No guns. No bad guys. No blood. It’s just you against the machine. Seasons of the Samurai is a series of puzzles set in medieval Japan that challenges you to use your brain in new and unexpected ways.
Don’t worry, you are a samurai with special powers: You have the ability to control the seasons and change the time of day as you please. Every change you make rearranges the configuration of the level you are playing, creating new paths and blocking others as you attempt to make your way to the Torri (that’s a Japanese gate that takes you to another world).
Your journey takes you through the 47 prefectures of Japan, from Okinawa to Hokkaido. Each level challenges you to solve a puzzle that is slightly more difficult than the previous one, culminating with Hokkaido, a real brain twister that will have you scratching your head with your Xbox controller.
All puzzles require logic reasoning, good spatial and memory skills. The ground of each level is made up of hexagonal blocks that move up and down. You can only step to the next block if it is at the same level as the one you are standing on. New mechanisms appear throughout your journey, including sliding platforms and rotating blocks, bringing new challenges and keeping the experience fresh and enjoyable.
Throughout your journey you will recognise many landmarks and cultural icons of Japan, such as the great Torri of Hiroshima, the temples of Kyoto, the castle of Matsumoto, the houses made of hay of Chubu, and the great bridges leading to the snowy villages of Tohoku.
A dynamic score played by traditional Japanese instruments like the shamisen and taiko drums accompanies you along the way. The music adapts to the rhythm of your movements, gaining in richness and complexity as you increase the pace, while easing out when you pause to plan your next steps.
As you make your way through Japan, you discover the scattered pieces of a Japanese painting. Collect them all to recreate the complete canvas.
You also earn belts of different colours as you gain experience, starting with a white belt and going all the way to the black belt.
The combinations of seasons and times of day affect the angle of the shadows and the tint of the sunlight, creating beautiful and realistic environments. Lanterns replace the sun and light your way through the night. Leaves in the trees reflect all four seasons depicting the glowing reds of the maple trees in autumn and the bright purple and pink tints of the cherry trees in the spring.
Recent technical advancements make the game visuals standout. Depth of field effortlessly directs your attention to the action while chromatic aberration and vignette convey the impression that the whole scene was shot using a movie camera.
Seasons of the Samurai leverages the power of the Xbox One X console to deliver stunning high-resolution images in 4K and deep colours in HDR.
After an exclusive introduction during Xbox Games Showcase, Seasons of the Samurai is now available worldwide on Xbox One and PC. Check it out in the Microsoft Store!