'Samurai Spirits' Announcement Trailer Revealed, Coming in 2019

Can you believe that it's been nearly a decade since we've seen a new game in the Samurai Spirits (aka Samurai Shodown) series? Yep, the last one came in 2009, with Samurai Shodown: Edge of Destiny (aka Samurai Shodown Sen) for the Xbox 360, a game that didn't get very good reception because of its clunky fighting mechanics.

Fortunately, it looks like Samurai is set to come back in a big way. A new trailer premiered during Sony's pre-Tokyo Game Show event this evening from SNK, confirming what we previously predicted about a new game being introduced by the company. Samurai Spirits is set to make its debut in 2019 on PlayStation 4, and may possibly come to other platforms as well, though that information is still being finalized.

Spirits looks to be a proper return to form for the series, utilizing SNK's King of Fighters XIV engine with 2D fighting mechanics combined with beautiful 3D visuals. And from the looks of things, SNK is bringing back a number of favorites for the franchise, including the massive Earthquake, a guy that lives to attack enemies with his sickle, grab them and fart in their faces; the traditional warrior Haohmaru; and the swift Nakoruru, amongst other characters. You can watch the trailer above and see which of your favorites are returning thus far, though the roster will likely include even more old-school combatants, as well as a few new faces.

So far, reactions from the Internet have been overwhelmingly positive, as Samurai Shodown (Spirits) should make a huge impact on the fighting game scene. And judging by the timing of its release, SNK should definitely take advantage of tour stops like EVO Japan and even EVO 2019 to promote the game. We may also see it at the PlayStation Experience event that will reportedly take place this December, hosted again by Sony. (This is based on the previous exposure that The King of Fighters XIV got leading up to its release.)

It's good to see Samurai back in action, but we need to get our hands on it and see how the gameplay measures up. One thing's for sure — it'll be a vast improvement over Sen.

We'll let you know more details as soon as they become available.