
A village in peril. A samurai reanimated. An Oni advancing. Fight an army of undead warriors and Japanese monsters as a human, a Kodama, and a cat in this 2D stop-motion action adventure.
Modeled estimate, not a reported figure. How we estimate →
Discounts
Every price cut of more than 20% we have observed, in each market that quoted one, with this game's chart position on either side of it. These are episodes, not a model: a sale is one event, and one event cannot tell you what the next one will do.
Reviews, worldwide (the counter carries no country): 0.57/day in the week to Aug 23 → 0.86/day in the week after.
For scale, across Steam · Top Sellers · Brazil over the last 30 days: the 25 chart moves that followed a price cut of more than 20% went a median of 10 places towards #1, and the 2,413 moves with no price cut behind them went 2 away. One store, one chart, one country — it is the only place we have enough observations to say even that.
Prices outside the United States have been collected since 6 August 2026 and chart positions since 19 July 2026, so a cut older than that has no market to compare and a market that joined later has no history yet. Nothing here is converted between currencies.
About

Assume the role of Takeshi, a Japanese samurai who has to protect his village from the onslaught of an Oni attempting to conquer the land with his undead army. Fight against his army of tengu, undead and the horrifying Jorogumo, all inspired by Japanese mythology, in a unique, brutal stop-motion cinematic adventure.
Explore a meticulously crafted world alive with Japanese mythology and folklore. Wander through ruined villages, mountain caves, desolate cemeteries, and more. Battle yokai, undead monsters, and demons, all expertly rendered in a highly detailed, Ray Harryhausen-esque stop-motion style.
Fight through the undead hordes as three distinct characters: Takeshi, a skilled samurai; Kodama, a brave but tiny spirit; and Chisai, a warrior cat. Each interacts with the world in a different way, from intense sword combat to precise platforming and exploration.
Confront legions of demons armed with the weapons of ancient Japan: the iconic katana, the versatile yari spear, and the formidable bow. Unleash devastating special power attacks and combos unique to each character as you fight your way to the Oni’s castle.
Every step taken and foe vanquished grants you invaluable experience. Harness this to unlock the true potential within you, enhancing your abilities, honing your stats, and above all mastering an array of awe-inspiring moves that you can form into custom combos.
Unique stop-motion-style animation, character design, and cinematics
2D Action Adventure gameplay with Metroidvania elements
Detailed, atmospheric levels full of secrets to discover
Fast, smooth and varied controls ranging from a combo-based combat system to linked magical powers
Dynamic enemy AI makes every encounter challenging and unique
Customizable combat through an in-game combo editor
Engagement
Reviews
Themes across 66 recent reviews and how positive each mention is. A keyword signal, not full sentiment analysis.
Reviews
i really wanted to like this game. i bear myself to be not bothered with the rough edges. The art and visual are nice, the combat wasn't bad. but so many game breaking bugs that super frustrating in early game. after cutscenes post first fighting training, Takeshi just stuck can't walk go anywhere. After jumping and rolling it just slide like roller skating, this is reproducible even with new save file. Sometimes you can't just enter the well to meet Anako even when you have already get the key. On sale? nah. Save your time. The troubles isn't worth it
[h1]The Spirit of the Samurai is emblematic of why Steam needs a "Maybe" Recommend option. [/h1] [h3]I loved certain sequences and elements of The Spirit of the Samurai (namely the atmosphere and story/cutscenes) while others were simply dreadful (woeful precision platforming, repetitive combat, and a padded 2nd act) [/h3] The Spirit of the Samurai's most appealing selling point is its distinct artstyle and setting. At times reminiscent of Little Nightmares (in gameplay, artstyle, and macabre content) while suffering from repetitive combat and a few crappy platforming sequences. Put more plainly, if you like Asian / Samurai / Ninja ♥♥♥♥, you will probably like this game's overall storyline and presentation. The characters all have a distinct, stylish look to them and the voiceacting is well-done. The cutscenes are where The Spirit of the Samurai truly shines. They look amazing and craft an intriguing tale. You almost start to wonder if this would have functioned better just as a short CG film than bothering to have a videogame interspersed inbetween one captivating scene and the next. The music and sound effects (though some of those are strangely amplified to be super LOUD) are also handled deftly and add to the overall immersion. Where The Spirit of the Samurai stumbles and at times outright fails is its gameplay. The game starts off well as you slink through a town recently ravaged by zombies and the undead. The gameplay consists of simple mechanics navigating the 2D environments, entering doorways to find keys and the like, hitting savepoints to upgrade your base stats and unlock other moves and buy items such as healing potions, arrows for your bow, and thrown kunai. The moves you unlock, although you can get several many of them don't seem very useful or feel very intuitive to use. I mostly just stuck with the same combo throughout the entire game. One mistaken impression people have is that The Spirit of the Samurai is a metroidvania, however it is not, you largely progress in a linear fashion throughout the game, don't gather inventory items or other gear outside of the few consumables you can use, don't unlock new traversal or platforming skills, and the exploration is fairly limited. (For example beyond returning to an area to use a key within that same level, you're not going to be unlocking a double-jump and exploring an area from long ago.) The bosses on The Spirit of the Samurai are simplistic battles, oftentimes falling to your blade if you just roll behind them, slash a few times, then repeat the process. The combat started to become stale by the end and they make the unfortunate choice of throwing a ton of mandatory battles at you during the game's final act. These don't do anything new and just feel like padding and quickly became obnoxious. The game's other major misstep is with its platforming. I ran into a glitch near the end of the game where if I held a direction for too long the character would just clip through a platform he should have easily grabbed over and over. The solution was to jump then just let go of all the controls. I also had the game crash on me a handful of times during my playthrough. Altogether this game is an enjoyable enough experience if youre interested in its theme but don't expect to be super engaged with its gameplay. I would only recommend this on sale as the overall package isn't polished enough to warrant its retail price.
