[quote=@Sombrero]The armor was actually pretty good. It's not great against big, bone-breaking weapons, but for things like the arrows, medium to small blades, and improvised farming equipment that the average samurai had to deal with back then, the protection was amazing, and it was very rugged, relatively light, and allowed for hella mobility.
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Yeah, this is pretty much what matters. I remember someone telling me "Archery is about what works," and that different types of archery developed because different, unique environments demanded different techniques. The same definitely applies to all other aspects of war, including the crafting of weapons and armor.

I mean, let's talk about medieval European armor for a moment. Let's talk about the Crusades. All that heavy plate and mail didn't do much good when the various Crusaders of various Crusades went into the Middle East, did it? The environment changed everything, demanded that people equip themselves a little differently. That's not to say that European armor of the time was bad, but getting heatstroke on the battlefield is a serious problem.