Samurai Academy: Paws of Fury PS5 Review
Summary: If you were a fan of Paws of Fury: Legend of Hank, you should avoid this videogame sequel. The action is functional, but besides this it's an atrocious wreck and a cat-astrophy. What is dogmatic though, is Samurai Academy: Paws of Fury is an unfinished mess, the challenges are hollow and there's very little story substance here. You're better off watching the animated film with the star-studded actors than suffer through this dreck.
1.6
Pitifully Paw-ful
We can’t seem to get rid of samurai influence in modern gaming, and this trend doesn’t stop with the cutesy Samurai Academy: Paws of Fury, which swaps out dangerous angry men with swords for plucky furry animated animals with swords. On the surface, Paws of Fury looks like a cheery PS2-style action adventure for children, but does it have the substance to be anything more than a pretender in an over-stacked genre?
Samurai Academy is a videogame sequel to the 2022 animated feature Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank, and concerns anthropomorphic creatures taking up swords, katanas and other such weaponry, so they can protect their home village of Kakamucho from nefarious cat forces lead by the sinister Shogun and an evil cat known as Ika Chu. You play as Hank, a dog who is tutored in the way of the samurai, so he can help his friends and village repel the oncoming scourge.
The plot is straightforward, maybe a bit too simplistic considering it’s a limp continuation of the animated film, rather than a brand new individual entity. Having said this, it is a novelty to play as a sword-swinging dog trying to eradicate an army of cats. Samurai Academy certainly carries the spirit and humor from the 2022 film, and if nothing else that’ll compel fans to keep on playing.
The main appeal of Samurai Academy, is that it is a welcoming, accessible and kid-friendly action platforming game, meaning there’s more whimsy and a light-hearted presentation, and less gruesome violence. Sure, you’re wiping out a horde of ferocious felines, but all of them are cutely dressed up in uniforms-so you can’t stay mad at that right? You might find the animated light-heartedness draws parallels with the Kung-Fu Panda films as they’re both cheerfully animated and their tales are combat-centered-the obvious difference between the two is that Samurai Academy prefers melee weapons, whereas Kung Fu Panda is all about martial arts fighting.
Samurai Academy is an open-world game filled with quests and challenges for the player to indulge in. You start your experience by learning the fundamentals from your sensei Jimbo such as running, jumping, grinding along rails, performing combat moves and throwing projectiles, before you’re free to roam Kakumucho and meet the other friendly chums who inhabit this quaint little village. Your fellow Kakumucho citizens are often found manning stalls around the areas you visit, or they’re standing alone waiting to be interacted with. They’ll provide you with challenges to complete such as shooting ranges, obstacle-laden races one-on-one against Jimbo, collectibles hunts and village defense challenges against increasingly difficult waves of samurai cats who attack your village as hastily as they attack a bowl of tuna.
You may get the impression there’s plenty of story substance in Samurai Academy, but don’t be fooled. Yes, there is an authentic replication of the film’s cast and an open-world to explore, but most of the experience is taken up by Hank participating in challenges with no underpinning substance to give them meaning. Why do we need to race against Jimbo in 2D running and jumping platform sections? Moreover, why can Jimbo move faster than Hank when he’s heavier? Maybe it’s because of his status as a powerful status and by comparison Hank is a neophyte samurai mutt. Granted, the platforming sections work well and they present a fair challenge, yet the point of them is wafer thin out of collecting scrolls to unlock new areas and gold coins to buy clothing items.
Combat is shallow and riddled with junk. While Hank is capable of swinging a sword to wipe out all kinds of callous cat, there is nary a way to defend yourself, and you’ll find yourself piled on time and time again, and yet the best way to contend with overwhelming situations is swing your sword wildly until their 9 lives are reduced to a fluttering stray hair in the wind. There’s simply no finesse or strategy to employ when engaging with your furry foes.
Using the bow and arrow for ranged offence is much worse though, thanks to an aiming reticule floats about constantly, so it’s very hard to fire off clean and satisfying shots….Well cat-scratch that because shots are never satisfying because there’s no gore or sickening flesh penetration-understandable due to the game’s target audience, but the archery still feels incredibly weak. Even with the ability to slow down time the aiming is wonky and unreliable, though you can still connect with your targets. when slinging arrows into TNT barrels there’s no satisfying or reverberating explosions, just a minor blow up with plenty of fart-puffing smoke billowing out after impact.
Just like you’ll be wrestling with the controls, you’ll find yourself wrangling with the camera as well. It can be disorienting when the camera spins to an awkward position and getting stuck in the environment. The swinging and unwieldy motion of the camera is a constant hassle during regular open-world gameplay, though thankfully the 2D races against sensei Jimbo grants you a comfortable reprieve from it.
An obvious and distracting facet of the Samurai Academy experience, is how static characters are during cutscenes. Hank and Jimbo appear to stand and move their mouths to talk, but their bodies don’t move except for when they’re breathing. Jimbo in particular looks as though his body is rippling like ocean waves every time he breathes. Hank’s usual walking animation looks odd too, like he’s still trying to acclimate to his combat robes. Also, the sounds Hank makes when he jumps like ya-ha! And wah-ha! Are punchy and evoke the characterful essence of this animated videogame, but their repetition does grate the more you hear them.
The general presentation is unremarkable with uninspiring bland-looking environments that feel like restrictive blocks rather than open and freeing. There are some pleasant-enough looking views of your environment when you climb on top of buildings and the game generally looks ok, but there’s nothing here you will be impressed by. The voice work is fine too, but if you think a dog with a cool-sounding voice doesn’t gel with a samurai game-you’re not the only one!
If you were a fan of Paws of Fury: Legend of Hank, you should avoid this video game sequel. The action is functional, but besides this it’s an atrocious wreck and a cat-astrophy. What is dogmatic though, is Samurai Academy: Paws of Fury is an unfinished mess, the challenges are hollow and there’s very little story substance here. You’re better off watching the animated film with the star-studded actors than suffer through this dreck.
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