Welcome to Zero Samurai.

For a lot of you this may be your first time playing Samurai Zero, so the team wanted me to go over the basic mechanics of the game as you participate in the play test.

In duel, your primary goal is to eliminate your enemy 3 times before they can to win the entire match.

In this playtest, you will play as Ryder but almost all the Samurai that will become playable follow similar inputs.

Samurai Zero has simple 3rd person controls that you may already be use to. Move with the left stick or the WASD keys and use the right stick or your mouse to control your camera.

Press the left stick or Shift to sprint.

The A button or space bar button is for jumping. Press it again while in mid air to complete a double jump.

While near a wall you can also press the jump button to begin wall running both horizontally and vertically depending on your camera angle.

By pressing the B button or the C key, Ryder will do a quick dash. Dashing while sprinting will allow Ryder to slide gaining a quick boost of speed. Each Samurai has a limited amount of dash charges that recharge over time. Dash can be used both on the ground and while in the air.

Ryder attacks with light and heavy attacks using a stance system. Press right trigger or left mouse button to attack and press left shoulder button or Tab to shift Ryder's stance to change from light to heavy attacks.

By switching from lights to heavy attacks in a certain sequence, you will create new combo attacks that deal more damage. You also have sprint attacks and mid air attacks based off of your stance as well.

Now on to defensive options. You can use your dash to avoid getting hit and even break out of hit stun to get some distance from an attacker even while in mid air.

By pressing the right shoulder button or right mouse button, Ryder will begin to guard. Note that Ryder can only guard while on the ground leaving him more susceptible to attacks while in mid air. By timing an attack right before it lands with your guard input, you can deflect the attack, sending all that damage back unto your opponent's resolve. Miss the timing and you will just guard the attack damaging your resolve but protecting your health.

Resolve is your Samurai's will to fight and is the core resource to defense and counter attacks. By deflecting an enemy's attack or wearing down their guard, they will begin to lose their resolve. Once maxed, they will break, leaving them wide open to a finishing blow.

Keep in mind that deflecting and guarding only work on a Samurai's light and heavy attacks or what we call combat arts.

But there are other arts forms. Next up are the Skill Arts. Different from combat arts, these abilities are so powerful that they can not be deflected. Each Samurai comes with 2 Skill Arts.

By pressing X button or the Q key, Ryder will use his Instant Flash Skill Art. This ability sends out a phantom afterimage, great for hitting enemies through objects. It comes with 3 uses that recharge overtime.

By pressing the Y button or the E key, Ryder will use his Speed Razor Skill Art. This ability sends his blade directly at an enemy to deal damage from a far distance.

Universally every Samurai has the innate ability to air dive. While in the air, press and hold the F key or the left trigger to aim in a radius below you. Then once locked in, let go and Ryder will dive towards the impact zone dealing AOE damage to anyone in the area and pushing them away. Note that this ability is more powerful the higher you are in the air.

Finally, every Samurai has their own unique signature attack called a Heroic Art. By pressing up on the D-pad or the R key, Ryder will charge up and execute Stellar Conclusion, launching himself forward. The first enemy Ryder hits in his path will become stunned as he executes a fury of strikes upon them, finishing them off with a powerful blast. Unlike Skill Arts, Heroic Arts don't run on cooldown and instead require charges. Charges are gain by two ways: the first is by eliminating an enemy and the second is by rotating to a new round. Heroic Arts are huge game changes that can shift the momentum of a round, so make sure to check if your opponent has theirs ready.

And that's the basics! There are even more advance mechanics within Samurai Zero, so feel free to experiment and don't forget that this is only Ryder's first set of abilities. There will be even more Skill and Heroic Arts revealed as development continues. Good luck out there and have fun!

--Ethos--