Genji

Genji is a Hack and Slash adventure game series developed by Game Republic and published by Sony.


 * Genji: Dawn of the Samurai - 2005
 * Genji: Days of the Blade - 2006

The first game is based on the Japanese story of Yoshitsune Minamoto and Benkei Musashibo in their struggle against the Taira clan. In this version, the Taira conquered japan with the help of some magic stones called "Amahagane" (litt. Heavenly Steel) which grant great powers to their wielders. The young swordsman Yoshitsune finds out that he's the rightful heir of the Minamoto clan and with the help of the Amahagane, the Tamayoribito clan and Benkei he has to stop the villanous plans of the Taira and recover the Amahagane stones.

Had a Spiritual Successor in the form of Folklore.

Although it's quite a humble-seeming series, you may know the game better as its second installment being the one featured in Sony's infamous E3 2006 conference featuring battles with giant crabs that took place in ancient Japan.


 * Attack Its Weak Point - Crab boss is one of those examples.
 * For Massive Damage - Why you attack it's weak point.
 * Giant Enemy Crab - Found near the beach. This variety has a human head.
 * Real Time Weapon Change - Present in the second game.


 * Action Command: when you use the Kamui power, you must press the Square button at the right time in order to one-shot/ damage the enemy before he hits you.
 * Akio Ohtsuka: as Musashibo Benkei.
 * An Ice Person: frost enchanted weapons and at least one Ashura-like boss.
 * Arrogant Kung Fu Guy: Kagekiyo is really cocky and skilled with his swords.
 * Authority Equals Asskicking: Kiyomori Taira. Keep in mind that he needs the Amahagane for that. Kagekiyo is slightly more suitable.
 * Bad Powers, Bad People: Kagekiyo uses poison attacks
 * Bad Powers, Good People: yet, also Yoshitsune and Benkei have at least one poison enchanted weapon in their inventory.
 * Blade on a Stick: Benkei's second weapon of choice, they're stronger than the Clubs but they can't use the Charged Attack
 * Also "The Mask" Moritoshi wields a large spear, and Kagekiyo can merge his two swords into one pike.
 * Bald of Awesome: Benkei sports one.
 * Bald of Evil: Kiyomori Taira.
 * Big Bad: Kiyomori.
 * Boisterous Bruiser: Benkei is capable of sending hordes of enemies flying when unleashed in battle.
 * Body Horror:.
 * Carry a Big Stick: Benkei's main weapons. Not really strong, but can do a powerful Charged attack.
 * Combat Clairvoyance: essentially Kamui's powers, with a bit of Bullet Time in it. It becomes a Game Breaker as soon as you learn how to use it well.
 * Cores and Turrets Boss: Sort of. The Iwayashiro boss (which looks like a floating stone shrine with four stone pillars around) is an interesting variation. Benkei must take down the pillars, which then turn into a flying laser-spitting stone, in order to expose its main core (the shrine).
 * Defeat Means Friendship: with Benkei, at least.
 * Doppelganger: Both Yoshitsune and Benkei during their final test in the Golden Temple of Shukenten.
 * Dirty Coward: The man who was in charge of Yoshitsune in Oushu sells them to Kagekiyo in exchange for one single amahagane, but Kage has other plans...
 * The Dragon: Kagekiyo, the strongest Heishi General.
 * Dual-Wielding: Yoshitsune and Kagekiyo.
 * Elemental Crafting: the local blacksmith can make you powerful weapons if you bring him the right ingredients.
 * Elemental Powers: only four, and usable by the enemies or by your weapons if they're enchanted. They also causes negatives status, including: Fire (set ablaze), Ice (freeze), Thunder (block your movements) and Poison (which, well, poisons).
 * Every Japanese Sword Is a Katana: yes, Yoshitsune uses a lot of katana blades, but some of them have a totally different shape and a straight blade.
 * Failure Is the Only Option: It doesn't matter if you mop the floor with Kagekiyo in the first chapter: after being bested he simply knock both Yoshi and Benkei down by drawing his second sword.
 * Fat Bastard: Kiyomori.
 * Feathered Fiend: The Yatagarasu (Messanger Crow) boss. Subverted because in Japanese Folklore it's a Heavenly creature.
 * Foe-Tossing Charge: This happens whenever the Mooks meet Benkei's club.
 * Fragile Speedster: Yoshitsune. He's not very strong and has a low stamina, but he's very fast and can slice&dice enemies without being hit quite easly.
 * Giant Enemy Crab: Yeah, all right: you know what to do.. None of them appeared in Dawn of the Samurai though.
 * Giant Mook: The huge armor-wearing Heishi soldiers, who are also Mighty Glacier and take Two Kamui attacks before biting the dust
 * Giant Space Flea From Nowhere: the huge Nue boss isn't a surprise. But his Palette Swapped counterpart, the Raiju, which appears in the very same area in the third act is totally out of thin air.
 * Inside the Mansion you can find a document regarding the experiments on the Raiju, but you usually read this when he's already dead.
 * Harder Than Hard: there are only two levels of difficulty: Normal and Hard. Seems allright? Wroooong! in the Hard mode you can't level up or purchasing/obtaining items! Simple yet cruel.
 * Heart Container: sort of, when you receive an Amahagane from a boss, you give it to Shizuka who will merge the stone together and lenghtening the Kamui bar.
 * Heroic Sacrifice: The old Tamayoribito priest Hogen in order to save Yoshitsune and Benkei from Kagekiyo.
 * Infinity-1 Sword: for Yoshitsune we have the "Master Lightning" swords, for Benkei the Kiwami (if you choose war clubs) or the Blue Dragon (if you're into spears).
 * Infinity+1 Sword: Hellish Lions for Yoshitsune and Red Dragon for Benkei. You can only get them in the New Game+.
 * Jerkass: The Heishi in general.
 * Karma Houdini:.
 * Large Ham: Not that large, but Benkei has a theatral monologue right before battling a small army of Heishi soldiers at Gojo Bridge
 * Lost Forever: Yup, before going on the final mission of the chapter you should look everywhere carefully.
 * MacGuffin: the Amahagane stones.
 * MacGuffin Girl: Lady Shizuka, the only person capable of using the Yosegane ritual, which merge two Amahagane together making them stronger. The Heishi plan to use Yosegane to fuse all their Amahagane in order to create a Super powerful one.
 * Mirror Boss: The last Trial of Shukenten: the clones imitate all your movements and weapons, and can't be attacked. The only way to beat them is using Kamui and counterattacking them in time.
 * Organ Drops: Many Bosses drop unique ingredients when hit by a Kamui attack. In some cases is part of their bodies (like the Nue's Claws and the Crow's Feather.)
 * One-Winged Angel:
 * Purple Poison
 * Recurring Boss: Kagekiyo and Moritoshi are both fought twice.
 * Sword of Plot Advancement: After completing the trials of the Golden Temple, Shukenten gives you two weapons, the Light Ring katanas and the Steel God club. They're not really powerful, yet the former gets stronger as you use it in battle and the second grows longer when used for a charged attack.
 * Tennis Boss: Kiyomori. In order to crush down his barrier you have to send his lasers back to him.
 * Very Loosely Based on a True Story - Story is based on Japanese history and battles which took...actually took place in ancient Japan.
 * The War Sequence
 * Yellow Lightning, Blue Lightning: Mainly Yellow.