Samurai Maiden: Deluxe Edition

An Exercise in apathy, neither solid nor liquid. Not exactly bad, but not very good either. Just a bit 'meh,' really.

Every time you use your partners’ skills, your relationship with them rises. They're pleasantly designed in a way that means you don't have ton rely on them, acting more as stun mechanics. In addition, these attacks help mask the game's numerous frame rate dips. Sadly, these drops, alongside your main character's stiff attacks, make Samurai Maiden's encounters much more frustrating than they should be.

Samurai Maiden is mostly hack, slash, dodge, and hack some more. But, while naturally repetitive, it's not much different in that respect from many traditional arcade games. What it does well with is in expanding its combat options in enjoyable but never confusing ways; by giving your aides different skill functions in attack and healing, and in navigating stages. It's a simple but nicely layered adventure that will encourage grinders to unlock its galleries, weaponry and digital trinkets, while appreciating what is an attractive-looking and well-optimised game. Increased challenge is there if you need it, and, discounting the trite elements of its dialogue and story, the character models are exceptionally good, mildly bewitching, and do a great job of selling the product.

Despite having an original story and setting, many elements of Samurai Maiden bring about a feeling a deja vu.

Samurai Maiden is a fairly simple action game featuring a fair amount of rather shallow dialogue between the characters. Anyone looking for depth in the combat system or the story won’t find what they’re after here.

It's nice that the developer is still supporting the game almost 18 months on, improving the post-launch state of the game, and the lesbian polyamory is just nice to see without delving too deep into fanservice.

The adventure has a good pace and plenty of content, the graphic quality is impressive on the Nintendo Switch and the combat is quite fun once you get the hang of it. As a whole, SAMURAI MAIDEN is quite simple but well written, the interaction between the girls is quite satisfying too — if you're used to franchises like Senran Kagura, this entry will be a real treat.

Samurai Maiden gives players a goofy mix of hack-and-slash action, light platforming, and yuri fan service. Surprisingly, it also gives us some pretty fun combat when it's not being overly frustrating. The game will appeal more to achievement completionists than those seeking a good (or even coherent) story, so consider that when looking at this game at full price.

Players ready for the second or third choices need little else to bring them into the experience. However, if you want to piecemeal Samurai Maiden, you’ll lose steam quickly and get distracted by long dialogues between fights and stages. Personally, I went right down the middle, and I think that’s the best course for everyone. It’s fun, it’s funny, and it keeps me coming back for more, and that’s all I want in a game.

I thoroughly enjoyed SAMURAI MAIDEN's combat with its wealth of skills and charming cast of lovely ladies. However, it does have its issues, especially if you want to take photos of the characters' panties because you'll end up incredibly disappointed. 📸