Following up their reveal a month or so back, Japanese game publisher Spike gave out a firm release date today for Way of the Samurai 4, latest in their series of sandbox-y feudal Japan sims. The PS3-exclusive title is coming out February 17 in Japan at a suggested retail price of 7770 yen.
In addition to revealing the date, Spike spilled the beans a bit more on the new sequel’s gameplay. As before, Samurai 4 — which tells the story of a wandering samurai as he hits a seaside town racked with internal conflict — encourages repeated play, as the story branches so much based off your decisions that the different endings and game-overs can often vary wildly. Along these lines, the fictional town of Amihama actually changes after repeated play, depending on your actions in previous games. One example brought up: if you acted like a villain in your first game, the next one will start out with Amihama turning into something of a thieves’ haven, with street toughs and the like all over the place. In addition, depending on which in-game faction you join, you can either help to construct new buildings — hospitals, language schools, casinos — or act to prevent them from ever being built. These buildings also appear in subsequent plays, so in a way, you’re dealing with a different town every time you boot up the game.
No US release has been announced for the new Samurai yet. The official Japanese site sure is pretty, though.
