Muramasa

The Demon Blade


Words
Dave Halverson
Find more content | Personal Page
games Review 8th September 2009
Bookmark and Share
As vivid and full of life as the visuals that have made it one of the most sought after Wii titles of the year, Muramasa: The Demon Blade is as rooted in Japanese mythology and provocative gameplay as it is sublime imagery; and given the level of visual grandeur Vanillaware has emanating from the Wii, thats a statement I dont make lightly. As a student of side-scrolling, it takes a lot to impress me, and a veritable masterpiece to engage me on the level Id become accustomed to in the days of my youth. The years spanning the 16-, 32-, and 64-bit eras were replete with a steady flow of precedent-setting side scrollers, building on the 8-bit foundation shaped by companies like Capcom, Konami and Nintendo. Revenge of Shinobi, ActRaiser, Super Metroid, Strider, Castlevania IV and Bloodlines, Gunstar and Guardian Heroes, Ranger X, Earthworm Jim, Mischief Makers, Silhouette Mirage, Astal, Clockwork Knight...the list goes on and on. At the time Generations werent determined by new hardware, but each passing 12 to 18-month cycle. No matter how epic a game you were playing, there were always a handful in the pipeline promising to do it that much better. And then just as the genre reached its apex with Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, 3D broke through in all of its crude blocky glory the disco to our rock n roll, and everything changed, practically overnight. Unlike disco, however, which will suck for eternity, 3D slowly evolved and got better. Since Tomb Raider broke the polygonal ice, theres been a steady stream of benchmark 3D titles, although precious few have shined as brightly as Symphony did for its time. Then in 2007, something unexpected happened. It had been years since I abandoned all hope that Vanillawares Princess Crownoriginally released for the Sega Saturn in Japan in 1997would ever materialize in the states, so I could hardly believe my eyes the first time I saw Odin Sphere. Vanillaware had finally broken through in the statesalbeit on PS2 a year and a half into the next-generation (an expression I vow to never utter again)and side-scrolling, it seemed, would have at least one more hurrah.



I cant say whether or not the success of Odin Sphere, which we helped put on the map, affected the mounting 2D resurgence, although it certainly played a significant role in Vanillawares decision to create the game before youtheir third in the spirit of Princess Crown.

As The Demon Blade gets underway, youre directed to select your difficulty level between Muso (easy) or Shura (normal), and Im told theres a death mode stuffed in here somewhere. I dont usually comment on difficulty settings, but in this case it makes a significant difference in your gameplay experience. Muramasas determining feature is its simple, intuitive, fast-paced battle system. Set on Muso, youll get a good taste of it but to get the most out of Vanillawares Edo period devils, deities, and derelicts that seemingly come alive on screen, you need to clear out some of the 3D cobwebs and channel your inner twitch-gamer. Its a much more tactical game on Shura. Choosing which character/story to tackle first between Momohime (Pandemonium of the Demon Blade) and Kisuke (Ninja scroll of the Demon Blade) is a much more difficult proposition. While the two tales do cross paths, theyre completely unique to one another, with Kisukes being the more straightforward, at least initially. With no idea who he is, let alone what hes done to provoke such wanton retributiona giant Ninja with shuriken the size of truck tires tries to frappe him at the outsetKisuke accepts a Muramasa out of pure necessity (his own survival). Momohimes plight, on the other hand, begins on a much more somber note when she finds herself outside of herself. After shielding her fianc, a prominent Yagyu swordsman, from would-be body snatcher Jinkuru, who planned on assuming his identity and abusing his power, she should be torn to shreds, but she appears to be fine, except for the unholy spirit thats taken up residence in her body. By interrupting Jinkurus Oboro Soul Transfer Art, she leaves him no choice but to possess her body instead, until he can find a more suitable host. Regardless of the path you choose, both stories unfold and end completely unique to one another. Certain characters intersect indirectly, but outside of the odd family tie or hot spring encounter, The Demon Blade consists of two entirely unique, equally captivating, and altogether eloquent parables bound only by the chaos that surrounds the Demon Blades.

(cont...)

  • Showing Page 1 ( of 4 )
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
images
comments
Please note: if you have come to this page via Metacritic, please click this link before posting a comment. Comments posted after directly coming here via a Metacritic link are currently not showing up properly.
blog comments powered by Disqus
Corporate Site | Privacy Policy | Legal Disclaimer | Advertising | General Inquiries | Webmaster

play online ©2009 Fusion Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
and © for all other products and the characters contained therein are owned by the respective trademark and copyright owners.