Skulls of the Shogun [Video Game Review]

I meant to review this game last month... when it was free for PS+ users. Whoops.

Artsy skeletal samurai. With Mustaches!

I do not actually remember why I downloaded this game while it was free. I mean, beyond the fact that it was free. Free is good. Well, free after considering the cost of a year of PS+. Maybe the file size was reasonable, maybe it just looked crazy enough to be fun...

4 out of 5 stars

And it is fun.
Wacky crazy undead samurai skull-eating fun. And I'll be honest, I'm not even sure how those adjectives are meant to be combined. They work in several ways.

A battle scene. It looks more confusing than it is.

There are crazy undead.
There are undead samurai.
There is samurai skull-eating.
And it is fun.

That's a good thing.
Would it not suck if the games that are free with PS+ were crappy games? It would, people would be mad, and stop paying for PS+.

She is trying to escape her kimono.
Also, she's like the only person in the game with flesh.

Actually they wouldn't because it is the only way to play online multiplayer games with a PS4. But they would complain louder than they do as it is.

I've not put near enough time into this game, but that's because I have many others... like all those games I bought on Steam Sale (Darkest Dungeon, Cities Skylines) and I'm still playing my Nightmare difficulty Dragon Age Inquisition. Just not enough hours of gaming in a day.

Back to Skulls of the Shogun.
It's a rather simple combat game where you give orders to units. They can move and attack. Limited orders, and you have to be wary of counter attacks and being knocked off of cliffs. The game utilizes a kinda of rock-paper-scissors strength pyramid. Cavalry > Archers > Footmen > Cavalry. This is not 100% true, but close. There are a few other specialist units like the Monk and maybe more.

The story is rather funny too. Basically a great general just won a battle in the world of the living meant to make him Shogun... but he dies on the eve of victory. He arrives in the afterlife and is told he will have to wait in line to actually get in. This is unacceptable. So he line jumps... and this begins his quest to conquer the underworld.

I have no idea what this game currently costs... but it's worth checking out. And if you downloaded it while it was free, good on you! Sometimes the games on PS+ are really good... sometimes, well, I pass. I'm glad I nabbed this one.