Is Way of the Samurai Like GTA?
Way of the Samurai is a franchise of open world video games set in Japan, in which players are able to role-play as a samurai of that time. In Way of the Samurai video games, player are able to engage in multiple activities, customize their characters, and participate in samurai combat. Way of the Samurai video games are known and praised for their freedom of gameplay, for the many possibilities in each playthrough, and also for their sense of humour. Considering that Way of the Samurai video games belong to the open world genre, such as the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) franchise, players often wonder about the similarities and differences between these two franchises, because although both franchises belong to the open world genre, there are some important differences between their games. New players of the Way of the Samurai video games wonder whether these video games are like GTA.
Way of the Samurai video games are like GTA in the sense that they are open world, but have a smaller game world and some differences in gameplay.
Character Customization
In general, Way of the Samurai video games feature an impressive character customization system, regarding the main game character. Players are able to choose the appearance of their main game characters to great detail, including hair, accessories and clothes. This is quite different to most Grand Theft Auto video games, in which players are often only able to customize up to the clothes of the character through preset skins that are found throughout the game, at least regarding Grand Theft Auto I, Grand Theft Auto II, Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Beginning with Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, players are able to customize their main game character in detail, including hair, accessories and clothes. Way of the Samurai games also allow players to customize their weapons: not only is the main game character able to wield different types of weapons (such as swords, spears and other types of weapons), but they are also able to customize the appearance of the weapon by forging new weapons. In GTA games, the main game character is able to use different types of weapons, but generally is not able to customize the appearance of the weapon.
Story Choices
Way of the Samurai video games have a much greater focus on the choices of the main game character throughout the game. This is partly because, despite being an open world video game, Way of the Samurai games are generally much more story-focused and choice-focused games than GTA games. in general, in Way of the Samurai video games, the main game character is often presented with multiple choices in several points throughout the story, and each choice made by the player can have profound consequences throughout the gameplay. In contrast, Grand Theft Auto video games often feature linear missions in which the player either completes or fails the mission, and in which the story outcome is often the same in multiple playthroughs and playstyles.
Vehicles
Way of the Samurai video games generally do not feature drivable vehicles. While it is possible to see vehicles in some Way of the Samurai video games, gameplay is mostly on foot. In Way of the Samurai games, players are not able to freely drive different vehicles, such as seen in GTA games. While the Way of the Samurai video games offer great freedom of gameplay to players, the absence of vehicles is an important difference between Way of the Samurai games and Grand Theft Auto games.
Size of the Game World
Way of the Samurai video games generally feature smaller game worlds than Grand Theft Auto games. This does not mean that there is less to do in Way of the Samurai games. Rather, the game worlds of Way of the Samurai games may be smaller in comparison to GTA game worlds, but they are quite dense, featuring multiple side activities, many NPCs, and various story outcomes depending on the choices of the main game character. In this regard, the size of the game world of most Way of the Samurai games is more similar to the size of the game world of Dead Rising games, rather than to the size of the game world of Grand Theft Auto games.
Time Period
One important difference between Way of the Samurai and GTA games is the time period. In general, Grand Theft Auto games take place in modern time, often being set in decades such as the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. For this reason, GTA games feature aspects seen in modern days, such as cars, planes, and so on. Way of the Samurai games, on the other hand, mostly take place in the 19th century, with some of the games being set in decades such as 1850s, 1860s and 1870s. While this may seem as a subtle detail to some players, this difference in time period is quite important in how NPCs behave in these games, how most people dress, and in several other aspects of the game.
Butterfly Effect
Lastly, and perhaps one of the most important differences in gameplay between Way of the Samurai games and GTA games, is the butterfly effect, that is quite traditional to the Way of the Samurai series. While GTA games generally feature linear missions, in which different players can play these missions in different styles and still reach the same story outcome, in Way of the Samurai games, the main game character is very often presented with several choices that have very important consequences and effects on the story and outcomes of each playthrough. In other words, Way of the Samurai games have different story outcomes depending on the choices made by the player in each playthrough, an effect which is often referred to as the butterfly effect. In Way of the Samurai games, it is not unusual for a single game choice to have a profound impact in several moments, affecting multiple game characters and completely changing the storyline throughout that playthrough. This reflects the focus on story choices that Way of the Samurai games have, whereas GTA games have a greater focus on sandbox gameplay, providing, in general, more linear missions without as much freedom of choice of the main game character in the story outcomes of the playthrough, at least regarding the main story missions. Each of the franchises, Way of the Samurai and Grand Theft Auto, feature unique aspects and provide different experiences, with Way of the Samurai providing an experience with a greater focus on choices during the storyline, while GTA games provide an experience with a greater focus on sandbox gameplay with vast environments, a variety of vehicles and side missions.
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