Junior Member
Hey guys! First off I want to say I am thoroughly excited for this game. The level of detail you guys have ascribed to authenticity of each warrior class is outstanding! But there was one issue I noticed during a gameplay video involving "The Chosen" class/clan. It is a small error and nothing egregious... But I thought you guys would want to be as close to the real thing as possible.
The issue is the way the Samurai holds their katana while running. I noticed in the video the sharp edge was facing down towards the ground when the sharp edge should be UP, opposite of how it is held in the game. The video I'm referencing is this one from IGN. Look at how the blade is held while the player runs at about 5:05:
You can clearly see the sword facing DOWN while the player is running. This issue is VERY prevalent throughout any medium involving samurai, and it always bothers me when I see it in practice.
Here are some examples of samurai holding their sword correctly at their side.
The reasons for the blade up allows for a smoother draw as well as the sharp edge weighed onto the scabbard. While there is some variation, most samurai were trained having the blade face up when on their hip, and usually held the blade the same way all the time until drawn. Again, it is a minor issue, but if you watch most if not all videos of real samurai drawing techniques, or ask any shi-kendo or similar martial arts master, blade is always up. Always.
Hope this is heard by the right people! Super excited for the game, and I would cheer if the issue is corrected!
Member
Hello and welcome to the forums!
This has been brought up before and you're right, but as you can see there is no scabbard in the game, so why would it matter how he carries the sword? Without a scabbard it's all tradition, no function if you ask me. Furthermore, the tachi predated katana and it was worn edge-down, so it's not like it's unheard of.
Junior Member
Thank you! Yeah I'm brand spanking new on the forums, my apologies on the repost!
But yeah, you are correct, because of no scabbard, no need for a drawing technique. Having the blade face up was a later style started around 1400, but traditionally, as you state, Tachi blade edge faces down.
And the tachi did predate it, so I'll take the correction on the chin! I just now thought about it, and drawing techniques were not developed until about Tokugawa era, so a warfaring samurai would not have known them anyways (The Chosen more resemble Sengoku era IMO, with no masters teaching draw techniques).
I guess just to appease myself, it'd be a nice bit of historical accuracy if one weapon of the Chosen is the Tachi with blade down and another choice the Katana blade up. Oh well, I'm still excited to pull some Buntori whatever way the blade faces!
Junior Member
Member
Well the missing scabbard is issue in it's own :P Japanese weapons were more of slashing weapons (sharpened really hard) than european. Samurai armor didn't have antything to protect inner part of the hand (i think european are same) so you wouldn't be able to run with weapon in such fashion).
It didn't matter for european knight in full scale armor to have his sword sharpened since it wouldn't matter much against another knight in heavy armor. Their blades were more like a blunt weapon. Shape of their weapon (sword) simply gave them through their weight power similiar to slashing but you could move them around without scabbard since it isn't sharp that much.
To answer coming answers I'm not saying those european blades weren't sharpned at all but only a bit to boost it's penetration a bit. Other part are sabres etc.
Member
Other thing I just noticed at the gameplay. When samurai makes side slash he does it with 1 hand. It's wrong since katana is used 2 handed unless it's nittoryu as to prevent enemy from disarming the warrior. There's only few occurences when it's 1 handed like when at iai (drawing) where you simply won't be able to do so. Other thing is that the blade does weight some and it's easier to stop the blade earlier and going back to stance since there might be more enemies.
Example of side slashes is available on youtube. (Yes i know it might differ from ancient styles since swords been banned in japan, but it's still from one source and the basics are still the basics)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-meKUuISfqQ
Member
It's an issue of coolness factor, not practicality, you wouldn't sheath it on the battlefield anyway.Originally Posted by GromcioM Go to original post
LOL, not this again... Do you really believe that? Why would they make/use a sword if it wasn't sharp, if you want blunt force you'd use something else, not a sword, come on... and the sword was a side arm anyway, they used other weapons to deal with armor.Originally Posted by GromcioM Go to original post
You're right, but they won't change it, and sometimes it would make sense to let go with one hand. What irks me is the backhand slash, which is so out of place, but whatever I'll take it, they already showed they aren't sticking to 100% real techniques, which is why I don't want to see dual wielding, because it will be just flourishes and spins that look cool.Originally Posted by GromcioM Go to original post
Senior Member
While they weren't known to be like razors---which could cause edge chipping---swords carried into battle were certainly not blunt. Not every member of an enemy army was composed of knights in plate armour (some only having gambesons for protection), and those that were were dealt with either by half-swording to find armour gaps, or, turning the sword around, using the hilt as a bludgeon.Originally Posted by GromcioM Go to original post
Not necessarily.Originally Posted by WYRDB0Y Go to original post
A dual wielding Hero/class could easily be approached from a practical standpoint. Faster recovery from a block, faster follow-up attacks. Possibly weaker defense, presuming light attacks would be blocked with only one hand and heavy attacks with both (which would negate the quick recovery). It's not exactly the same, but if they approach it from a rapier/main-gauche perspective, there isn't any need for flourish or spins. Or they could look into Musashi's own two-sword technique.
Also, over on the thread about the background shadows, I adjusted the contrast in the Viking one and the lead shadow is holding two axes, and if those are actually representative of in-game classes, then dual wielding exists in the game for at least one of the factions.
Senior Member
This.Originally Posted by WYRDB0Y Go to original post
Speaking of which, katanas are a VERY old way of making swords that somehow caught on due to their durability and became a tradition in Japan centuries ago. They aren't actually nearly as great, or half as sharp, as modern entertainment medium would like to make you think they are. In Japan, they were used more as a symbol of status than anything. They're basically heavy blunts with a curve. Yeah, europeans' crafts are much sharper.
Member
Thanks for that video MisterWillow, it shows why they used the pommel and the guard instead of the blade itself as GromcioM stated.
All right, that would be the way to go theoretically, can they do it right? I hope so, but I have to see it with my two eyes to believe. You kind of planted a seed in me that this could be good lol...Originally Posted by MisterWillow Go to original post
Hmm so dual axes, AFAIK (and correct me if I'm wrong) traditional viking martial arts don't exist anymore so we don't know how they fought. I don't know anything about axe fighting either, but it seems even harder to execute than 2 swords. Feels to me that, that class is even more prone to end up with flashy spins, and what defense will he have?Originally Posted by MisterWillow Go to original post
*topic*
Sorry, I don't understand what you're trying to say here, is this sarcasm?Originally Posted by Fatal-Feit Go to original post
