Rise of Samurai Megaways Slot Review, Demo Play, Payout, Free Spins & Bonuses

Rise of Samurai Megaways Review

The original Rise of Samurai has passed largely unnoticed in the western market at least, but this hasn’t stopped Pragmatic Play from releasing a Megaways version. The anime-style visuals are very similar, not to say identical, and you’ll recognize the characters from the first game. That being said, the gameplay and features are very different.

Rise of Samurai Megaways is actually a reskin of Madame Destiny Megaways, but, for whatever reason, it comes with a lower RTP. The 2 titles are identical otherwise, giving anime and samurai fans something to be happy about. Audiovisually pleasing, the game is all about the multiplier bonus round. It could do with some more excitement in the base game for sure, as well as a potential that’s on par with most other slots in the Megaways genre.

Rise of Samurai Megaways Features

The Tumble Wins feature kicks in whenever you land a winning combo, and all winning symbols are thus removed. New and/or existing symbols drop down to fill the gaps, and this process repeats as long as you keep winning.

Turning on the Ante Bet will increase the cost per spin with 25 %. It’s probably a good idea however, as it also doubles your chances of triggering the bonus round by adding more scatters to the reel strips. The RTP is lowered from 95.7 % to 95.69 % when you switch the Ante Bet on, but this is so insignificant that we only mention it for transparency reasons.

You need to land 3, 4, 5 or 6 dragon scatters anywhere in sight to trigger the Bonus Round, and this awards 5, 10, 20 or 100 times your stake up front, respectively. The number of free spins, and the fixed multiplier, is determined by a giant bonus wheel. You will always get between 5 and 20 free spins, combined with a multiplier between 2x and 25x, from the wheel.

Unlike in many Megaways installments, the multiplier does not increase per tumble/win.

Finally, players within certain jurisdictions can purchase the Bonus Round directly in-game. This will set you back 100x your stake however, and the bonus buy option is, per usual, not available for UK players. Keep in mind that buying the bonus round lowers the RTP to 95.54 %, instead of raising it, which is usually the case.

The 200 Spins Rise of Samurai Megaways Experience

We had some smaller tumble wins in the base game, before we decided to buy the bonus round. This happens around 0:43 into the 3-minute highlights video, and we got 8 free spins with a fixed 5x multiplier. You can see for yourself how it all played out by hitting the play button below.

Review Summary

Despite being based on Rise of Samurai, Pragmatic’s Megaways version is close to being a reskin of Madame Destiny Megaways, albeit with a significantly lower RTP across the board. The 5,000x potential is the same though, and it still feels unnecessary low if you want to compete in a genre where 10K to 20K is the norm.

That being said, while the audiovisual presentation is solid, as it usually is from Pragmatic Play, the whole effort feels a bit empty and soulless compared to say Bushido Ways from NoLimit City. The bonus round is pretty much decided up front by the multiplier you get from the wheel. That is, unless you manage to retrigger the feature. There aren’t that many anime slots out there for the western audience, so why not attempt to make something more unique, instead of yet another ‘assembly line’ production.

Pros

• Ante bet doubles bonus round chances
• Bonus round w/ fixed multiplier up to 25x
• Win up to 5,000x your stake
• Bonus buy option (not for UK players)

Cons

• Reskin of Madame Destiny w/ lower RTP

If you enjoy Rise of Samurai Megaways you should also try:

Bushido Ways xNudge - is a gritty and fierce samurai slot from NoLimit City, and they know how to tell a story with the big win tiers. Sliced wilds on reels 3 to 5 can increase the win ways up to 12,288, and the xNudge wild on the middle reel can lead to payouts up to 30,000x in the bonus round.

Madame Destiny Megaways - is a better option than the game at hand, if you don’t care too much about the theme. It comes with a more solid 96.56 % RTP, and the features are all the same.

Rise of Samurai - is the original samurai title from Pragmatic, and it comes with a higher RTP, but only a 1,000x potential. The bonus round is also very different, as you get to choose between 5 stacked samurai symbols with multipliers up to 5x. Visually, the 2 versions are very similar, and you’ll see the same characters on the reels.

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