Media

Related
Related
Price dynamics, follower growth, revenue and sales trajectories with interactive tooltips
This and every other Pro feature is free until October 20, 2026. A free account is all it takes.
Genres
Stats
All-time low is the lowest price we've recorded for this game since we started tracking it.
Languages: English*, French, German, Spanish - Spain, Japanese, Portuguese - Brazil, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Russian, Korean*languages with full audio support
Hours played at review time, across 66 reviews with recorded playtime.
positive critical· bar length = how often the theme comes up
Like most reviews on this page, I really wanted to like The Spirit of the Samurai, and in some respects, I do - I like the look of the game, it's enemies and some of the environments are pretty cool - but there are just too many frustrations that are hard to ignore. Putting aside the marketing frustration where the game is constantly cited as being "stop-motion" (it isn't, it just has some interesting animation technique plastered on CGI models), top amongst my legitimate complaints is the platforming. I'm not entirely sure what brings it down, but it feels super clunky. Like either there is a delay or it doesn't register the button prompt, the character's hit boxes (especially when playing as Chisai) are weirdly proportioned and sometimes the true edge of the platform feels ambiguous (like knowing exactly where it ends or, when climbing, hitting my head on all the overhangs). If you're going to make a platformer and expect precision jumping the controls need to be a lot tighter. Another issue is the combat, it's far too easy to get stun-locked and the enemy variety is lacking – towards the mid game things get highly repetitive. The penultimate level with the seemingly never-ending exploding servant enemies can also go straight to hell. Finally, the story feels phoned in, especially towards the end. Without any growth or character arc the narrative feels highly forgettable. It's a shame because you can see glimmers of the developers' ambition and how much they actually wanted to incorporate, I encourage them to keep up the great work! If you do decide to get this game (and I’d recommend only picking it up on sale), prepare yourself for the frustrations. Looking at the Steam achievements – as of writing – only 10% of all players have actually finished the game, that should tell you everything you need to know!
It's a lovely looking game and the premise is cool. HOWEVER the damn stutter when the camera shifts makes it an absolute pain to play. For a game that has combat that requires split second reactions that lag makes combat an absolute nightmare and you're constantly thrown into it. It also makes the precision platforming a pain in the ass (especially since most platforming fails result in death). The first part was fine but the game breaking stuttering becomes blatantly apparent once you enter the trapped passageway. I REALLY wanted to like this game but technical design with the camera panning is the biggest crux to an otherwise great game (And my system easily surpasses the recommended specs before anyone asks.) Given the game is 1.5 years old now I ain't holding hope that they'll fix anything. Refunded.
Редко пишу отзывы на игры, но по поводу конкретно этой высказаться хочется. Следил за ней с большим интересом еще с самых показов и взял без скидок, рассчитывая на то что проект будет качественным. Как же я ошибался. помимо уникального визуального стиля, в этой игре нет НИЧЕГО хорошего, чтобы она стоила своих денег. Игра в ужасном состоянии до сих пор, несмотря на фиксы, постоянные баги, которые решаются только перезаходом, ужасная регистрация урона, кривые анимации, отсутствующие субтитры в катсценах и убогий интерфейс как будто из мобилки. Из игр японского сеттинга, да и из игрв целом, это худшее во что доводилось играть. Затерпел и допрошел лишь потому что было жалко потраченных денег и времени.
