This Samurai Girl is Taking No Prisoners
The wait is nearly over. Hibiki Takane from The Last Blade 2 will soon arrive as part of the Samurai Shodown Season Pass 3, and she’s looking amazing. This gameplay trailer is equal parts graceful, beautiful, and deeply concerning–a fitting combo for a girl who could be moulded into an emotionally broken killing machine in her original game, if the player felt like making her butcher her opponents. Interestingly, Hibiki’s intro quote makes it clear that her original characterization as a shy and kind girl will also be part of Samurai Shodown. Does this mean we’ll have the opportunity to see her become what she once fought all over again? We can’t say for sure, but either way, all eyes are on her right now.
Gameplay-wise, Hibiki is a fast character whose kit revolves around swift, precise strikes. She is a practitioner of the Musō Shinden-ryū style of swordsmanship, which involves quickly drawing your sword from its sheath to attack rather than keeping the blade out and ready. This is a real style, by the way, but it wasn’t founded until the 1930s. In The Last Blade 2, she is the daughter of a legendary swordsmith who died creating his final blade–a sword forged for a man who, long story short, was possessed by a demon. Grieving, Hibiki set out after the stranger, a quest which might lead her to become worse than he was.
Cruel as it may be on the player’s part, Hibiki’s potential to become a cold-blooded killer is one of her most memorable aspects, and she’s appeared that way in almost all of her crossover appearances. We’re not exactly surprised to see her acting so cold and arrogant in the final moments of this trailer. Still, we hope there’s an option to let her keep her innocence this time around.
Hibiki Takane will be available as DLC for Samurai Shodown on April 28th, 2021.
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