[Editor’s note: we posted three updates about Ukiyo no Shishi and Ukiyo no Roushi today. We hadn’t covered them, and we’ve been meaning to fix that. The new trailer finally forced us to catch you up on these titles. From here on out we’ll be keeping you up to date on everything Ukiyo-related.]

When the pair of third-person, action-adventure, samurai games were first revealed at a Sony press conference on September 1 of this year, everyone mistook the Ukiyos for a Way of the Samurai sequel, which is understandable. There’s since been a lot of information released, and we’ve collected all of it that applies to both titles here.

Spike Chunsoft have released the debut trailer for the titles, which you can view above.

Setting

The Ukiyos tell a “what if” tale about two well-known historical figures. Both Ukiyo no Shishi, AKA Patriot of Ukiyo, and Ukiyo no Roushi, AKA Ronin of Ukiyo, happen during the same historical events at the end of Japan’s Edo era, when uprisings ended the Tokugawa shogunate that had ruled the country since the early 1600s. While both games tell the same story, they do so from different perspectives. Roushi/Ronin will be told from the viewpoint of Okita Yoshijiro, a member of the special Japanese police force, the Shinsengumi, whereas Shishi/Patriot is told from the perspective of Sakamoto Ryoma, an amnesiac, anti-shogunate rebel.

Action

Both games also share the same gameplay systems.

The games are supposed to play like samurai movies. To achieve this, they have everything a fan of the genre could want. Have a look at more of the action above.

The video makes a note of “Kabuki Chambara”. Kabuki is a classical Japanese dance-drama, and the word is formed from the words for “sing”, “dance”, and “skill”. Chambara is the term for sword-fighting movies. Combined, the term means what you see in the video: sword fights with a flashy, cinematic flair.

The basic action in the games consists of two attacks, one weaker but faster, and one slower but stronger. In addition, players can launch enemies into the air and follow up with aerial combos.

There’s a Secret Sword Technique meter that players need to fill in order to use special attacks. One such special attack is the “Slice-and-Dice Dance”, which allows player to continuously attack all of the enemies around them.

You learn most of these Techniques by using Mastery Points, or from enemies when they use their special abilities. (You can rename these abilities to anything you want—“The Nutkicker”, the “Ugly Stick”, or whgetatever else you can think of.) Mastery Points can also be used to learn various skills in the game. Each weapon class in the game has a unique set of combat techniques to be unlocked.

The weapons that have been revealed for the game include the uchigatana, the one-handed sword, the odachi (great sword), the ninja sword, dual swords, the spear, and bare hands. Primitive guns are also available, and look great in action, as we can see in the debut trailer above.

Everything else

The Ukiyos contain a mini-game reminiscent of The Witcher‘s, in which you collect naughty, historical porn. These ukiyo-ye images are acquired by cutting off enemies’ clothes instead of killing them.

The games also use their own Ukiyo Engine, a rendering engine used to make the game resemble ukiyo-ye paintings, which players can toggle at any time. You can see it demonstrated in the screenshots and video below.

As the debut trailer points out, players will be able to customize their character’s appearance. Players wondering how flexible this system is will either be horrified or elated to know that it’s possible to create a samurai with a pink afro, or someone with a basket on their head, as illustrated below. There are also more sensible options, of course.

First print bonuses and cross-data sharing

Players who have save data for both the Playstation 3 and PS Vita games will be able to share exclusive items, weapons, and costumes between the titles.

Spike Chunsoft have also announced first-print bonuses for both games.

If you’re lucky enough to obtain a first-print of either game, you will receive a download code for the other. Each first-print copy also contains another download code of a famous sword. PS Vita owners will get the Kaga Kiyomitsu sword, and PS3 owners the Mutsunokami Yoshiyuki.

The games will be limited to Japan, and no plans have been announced for a localization, unfortunately. Ukiyo no Shishi will be available for 7,800 yen on the Playstation 3, on January 29, 2015, while Ukiyo no Roushi will be available for 5,800 yen on the Playstation Vita on February 11, 2015.