Embrace Damage.

We are living in a golden age of fighting games, based purely on the variety alone. Dozens of existing titles are being updated on a regular basis, and companies are still churning out new fighters every year. For those who want to go back to the classic era of brawling, a bevy of modernized formats makes them a breeze to play again.

Now that the marketplace is stuffed to the brim, developers must further define their games in order to garner fans.

The 2019’s reboot of Samurai Shodown (aptly called ‘Samurai Shodown’) is different. The combat system isn’t reliant on long, flashy combos for interest. Instead, SNK’s 2D affair is slower, more methodically paced in nature, because in many situations, one wrong move leads to a quick conclusion. And that perpetual seat-clenching gameplay is where its’ distinctive personality lives.

Fair And Square

Those sitting outside of the Samurai Shodown community have recently been exposed to the concept of insane damage over the course of any match. In the comments section of gameplay clips circulating the internet, onlookers gasp in horror as they watch lifebars evaporating after a few hits. Depending on the conditions, death can even arrive from just a singular swipe.

It’s easy to assume that only a handful of hardcore fans could enjoy a fighting game where an errant move could bring the end, but longtime Samurai Shodown community member Adam believes that’s appealing to newcomers.

“I think the people that are going to actually be afraid of big damage are not new players, but players that are kind of right above that level,” he says.

“They’re the ones who probably haven’t developed a real sense of neutral and are still tied to the idea of ‘learning combos = learning a fighting game’. They might feel frustrated when they’re getting tagged in the neutral day one for the kind of damage they understand you have to spend weeks in training mode to deal.”

New players without preconceived notions won’t have that barrier to break from the get-go. It helps that the learning process is primarily done during a match instead of countless lonely practice hours.

“More than any other fighting game, in my opinion, getting better in Samurai Shodown doesn’t come from spending time in Training Mode, but spending time playing neutral, something you can’t get a feel for just in isolation.”

While it’s more accessible than most fighters, Samurai Shodown plays host to a deep battle system that carries an upper ceiling of strategic play. Everything you do counts, from the smallest steps toward an opponent to get the exact spacing for a whiff punish, to finding the right moment to spend the one-time usage of a Rage Explosion’s Issen. And though the damage in the series is seemingly random at times, there are numerous factors that, like any title within the genre, equate to a science.

Ippon!

In this clip of Samurai Shodown V Special, a title popular within the scene, Mina’s health is gone the moment Haohmaru’s sword lands. But this is all calculated.

“He’s in Rage (so about 140% damage when the bar is full) and gets a counter hit (so extra 8% on top of that), so he deals 148% damage,” Adam explains. “Mina takes 150% of any normal damage she takes.”

“The move does 45 points of damage, so with Rage and a counter-hit added in the mix, it does 67 points of damage, and with Mina’s defense mod it’s 100 literally just enough to kill her.”

In the case of the new Samurai Shodown title, the Issen mechanic is a point of controversy.

Above, Jubei activates his Rage Explosion, snatches the Galford player, and lands an Issen attack, taking the second round. But there’s still another round to be played, and now Jubei’s Rage Explosion is sealed away the remainder of the match. Galford, on the other hand, is able to pop his at anytime. By using it too early, Jubei is put in an unfortunate deficit.

The conditions for Haohmaru’s attack to enact that crazy amount of damage had to be met in the first clip, and in the second, the massive damage came at the cost of a critical feature being locked away during match point.

Scoring large amounts of damage isn’t always assured. Samurai Shodown comes with a myriad of defensive mechanics, like Dodge and Just Defense, to assist savvy players in staying alive. As the skill of the players increases, so does the moments of graceful counterplay. It’s a brutal experience, but not without options to protect those eager to play.

Embrace Community

Ever since the announcement that Samurai Shodown would appear on EVO 2019’s main stage lineup interest in the series has spiked. Riding the momentum gained from the limelight, Samurai Shodown V Special events have been popping up at places like Wednesday Night Fights and team tournaments at big venues such as NCR 2019.

“You don’t have to invest much to get to the good stuff, and I think that has helped give the game a second look.”

The recent identity divergence has also created another pathway for newer fans to enter through.

“In terms of getting bigger, I think that many current 09er and 16er people tend to think of SNK as a monolith, that all their games are the same. The only people that know that SNK games are different from each other are the people that play them, which that first group can dismiss as “SNK players,” says Adam.

“I think breaking this myth is very important, and I think SNK has done a very good job of it since starting their media campaign in the states, not marketing it as a game for gonzo fans, but pleading its case to the general public.”

SNK’s focus on highlighting more mellow tempo of swinging in their previews — leading to a climax of damage and blood splatters — makes it clear this isn’t a more frantic fighter like King Of Fighters. The tagline “Embrace Death” has universally been attached to their marketing. The company is cognitive of what this game is and reminds passersby of what they’ll be getting into if they step into the arena.

To fight. To die. Enjoy the afterlife.

Even though he lacks the ability to stream or compete full time due to his schedule, Adam plans to contributions around the occasional informative stream when he has the time and crafting in-depth guides for beginner players. He has already crafted a pre-release guide to prepare players and assist in finding a character.

These methods of support, though not as personal as attending or commentating at tournaments, are every bit as necessary and fill a content niche that the fighting game community as a whole has yet to fill at an acceptable level.

This lends assistance to others and in turn, helps others in their endeavors of keeping life into Samurai Shodown.

“My hope is that there’s a legit new generation of fans that come up with this particular game and build it up,” he says.

And even if some of these new players are riding the wave of a fresh fighting game title for internet clout and drop it after a few days or weeks, the majority of the Samurai Shodown community isn’t concerned.

“To me, having people playing at all is a net positive. I know that an inferiority complex can well up in people who are fans of ‘dead’ games, where any sort of mainstream attention causes people to circle the wagons. People want a medal or something to commemorate being there ‘when the game was dead’ and want something special from the new people,” Adam mentions, discussing a recent and short conversation about the intentions of players.

“You gotta push past that. Sure, I see people who, before the new game or the EVO announcement were dismissive of the idea of Samurai Shodown, and now they’re interested, but that might mean they were convinced. Whatever reason they get into the game, I hope that they stay because they like it, and if they don’t, that’s not really a problem.”

You can discuss different ways to embrace death in the Samurai Shodown discord.