Seven Samurai 20XX (20XX 七人の侍 20XX: Shichinin no Samurai) is based upon Akira Kurosawa's 1954 movie Seven Samurai. Rights for the production of the game were given by the Kurosawa production, with character designs by French artist Mœbius and the composition of the music by Ryuichi Sakamoto.
Seven Samurai 20XX is a re-telling of Seven Samurai in a futuristic setting. It takes various liberties with the original story to better suit the post setting and introduces anime and modern styled designs. The game follows seven samurai as they fight off an immense army of mutants, cyborgs and other inhuman creatures in an attempt to bring about a regime of peace for those in need. The player takes the role of Natoe, a samurai warrior, and is sent through various locations of post-Japan to fight off hundreds of enemies with a twin-sworded fighting style known as Nitou-Ryu. And while the story is based on the film Seven Samurai, its story and plot have more in common with its animated counterpart, Samurai 7.
The year is 20XX and the setting is Japan. Humans and Humanoids, the latter being various mutants, cyborgs, and robots, maintain a delicate balance in a large, unnamed city (somewhat resembling a post-apocalyptic Tokyo) where the power and balance of the city is maintained by a large structure known as the Steeple of light. Its source of power is a young girl named the Child of Heaven. When the child is stolen by the humanoids in order to break the balance and initiate war, the child then goes missing from her inhuman captors and is held by several villagers to ransom the city for money. When the humanoids and various Agents of the city set out to retrieve her and her Sacred Jewel, the villagers quickly find themselves in danger and look for Samurai (known in the game as "hunters") to protect them.
Seven Samurai 20XX is a hack and slash video game, as the protagonist of the game is faced with the task of destroying overwhelming hordes of enemies with his swords. Like many others of its genre, it utilizes a combo system, showing the player how many uninterrupted hits they have inflicted upon their opponents.
The main point of the game is to constantly utilize the second sword which is carried in the protagonist's shealth, allowing the player to achieve a larger combo score. Skill-related battle commands such as the Nitou-Ryu mode which allows the player to wield a second katana for a limited time, increase the speed, range and power of the players combos.
Nitou-Ryu mode is a duration of time engaged when the player presses the L1 and R1 triggers on the PlayStation 2 controller. It permits the protagonist to use a second blade for a limited amount of time to increase attack power and range of the weapons. As the player progresses in the game, the length of the bar can be increased.
A Just guard allows the player to deflect an enemy's attack with skillfully timed uses of the triangle button. It allows the player to avoid damage and generates a counter-attack opportunity. This move also fully refills the Nitou-Ryu timer to 100% of its capacity.
A Just Step is executed with proper timing of the X button and allows the player to avoid an enemy's attack and "step" (in game, it looks more akin to a teleport) behind the enemy for a counter-attack. This move partially refills the Nitou-Ryu timer. An Just attack allows Natoe to travel in the direction of one or more enemies at great speed, breaking their defense. This move also partially refills the Nitou-Ryu meter. The game also incorporates various Street Fighter-like combos and "Charge attacks" which occur when holding the square button at various combos and when dashing with the X button.
Source: Wikipedia, "Seven Samurai 20XX", available under the CC-BY-SA License.