurai-like builds became so popular wasn’t just because they were OP, but because they were fun to play. Slicing and dicing your way through is a given, but you could also pair these weapons with special abilities and powers that let you shoot elemental attacks and much more. Just remember, if it doesn’t have skin, you’re probably not going to do much with a dingy sword, no matter how sharp it is. And if you really care about honour as a concept, don’t miss out on Alexander’s storyline. – Patricia Hernandez, Editor-in-Chief
For Honor
Launched: February 2017
Playable on: PC, PlayStation, Xbox
If you asked me in 2017 if you should pick up For Honour, I would probably tell you to run as fast as humanly possible away from Heathmoor and to thank me later. The ambitious PvP fighter launched with a plethora of balance issues and generally, it was a total un-fun mess, yet I always got the sense that it was oozing with potential. Six years later, I really think For Honour has grown into a quality fighter. It’s about as frustrating as any fighting game out there, but it’s also immensely rewarding. There’s nothing quite like getting a fancy execution on your opponent by hacking off their limbs, head, or both. It offers complex combos that take genuine skill to master, but also a wide-open door for beginners to learn the ropes. The devs are passionate and active, it’s got cross-platform capabilities, and it’s largely balanced these days.
For Honour isn’t exclusively a samurai game, but it does have an entire Samurai Faction and the Kensei character is a full-blown samurai so it counts. It also helps that Kensei is continually one of the most popular Heroes in For Honour, and the move-kit is very beginner friendly. That dodge-heavy attack into unblockable heavy will genuinely carry you through your first few Reputations. So, if you really have a hankering for some samurai sword slinging, plus a shit ton of sweet cosmetics, For Honour might be the fit for you. – Jeb Biggart, Associate Social Media Editor
Ghost of Tsushima
Launched: July 2020
Playable on: PlayStation
Sucker Punch Productions’ Ghost of Tsushima is a master class in samurai fiction. A tale of a Japanese island overrun by a Mongol invasion, the game sees you take up protagonist Jin Sakai’s blade to get revenge on the barbarians terrorizing the land. While there are some shinobi-esque elements here, namely stealth and the use of ninja tools like smoke bombs, Ghost of Tsushima is primarily a sword-swinging affair between the samurai and the Mongols. If you wanted to play a Kurosawa film, the game fits the bill perfectly. But more importantly, if you wanted to live life as a pseudo ronin (a masterless samurai), Ghost of Tsushima gives you the sword skills and appropriate clothing to do just that, making it one of the best samurai games around.
Katana Zero
Launched: April 2019
Playable on: PC, Switch, Xbox
Developed by indie studio Askiisoft, Katana Zero is a side-scrolling neo-noir action platformer. You play as Subject Zero, a katana-wielding assassin down bad with a case of amnesia who must use his new-found time manipulation abilities to hack and slash his way to uncover the truth of his forgotten past. You die in one hit, which would be a bummer except for the fact that Zero can slow down time to quickly chop enemies in half while dodging bullets and environmental hazards. It’s frantic yet satisfying, with crunchy combat and aggressive adversaries keen on preventing you from learning more about Zero, the power-gifting drug Chronos, and the racketeering the bad guys are up to. It’s also relatively short and features some narrative choices that impact in-game events, which make repeated playthroughs of Katana Zero worthwhile.
Like A Dragon: Ishin!
