Fida Puti Samurai (PC)

Geoffrey Wright | May 16, 2024 | Mini Review | No Comments

Fida Puti Samurai has spent some time in early access, but fret not as several weeks ago the game finally received its V1.0 release. I’m always on the lookout for interesting games to try, and the ecchi & waifu style on this certainly had it stand out. Does it have the gameplay to match? Lets take a quick look.

With the world going to hell outside, a programmer decides to cheer up his girlfriend with a VR headset and a swet getaway to a virtual world to relax in. Relax they would if not for the system bug down in the basement, which manifests as a portal to another virtual world filled with waifus & ecchi. What dark secrets are to be found?

The game opens up with an animated intro before you find yourself stood before the portal in the VR retreats basement. The game won’t bring you out of the action for the story, but as you fail/finish runs, more messages pop up on the PC to check that make her partner look a little sketchy. New characters and conversations are introduced and followed here as well, its where you’ll glean extra info too for upcoming challenges. The PC allows items found in the portal, discs, figures, tapes etc to be purchased, such as little mini games to play, so you can take a break from the grind & guns.

Going the boomer shooter route means the graphics are never going to be modern as retro is king, this one in particular goes for something of a late 90’s outlook. Everything is a little chunky & angular, texture work is pixelated too, with bright punchy colours adding a little neon to the drab town. There’s some pretty neat special effects too, the atomic explosion from the nuclear cars for example, and the destructible objects keep fights lively. To add to that is the ecchi leanings with the visual design, tho it never goes hentai, which creates a weirdly unique vibe for the game.

The graphics are complimented by decent audio, the soundtrack literally booms when first booting up the game, and Liza provides plenty of quips and one-liners. As is usually the case for these type of shooters, 4K/120Hz is easily attainable on my system (R7 5800X3D/32GB/RTX 3090) and given it wasn’t pushing the system too much, same performance should be possible on lower hardware too.

Luckily the gunplay itself is relatively solid. There’s a pretty big arsenal for the game that only grows as you progress, the rickety rifles make way for some interesting weapons later, some of these later weapons can also be found early via secrets. You’ll need all the guns you can carry to blast through the stages, the green wall of death is always at your back, and there’s plenty of stores & stalls to loot on the way. You’d think the green wall of death would be a hindrance, but it actually increases focus and will always keep you on the right path. One thing to remember is to use the save boxes when you have the money, nothing worse than starting from scratch for the umpteenth time

So there’s solid gunplay and plenty of guns, so what’s the catch? For me that mainly comes down to level design. Each level is split into several stages within it that have to completed to reach a boss. Nothing too out of the ordinary really, but given a level can take a few tries to finally down the boss and progress, things can bore fast. Stages themselves within the level are ok, but simple once optimum route found. The procedural nature of the game really comes down to the order you hit those few stages in than the layout of the stages themselves unfortunately.

Fida Puti Samurai is yet another boomer shooter that looks to carve its won little niche. As expected the gunplay is decent, and so is the weapon count, and the games ecchi vibe gives it that edge that’s needed to stand out. Unfortunately I found the level design & structure a bit off, it was easy to find optimum routes as well so the grind became a bore fast. It’s still a blast to play for the £9.99 entry price, worth extra consideration if you need a waifu too.