Fit check
Is Shigatari worth it for you?
We tell you who should skip it, too.
Play it if you…
Good fit- RPG players who want permanent character death and high-risk encounters
- Samurai-fiction fans interested in katana duels and historical artwork
- Players who enjoy shaping combat styles through multiple schools and morality choices
Skip it if you…
Saves you a refund- Players seeking forgiving progression, since character death is permanent and bosses can defeat characters in one hit
- Players who want a broad combat system beyond katana duels and seven related schools
- Players looking for a non-samurai setting or a game without morally severe choices
Our take on Shigatari
The focus on permanent death and lethal duels sacrifices a forgiving progression path. Choices such as seppuku, killing defenseless peasants, and morally tracked actions also make the role-playing framework harsher than a straightforward heroic samurai adventure.
What is Shigatari?
Shigatari is a samurai role-playing game built around permadeath and katana duels.
Players combine seven dueling schools to create a personal fighting style, while a three-axis morality system tracks ethical choices. Bosses can defeat characters in a single hit, adding a severe risk to confrontations. The game uses historical artwork from the public domain and includes choices such as committing seppuku for lasting bonuses, killing defenseless peasants for an oni, drinking sake, and visiting a kagema. Its setting draws on samurai history and references figures including Miyamoto Musashi and Tomoe Gozen.
How Shigatari plays
- 01Permadeath Role-Playing
- Character death is permanent, making each samurai's survival part of the progression.
- 02Seven Combat Schools
- Seven dueling traditions can be combined into a customized fighting style.
- 03Three-Axis Morality
- A morality system records choices across three separate dimensions.
- 04Persistent Seppuku Bonuses
- Choosing seppuku grants bonuses that remain available beyond the individual death.
- 05Historical Public-Domain Art
- The visual presentation uses artwork from the public domain with historical subject matter.
Shigatari compared to similar games
Shigatari centers on samurai role-playing, permanent death, katana duels, combat-school combinations, and a morality system. Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition is presented as a story- and character-focused RPG, while Back to the Dawn focuses on investigating, fighting, and escaping a maximum-security prison. Tales of Symphonia frames its RPG around an epic adventure spanning two linked worlds.
Shigatari: platforms & release
Is Shigatari worth it?
It is worth it if: RPG players who want permanent character death and high-risk encounters. Skip it if: players seeking forgiving progression, since character death is permanent and bosses can defeat characters in one hit.
Where can I download Shigatari?
Use the Download Now button on this page: it opens Shigatari's store page, where you can choose how to get it.
What platforms is Shigatari on?
Windows, macOS and Linux.