Launched: February 2023
Playable on: PC, PlayStation, Xbox
You can eat Edo-era street food. You can fight naked men in the bath. You can sing karaoke at the theatre. You can raise a child on a farm. Like A Dragon: Ishin! is the most balanced game that lets you experience the life of a samurai outside of murder and revenge. While these side activities are fully optional, they give the protagonist Sakamoto Ryoma a character depth that I otherwise wouldn’t find in overly serious games such as Ghost of Tsushima. As long as you don’t mind the last-gen graphics, Ishin is a samurai brawler that takes overblown drama to its most delightful extremes. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll want to punch specific dudes in the neck (or throw them over a bridge.) – Sisi Jiang, Staff Writer
The Nioh Games
Launched: Nioh 1, February 2017; Nioh 2, March 2020
Playable on: PC, PlayStation
Team Ninja’s Nioh series aren’t necessarily the most accessible samurai games on this list, what with them being Soulslikes and all. However, the two in the franchise so far, Nioh and Nioh 2, are still exceptional samurai games to pick up if you’re itching to cut up some demon-shifting warriors with a katana or two. Set in a fictional Sengoku period, both games task you with thwarting a growing yōkai threat seeking to throw the world into chaos and disarray. While the first game sets up the events of the second game, I recommend starting with Nioh 2 simply because it features a variety of more robust systems — such as its character creator, fighting mechanics, and skill customisation — than its predecessor while also giving you plenty of backstory to the events and aftermath of Nioh. But in truth, you can’t go wrong with either game if you’re into the samurai fantasy.
Onimusha: Warlords
Launched: January 2001
Playable on: PC, PlayStation, Switch, Xbox
If you were conscious and gaming in the early aughts, you’ve likely either checked out or heard of Onimusha: Warlords. Originally released in 2001 on the PS2, Warlords is a hack-and-slash action-adventure game about the samurai Samanosuke Akechi attempting to bury Nobunago Oda and his demon army. So, in a fictional Sengoku-era Japan, you go around slashing fiends and collecting their souls to upgrade weapons, recover health, and execute special abilities while also solving puzzles. It’s, in essence, proto-Nioh with an old-school vibe. The best part? It was remastered in December 2018, bringing with it improved controls and updated visuals that make the already enticing samurai adventure game that much more riveting to experience.
Samurai Bringer
Launched: February 2022
Playable on: PC, PlayStation, Switch
There always seems to be some connection between demons and samurai because developer Alphawing’s Samurai Bringer is another game about the two. An action roguelite with some gorgeous voxel graphics, Samurai Bringer tasks you, as the warrior deity Susanoo, with growing strong enough to cut down the nine-headed dragon Yamata-no-Orochi. By collecting combat scrolls from fallen enemies, you can customise your techniques to make Susanoo’s attacks uniquely yours. In addition to a personalised moveset, you can also don the equipment of historical figures from Nobunaga Oda to Yukimura Sanada. And because it’s a roguelite with levels that switch up after every run, no two playthroughs are the same, which makes Samurai Bringer the perfect samurai game to play if you want something that’s almost always unpredictable.
Samurai Shodown
Launched: June 2019
Playable on: PC, PlayStation, Stadia (RIP), Switch, Xbox
Who doesn’t want to see a bunch of samurai warriors battle each other in tense, 1v1 bouts of attrition and skill? That’s exactly what Samurai Shodown is all about. A 2D fighter that’s been around since the ‘90s, 2019’s Samurai Shodown functions as a reboot for the series, with new abilities and characters, as well as 3D graphics and a banger soundtrack. It’s also got a wide array of characters, from traditional samurai like Haohmaru and Ukyo Tachibana to modern shinobi such as Galford D. Weller and Shiki. There’s a character for every kind of playstyle, so you really can’t go wrong with this samurai fighter.
Samurai Warriors 5
Launched: July 2021
Playable on: Luna, PC, PlayStation, Switch, Xbox
Speaking of samurai warriors…Samurai Warriors is my fave samurai-based franchise largely because of the power fantasy it presents to you. You play as any number of historical figures — the aforementioned Nobunaga Oda and Yukimura Sanada, ninjas like Kotaro Fuma and Hanzo Hattori, even maidens such as Oichi and Noh, and so many more — battling through an assortment of historical events from the Battle of Mikatagahara to the Battle of Sekigahara and beyond. These types of games, typically referred to as Musou, often get a bad rap for being mindless button-mashy affairs. Samurai Warriors fits that bill, too, but there’s an oft-overlooked strategic component here that tasks you with controlling parts of the battlefield and completing certain mission objectives to gain the upper hand. You can, of course, simply over-level your character to just plow through obstacles if that’s more your speed, but engaging in the strategy enhances the fantasy of these games. Samurai Warriors is also a neat little piece of playable history as the series attempts to create a visual representation of various parts within Feudal Japan’s timeline. That alone makes it worth checking out, with one of the better entries in the series being the latest one, Samurai Warriors 5. Play that one. Ignore the rest.