你可以质疑它的玩法,但不可否认它的美术
已通关(是的,不到6小时就能)纯大芬,不配称为游戏,各种各样的设计杂糅成一坨,操控人类武部分战斗没深度,不同方向招式没有意义,操控树精武部分,无聊至极,操控猫部分,根本没起到调剂的作用、还让应有氛围减弱,像是为了讲故事而做游戏,但游戏的故事也平淡,和所谓的武士精神半点关系都没有,像是被老倭文化入脑的白皮拉屎时便一通想出来的,反派也没b格,初见和最后招式几乎一样,而且简单到最后环境里被打会出追踪弹幕的火炬比boss更像难点,整个游戏怪物种类一共十几种,其中2种是boss变小怪,地图几乎是一本道,还有整个游戏都在体验的僵硬操作和无意义陷阱,在steam和黒盒写好评的人,谢谢你们让我吃这一顿石,以后再也不玩低评分了
At this point, most of the problems are fixed. There are some occasional stutters, but restarting the game fix it. In my expirience there was no other bugs. As for the game it's actually quite good, but it could be better. The first half of the game is really solid, with good pacing, decent combat, absolutely dope animation and style and super cool cinematics. As I finished half of the game, I really wondered what was wrong with it that pissed many people. But in the second half it became clear. The game becomes very slow, the locations become just catacombs and caves. And the enemies become really spongy and often just ignore your attacks even if you parry them. This is become a major letdown, because you still have to fight a lot, but it's not that fun. The final boss is just ridiculous at this point, because it looks like they buffed boss HP and it just neverending slog of a fight. And it really hurt the game so bad. Still recommend to try it even if on discount, because the style, cinematics and overall story is really good and fun. Just whish they hold the gameplay on the level. P.S. To make it a bit more optimistic, this game has battle kitten. Yes, BATTLE. KITTEN. If that's not a cool bonus, I don't know what it :D
The art style is what pulled me in. Very stop-motiony with Claymation vibes. Gameplay is similar to Oddworld but adds side-scrolling combat involving blocking with a parry/deflect system & custom katana combos. includes maybe 6-7 Hrs of gameplay fir a normal run.
Игра с достаточно стильным оформлением и на удивление прилично поставленными игровыми сценами для такой маленькой на первой взгляд игры - деревянная озвучка с плоскими диалогами достаточно мелочная деталь, когда игра сама по себе ужасно играбельна. Я могу похвалить разработчикам игры за то, что прилагают усилия её исправлять. Временами появляются патчи. Но не геймплей игры, который до ненависти и раздражения вызывает диссонанс управления. Хочешь ударить противника - он быстрее тебя бьёт. Хочешь биться с врагами - продуваешь им. Не потому что они сложные, а потому что когда условно нажимаешь кнопку отвечающую удар, но в моменте понимаешь, что должен увернутся и наживешь на кувырок - кувырка не будет, потому что анимация удара должна ПОЛНОСТЬЮ отыграться, поэтому не удивляйся тому, что ты получаешь от противника удар. Или, когда котёнком играешь, вместо прыжка слезаешь с чего-то и дохнешь в огне по несчётное количество раз. Вместо отрицательного отзыва оставлю положительный, ибо должен отдать должное, что игру допиливают (хотя в идеале она должна быть отполирована ещё в день выхода) и могу лишь пожелать удачи над исправлениями ошибками и на будущее набить руку, чтобы следующая игра вышла получше. Потому что, кто знает, может быть я поиграю в их следующую игру - главное сделать на совесть.
Players by region
Where this game's players are, estimated from review languages.
Players also reviewed
The games this title's players most often review too — audience affinity.
Related
| Game | Estimated lifetime revenue | Reviews | Review score | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $121.7K | 476 | 76% | $14.99 | |
| $5.2K | 81 | 94% | $1.64 | |
| $288 | 14 | 64% | $0.99 | |
| — | 0 | — | — | |
| — | 0 | — | — | |
| $6.1M | 15.1K | 88% | $24.99 |
Related
| Game | Estimated lifetime revenue | Reviews | Review score | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $173.2K | 207 | 81% | $19.99 | |
| $173.1K | 480 | 65% | $9.09 | |
| $173.2K | 805 | 93% | $8.99 | |
| $173.2K | 275 | 66% | $29.99 | |
| $173.4K | 334 | 76% | $24.99 | |
| $172.9K | 737 | 77% | $11.99 |