Rise Of Samurai III

Rise Of Samurai III Slot Review

Flaming braziers, red paper lanterns and a cherry blossom tree behind a timber hall: Rise Of Samurai III stages its feud beautifully and then hands you one sword. The argument of the game is that one sword is enough. Pragmatic Play have built almost nothing else into the machine, so whether it works is really a question of whether the middle three reels can carry a whole session.

The numbers sit at the healthier end of the scale. RTP is 96.57%, volatility is high, and the 5×4 grid runs 40 paylines with a win cap of 10,000x the bet. Stakes run from 0.20 to 240.00 per spin. It shares its sword-and-sticky-symbol DNA with Rise Of Samurai IV and Samurai Code, both of which push the idea further.

Wild Multipliers in the Base Game

Wins pay left to right across the 40 paylines, starting from the leftmost reel, and only the highest combination counts on each line. When several lines win at once, the amounts are added together into the total. Every win is settled per line, which matters here more than usual, because the same symbol stack can be paid once on one line and again on the next.

The paytable is weighted towards three samurai and a ninja at the top, with shields and card royals filling the lower rungs. Every value below is a multiple of the total bet:

• Red Samurai: 1.5x for three, 5x for four, 20x for five
• Orange Samurai: 1.25x, 3.75x, 12.5x
• White-haired Samurai: 0.75x, 2x, 7.5x
• Ninja: 0.5x, 1.25x, 5x
• Circular coin shield: 0.35x, 0.75x, 3.75x
• Blue Shield: 0.25x, 0.5x, 2.5x
• A and K: 0.15x, 0.3x, 1.5x
• Q, J and 10: 0.1x, 0.25x, 1x

The gap between the top and bottom of that table is steep. Five Red Samurai pays twenty times the stake; five queens pays one. That spread is what gives the multiplier wilds their leverage, because the difference between a wild-assisted premium win and a bare royal win is the difference between a real payout and pocket change.

The wild is the base game’s whole engine, and it earns the description.

Wilds land only on the middle three reels, substitute for everything bar the scatter, and always arrive carrying a multiplier of two, three or five times the win. When two of them form part of the same payline win, their multipliers add together rather than multiply, so a pair of maximum-value wilds on one line pays as a tenfold boost. The multiplier applies to every line the wild helps complete, and wins are settled per line as normal.

That additive rule is worth sitting with for a moment. Because the multipliers stack by addition rather than compounding, a line crossing two wilds tops out at ten times its base value, never twenty-five. The upside is consistency: any wild on a winning line lifts it, every time, by a known amount. A spin without one rarely amounts to much, and those spins are the price of admission between features.

The Free Spins Round

Triggering the Round

The scatter appears only on reels one, three and five, and landing one on each of those three reels triggers the free spins round. There’s no partial collection, no second chance mechanic, just the three-reel gate. The round opens with eight free spins and runs on special reels, which changes what can land during the feature. Wins from the round are added to any payline wins from the triggering spin and paid once the round completes.

Sticky Wilds and the Yin Yang Overlay

Inside the round, every wild that hits on reels two, three or four stays on screen for the rest of the feature. Each sticky wild carries a random multiplier revealed when it lands, and that multiplier holds until the round ends. Nothing removes them, and nothing upgrades them; what you see when one lands is what it stays. The rules are otherwise unchanged from the base game: substitution, the multiplier values and the additive stacking all carry over.

With three eligible reels and spins accumulating, the middle of the grid can fill with static multiplier wilds. Every new win crossing them picks up the combined boost, which is how the round builds from quiet to loud without changing a single rule. A sticky wild that lands early works for the whole feature; one that arrives on the final spin does almost nothing.

Retrigers come through the Yin Yang scatter overlay, which can appear at random on top of any symbol during the round, including the sticky wilds:

• 2x overlay: 4 more free spins
• 3x overlay: 8 more free spins
• 4x overlay: 12 more free spins
• 5x overlay: 20 more free spins

The overlay is the round’s only source of extra spins, and its timing matters more than its size. A modest overlay early extends the feature while the sticky wilds are still accumulating; a large one on the last spin adds little beyond its own spins. Landing several over one round is what turns eight spins into a genuine run.

Guarantees and Caps

Two rules shape the round’s floor and ceiling. If the round finishes with a total win below 10x the bet, a prize of 10x the bet is paid instead, so a dud feature still returns something.

At the other end, the total win of a free spins round is capped at 10,000x the bet, and reaching that figure ends the round immediately with the win awarded and any remaining spins forfeited. The cap is a game-wide ceiling rather than a per-spin limit, which means a single long round with a full board of stacked wilds is the only route to it.

Our Honest Verdict

Overall Rating: 7.2/10

Between features it’s royals and small change, and the one reason to choose this over livelier games is the free spins round, where every wild that lands stays put and stacks the middle reels with multipliers. Few things in this genre reward patience as visibly. A round that grows more dangerous with every sticky wild, underwritten by a 10x floor that stops the duds stinging, is a genuinely good engine.

Eight spins is a short leash, though. If the early spins don’t deliver wilds, the feature is over before it starts, and there’s nothing else in the game to break up the wait. The base game’s one trick is a good trick, but it’s one trick.

This is for players who enjoy a slow build towards one decisive round, and not for anyone who wants something happening on every spin. The temple rewards those who wait by its fire.

Rise Of Samurai III FAQs

• What is the RTP of Rise Of Samurai III?

  Rise Of Samurai III runs at an RTP of 96.57%.
• Is Rise Of Samurai III high volatility?

  Yes, it’s a high volatility game, so wins tend to be less frequent but with more potential for larger payouts, particularly from the free spins round.
• How do you trigger the free spins in Rise Of Samurai III?

  Land three scatter symbols on reels one, three and five in the same spin. That awards the free spins round, which starts with eight free spins and runs on special reels.
• What do the wild symbols do in Rise Of Samurai III?

  Wilds land only on reels two, three and four and always carry a multiplier of 2x, 3x or 5x. During free spins they become sticky, staying on screen for the whole round with a multiplier that’s fixed when they land.
• Can you retrigger the free spins round?

  Yes. A Yin Yang overlay symbol can appear randomly on top of any symbol during the round, awarding 4, 8, 12 or 20 additional free spins depending on its value.
• What happens if the free spins round pays less than 10x the bet?

  There’s a built-in floor. The round won’t return less than 10x your total stake, so even a feature with no sticky wilds lands somewhere.
• What is the maximum win on Rise Of Samurai III?

  The maximum win is limited to 10,000x the bet. If a free spins round reaches that figure, the round ends immediately and the win is paid.
• Who makes Rise Of Samurai III, and when was it released?

  Rise Of Samurai III is made by Pragmatic Play. Its release date is 6 June 2022.