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun
Launched: July 2017
Playable on: Luna, PC, PlayStation, Xbox
Yeah, Shadow Tactics is a strategic masterclass — as we’ve covered previously — but it’s also one that leans heavily into its setting. Evoking the spirit of an old Samurai flick starring mismatched warriors having to work together to overcome seemingly overwhelming odds, it also has one of the neatest and most underrated implementations of a Japanese language track in a Western game you’ll ever see. Or hear. – Luke Plunkett, Senior Writer (Nights)
Total War: Shogun 2
Launched: March 2021
Playable on: PC
Playing as a samurai is objectively cool. Commanding whole armies of samurai? I’d argue is even cooler. That’s what’s on offer when playing Creative Assembly’s Total War 2: Shogun 2. Like the OG Shogun: Total War, a PC strategy classic that I cannot in good faith recommend you play in the year of our lord 2023, Shogun 2 casts you as a daimyo in 16th century Japan battling it out with your rivals to conquer the country.
Like all entries in the Total War series, the gameplay is a mix of turn-based strategy and real-time tactical combat. On the campaign map, I recommend playing as the Shimazu clan for their reduced recruitment and upkeep costs for katana samurai. Sure, there are other unit types like cavalry, artillery, and archers, but this is the samurai game slideshow. Forget about those chumps.
For those not feeling the campaign sandbox experience, you can also replay historical conflicts like the Battle of Sekigahara or mess around in the game’s custom battles mode and just have thousands of dudes charging each other to duke it out. In short, this is what we call good shit. – Eric Schulkin, Video Lead
Trek to Yomi
Launched: May 2022
Playable on: PC, PlayStation, Switch, Xbox
When enjoying a samurai game, I like understanding the source to really enrich my experience. So, as the resident video guy, I’d be remiss not to highlight the works of legendary director Akira Kurosawa, who through his movies was extremely influential in introducing Western culture to samurai-centric media in the first place. Hell, it could be argued we have him to thank for this slideshow!
If you’d rather not sit down and watch a few Kurosawa flicks (but really you should) then play Trek To Yomi, a game heavily inspired by his cinematic style. A tale of love, loss, revenge, and parrying, Trek to Yomi is a gorgeous action side-scroller whose environments I loved traversing through while never wanting to play again due to its unforgiving difficulty spikes. – Eric Schulkin, Video Lead
Way of the Samurai 4
Launched: July 2015
Playable on: PC
While most samurai games are these serious stories about the perils of honour in an unhonorable society, whether that be the erosion of the Bushido code or the proliferation of demons in the Land of the Rising Sun, Way of the Samurai takes a more cartoony approach to the somber narrative underpinnings of the samurai. This fourth entry in the franchise is just as wacky as all the rest. Featuring a semi-open-world and a vast array of customisation, Way of the Samurai 4 takes place during the mid-19th century as Japan’s long-standing cultural isolation comes to an end and Western travellers make their way to the island. As a ronin, you can make various decisions that impact the trajectory of the game’s story, all while engaging in hectic, over-the-top action sequences somewhat reminiscent of Like A Dragon: Ishin! There are a plethora of katanas to collect and craft, sword techniques to learn and develop, characters to love and hate, and side activities to participate in. Way of the Samurai 4 kinda has it all, making it one of the most packed samurai games you can play right now.
And that’s that: 14 solid samurai games you can (and should) check out. There are so many games featuring these iconic warriors that a slideshow on them all would take forever; you’d never leave this page. But these games are worth being on your backlog.
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