A blade-wielding fighter back after ten years
SAMURAI SHODOWN is a reboot of the sword-fighting series that started in 1993, set one year before that first installment. Warriors and combatants from different backgrounds and with their own goals clash to fulfil their destinies. The game aims to keep the tense, high-stakes battles the series is known for, where a few well-placed cuts matter more than endless chip damage. It runs on UNREAL ENGINE 4, so the series reaches a level of detail it has not had before while keeping the mechanics and atmosphere that made the original games work.
Playing together
The main way to play with friends is Online PvP: you queue up, get matched, and fight other players over the network. There is also Remote Play Together, which lets someone join in from their own machine while playing along with the person who owns the game, so two people can share a session without both buying it. Either way, the core loop is the same — pick a fighter, learn their sword range and timing, and take rounds off whoever is in front of you. Sessions work well as a rotation: one friend plays, the rest watch and call out reads, then the winner gets challenged.
Ghost characters and things to know before starting
The headline feature is a Deep Learning AI system that watches how you play and builds "ghost" characters from your tactics and patterns. Those ghosts can be shared with players around the globe, so you can fight versions of other people's playstyles — and they can fight yours. Expect to face opponents who are not just scripted CPU behaviour.
Before you start: this is a 2D fighter with swordplay, so spacing and commitment to an attack matter enormously. The game carries a Gore tag, so expect visible violence when blades land. It supports singleplayer as well as PvP, and the tags list both Arcade and Multiplayer, so there is plenty of solo practice available before you take your first duel online.