It's rare, in these great times of ours, to find a game that's a throw back to the days of 2-D side scrolling beat-em-ups. Luckily, that's exactly what Muramasa: The Demon Blade is and with a little RPG thrown in for good measure. I wish I could say that it's all unicorns and gum drops and I wish I could say that Muramasa is perfect, but I can't because it's not. While it does have a few pot holes along its gorgeous roads, you'll still want to stop along and smell the roses.
I could probably write this entire review on just the visuals alone as they are easily the most noticeable aspect of Muramasa. You can see the love and care put into every detail. The characters, backgrounds, and details are so well done that it's almost as if you're playing a game set inside some traditional Japanese painting. You will find yourself going back and forth across the playfield just so you can drool over how pretty everything is. With settings that range from atop beautiful misty mountains into the fiery depths of Hell, it's all stunning and a joy to look at.
Battles are fast and fun. One button attacks and one button will activate your equipped sword's special attack. Items can be hot keyed and used quickly depending on what control scheme you're using as you can either use the standard Wii controller with chuck attached or the classic controller for a little added precession. Jumping is handled by pressing up on either set up. It is very easy to rack up a huge combo on enemies thanks to how fast you're able to attack. Combos are handled pretty much automatically, allowing you to pound the attack button and pull off some brilliant moves.
Exploring the world of Muramasa is done via a Metroid type map. You're able to move from area to area as you see fit providing you can get past various colored barriers, which you are able to "open" upon defeating bosses and acquiring deferent blades. Boss battles are often huge and impressive, with each boss having its own distinct look and attacks. It's worth noting that the two main characters of the game, Momohime and Kisuke, do not share bosses. They each have their own story and trials to pass.
It is worth noting that the music is almost as great as the visuals. Each area you explore has its own music and all the tracks sound quite good. Some are peaceful, and some are more upbeat but they all fit just right. The Japanese voice acting is spot on, and I'm thrilled they decided to go with it and sub-titles. I think it adds to the experience. If they had gone with translating to English, well, we've all heard what sort of results that may have gotten.
As is the case with many games of this type, the simplicity of Muramasa is also one of its few faults. Those brilliant combos I spoke of are repeated throughout the entire game, they really don't change no matter what weapon you have equipped. The types of enemies don't change much either, there's about three different types of ninja for example. They each look different and do slightly different things but they're still the same thing, they just swapped the color they wear and gave them a different weapon.
The other issue I had with the game is backtracking. You'll spend a lot of time backtracking through areas you've already been through and add to that the amount of emptiness you'll encounter while doing so because you may not see a single enemy for several areas. If they're going to make you backtrack half a dozen times, at least make it interesting. They did implement a crafting and cooking system to try and add some depth, and for the most part it does just that. But, you'll spend most of your time using whatever sword offers the highest attack regardless of any other benefit. Cooking, on the other hand, was a great idea as it's much cheaper to cook your health restoring items than it is to rely on buying them. And they're often better as well.
The last problem that I found may not bother everyone but I was troubled with it. Initially there are two difficulty settings. Muso is pretty much a cake walk through the whole game, so long as you swap out your blade before it breaks to one of your other two on backup you'll get through many battles without so much as a scratch on you because blocking is handled automatically. I even beat a couple of the bosses without taking a hit. Shura, the other difficulty level, is much more challenging. You don't auto block enemies so you'll need to be much more selective about when to block, deflect attacks, and launch your own assaults. There's no happy medium.
If you've been put off by the last three paragraphs, don't be. For these really are minor complaints about an otherwise fun title. Vanillaware did a great job trying to add some depth to keep you busy with the crafting, cooking, multiple character stories, and multiple endings. And the battles are still very fun even if they do get a bit repetitive by the end of the game. Will I say that Muramasa is a must own title for the Wii? No, probably not for most people, but I will say that it is a must play title. A little less repetitiveness and a little more depth would have made it a must own, so here's hoping these issues will be addressed should we be fortunate enough to get a sequel.
Nintenderos: "We kick off our interviews this year with a very special one with George Kamitani, president of Vanillaware. In case you didn't know this study, it is the one behind games of the stature of Muramasa: The Demon Blade, Odin Sphere or Dragon's Crown. In addition to, of course, unforgettable titles like the wonderful 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim published by Atlus a few months ago."
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How do you introduce people to folklore and fairy tales? Introducing people to mythology can be easy when they are young or in school, as such stories can sometimes be used to teach morals, introduce concepts that might be difficult for people to otherwise understand, act as warnings and get imaginations working. Once folks get older, it can be more difficult to get them engaged and interested in legends. Fortunately, some Japanese video games can step in to bridge the gap.
