et's just get this out of the way first. If you think Way of the Samurai 4 is a serious samurai game, you're carving up the wrong tree.
Acquire/XSEED Games' 2011 third-person action adventure (ported here by Ghostlight Games, who have done a stellar job addressing a number of bugs and deficiencies in the original release) balances a deep exploration of post-isolationist Japan... with BDSM torture minigames and supporting characters like "Melinda Megamelons" and "Jet Jenkins".
The story is fairly straightforward. You (a wandering samurai) arrive at the Amihama Harbor just as a conflict is breaking out between British emissaries, the local shogunate and a band of nationalistic rebels. After an initial tutorial and understanding of the various factions involved in this conflict, you have free reign to do what you want. You can choose to ally with one or more of these factions, carry out side missions for characters or simply say "screw it" and train up for the local fighting tournament on the third day. Even though there is a timer involved, the game clock is fairly slow and you'll almost always run into one or more plot events that advance the story.
The best way I can describe this game is Grand Theft Auto-meets-Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes. While there isn't a huge area to explore (there are a handful of different districts in the city, along with a couple of forest areas and caves), you can pretty much do anything you want. Take on jobs for certain NPCs, rob shopkeepers, double-cross factions at certain points, farm for money to upgrade your weapon, enlist people for your dojo, get arrested and tortured, go "nightcrawling" (ask women out on dates, then try to seduce/wrestle them) or anything in-between.
As far as the impact of the story goes, know that first and foremost, you won't see the majority of content in one, two or even five playthroughs. This is a game that requires you to complete it many times over, whether for unlockable items and costumes (obtained by points that are given out after each playthrough is done) or to see certain variations of plot events that can only be "triggered" by playing the storyline in a certain order.
In fact, unlocking most of the endings either requires you to use a guide or have extreme patience, as some events aren't even accessible unless certain buildings are functioning a certain way and you know enough to go against the beaten path to do things you might not otherwise expect.
I admit that there were parts of this game that are genuinely heartwarming, such as the Flames of Prajna ending (where you side with the mercenaries against an inevitable truth) or the interactions with some of the side characters. It's a game that definitely wears its heart on its sleeve, and balances moments of lighter or absurd humor with a complicated plot that allows each faction to be thoroughly explored and understood.
I'll be the first to tell you that I have very limited experience with the series, having only played the original back on the Playstation 2 in the mid 00s. WotS4 definitely lives up to the premise and plot of that game, though it doesn't have quite the same "open world" feeling. Regardless, there's still a massive number of things to see and do, and it can be almost overwhelming for new players.
The weapon and style customization options are also back in full force. You can upgrade and hone your weapons to deal more damage or not break as quickly. I quickly found myself maxing out one of the "Black Mark't" swords you get for completing a side mission in a certain way, and using that to chainsaw through enemies for a good number of future playthroughs.
The combat might also be a "make it or break it" situation for some people. You can't always go into battle and expect to mindlessly slash at people, especially on higher difficulties. Enemy encounters often require you to master parrying, block and effective use of your special meter, which allows you to execute whirlwind-like attacks against blocks of enemies. While I found that simply spamming my forward thrust attack was enough to get me by on the lowest difficulties, it was downright infuriating when I cranked up the difficulty and found myself getting schooled by high-level enemies who melted my defense (and sword durability) down.
As far as the port itself goes, Ghostlight did a great job soliciting feedback from the community and scrubbing out a number of major bugs and graphical issues. I was part of the beta testing team for the game, and saw just how polished it became by release. Ghostlight's always had a knack for producing high-quality ports, and this is no exception.
Will you like this game? If you can past the somewhat absurd tonal shifts and the chore of doing multiple playthroughs to see all the endings, there's a wealth of content to discover and play through. The customization and character interaction will also keep you coming back for more. This is definitely worth a look for the price, and so far, it's my favorite PC port this year.