Bushido Blade 2

Bushido Blade 2
Developers	Lightweight Co., Ltd.
Publishers	SquareSoft, Square Electronic Arts
Systems	Playstation JP: March 12, 1998 NA: October 28, 1998
Official Websites	JP Square Enix Page
Online Play	Mednafen (From the program directly, or via NullDC BEAR)
Community Channels	Bushido Blade 1 & 2 Discord Channel

Introduction

Bushido Blade 2 is a 3D fighting game developed by Lightweight and published by Squaresoft for the Playstation. Both it and its predecessor, Bushido Blade, were unique in their gameplay style that seeks to recreate realistic sword play; there are no life meters, and a single, clean hit can kill your opponent. The control scheme and fighting system have been streamlined from the first game. There are now 2 main attack buttons instead of 3, but these 2 attacks perform a wider range of actions per stance. The attack deflect button has been replaced with a dedicated stance switcher. Deflecting attacks must now be timed using your own. Jumping and crouching, no longer sharing functions with stance switching, have more control, alongside an overall improvement to the game's fluidity in movement and attacks. The Rapier, Saber, and Sledgehammer have been removed in favor of the more traditional bushido weapons, with the addition of one new weapon, the Yari spear. Traditional, that is, outside of the dedicated gun users, and certain sub-weapons. Limb disabling, such as injuring one's legs to the point where they can only attack while in a forced on-the-ground state, is now exclusive to one arm, that when injured, removes access to certain attacks and techniques. While certain changes leave some preferring the original game, the overall improvements to player control lead to a more realistic feel, more worthy of serious competitive play.

Mechanics

Controls

The game uses a standard Playstation controller.

• D-pad: Move character
• Left Stick: Unused in combat
• Right Stick: Unused in combat
• Square: Change Stance
• X: Horizontal Attack / Reverse Attack
• Circle: Vertical Attack / Frontal Attack
• Triangle: Unused in combat (Used in menus to de-confirm selections)
• L1: Free run
• L2: Unused in combat
• R1: Hop
• R2: Crouch
• Start: Pause game
• Select: Surrender

Movement

The movement in this game is standard for most 3D fighters.

• Towards and Back move towards and away from the opponent. Up sidesteps into the background, Down sidesteps into the foreground.

• Double tapping any direction dashes in that direction. Dashing is a good way to cover ground quickly and dodge the opponents attacks.

• Hold L1 while pressing any direction to free run.

• R2 causes you to crouch momentarily. While crouched you can press R1 to high jump, Circle to use sub-weapons, or X to blind the opponent. Pressing towards then R2 causes you to crouch while moving forward. During this forward crouch, you can perform Major Attacks or a high jump forward.

• R1 makes your character do a little hop and a quick attack above their head. If timed well, you can hit someone jumping over you.
• Press R1 while your opponent's lying on the ground to do a pounce attack.
• Press R1 while crouching to high jump. Press it while crouching forward, to high jump forward.
• You can also climb up to a higher level when standing next to a wall by pressing towards it and R1.

• When you are lying on the ground, press up or down to roll into the background or foreground. Towards and Back to roll forward or backwards and then stand up. Press an attack button during the roll to do a rising attack as soon as the roll is finished. (Attacking while remaining on the ground is only in the first game.)

Stances

Every weapon has three stances. Press Square to cycle through them. Most generally fall into the categories of High, Mid, and Low, but some characters replace one of them with the special Two Sword stance or Iai stance, depending on the weapon they're using.

• High stances give the highest offense capability. The weapon is usually held over the wielder's head.
• Mid stances are balanced in offense and defense, with the weapon held in front of the character.
• Low stances are more defensive, are lower to the ground, and have the weapon pointed down, or behind the character.
• Two Sword stance is only available to the Narukagami characters who have a Kodachi as a sub-weapon, with the exception of Highwayman, on the Shainto side. Specifically: Tatsumi, Utsusemi, and Matsumushi. This stance gives high versatility with fencer-style poking stabs and multiple quick slashes, but is unusable if the sub-weapon has been lost.
• Iai (quick-draw) stance can only be used by certain Shainto members, and only with the Katana or Longsword. Specifically: Gengoro, Kaun, and Tony Umeda. Attacks in this stance have quick startup, but long recovery.

Attacking

Counter Attacks

If the opponent's weapon clashes with yours press X to do a counter attack. There are four different animations depending on the direction your weapon is deflected.

Repeated Attacks

If your weapon clashes with the opponent's press Circle to do a repeated attack.

Grabs

Press back, then X when an opponent is nearby. Typically performs an instant kill, but is only possible with certain character/weapon combinations.

Major Attacks

Press Towards+R2 to crouch forward, then press Circle or X.

Subweapons

Press Circle while crouching. Most subweapons are not fatal but cause stagger on hit, some however, will kill the opponent. Subweapons can be blocked using either attack button. After being thrown stand over them and crouch to pick them back up. You can pick up your opponents subweapons and throw them back or hold on to them so they can't use them. If your arm is injured you cannot throw or pick up subweapons.

Sand Attack

Press X while crouching. The range is shorter than most subweapons but causes the same stagger, cannot be blocked, and can be used repeatedly. You must be standing on a natural surface otherwise your character will do the animation without throwing anything. If your arm is injured you cannot perform a sand attack.

Pounce Attacks

Press R1 when your opponent is lying on the ground. Your character will jump high into the air and stab the opponent. If you do it quickly enough it can be useful. Generally the opponent has plenty of time to see it coming and roll out of the way. The Yari amd Naginata have a short jumping spin which is difficult to get a fatal blow with, but knock the opponent back down.

Defense

To defend against an attack press either attack button just before your opponents attack connects. It is roughly similar to parry timing in Third Strike. There are two different types of blocking

• A Perfect Defense occurs when you press the opposite attack button than your opponent, shown by a white hit spark.

• A Poor Defense happens when you press the same attack button as your opponent, shown by a green hit spark.

Gameplay

Spacing is extremely important in this game.

Weapons

• Naginata
• Broadsword
• Katana
• Nodachi
• Longsword
• Yari

Characters

Narukagami

• Kannuki
• Mikado
• Tatsumi
• Utsusemi
• Red Shadow
• Matsumushi
• Suminagashi
• Nightstalker
• Sazanka
• Tsubame

Shainto

• Gengoro
• Kaun
• Jo
• Chihiro
• Isohachi
• Utamaru
• Hongou
• Tony Umeda
• Highwayman
• Katze