One word: Awesome!
Two words: Hell Yeah!
Three words: GET.......IT......NOW!!!!!
It took all summer, but the wait is finally over! Picked my pre-order copy from Gamestop recently and the few hours of great gameplay blew my mind. Vanillaware does it again! :)
For those unfamiliar, Vanillaware developed Muramasa as with other titles like Odin Sphere (my vote for best underrated PS2 game) and Princess Crown (if Atlus can find the code ~_~ ). Rarely do games come close to being artistically beautiful, but Vanillaware hits the bullseye every time. They create such aesthetically, stunning work, you can pick any random shot and frame it on the wall.
Muramasa the Demon Blade tells the tale of two struggling souls: Momohime, a feudal lord's beautiful daughter possessed by a demon and a master of the Oboro style and Kisuke, a rogue ninja stricken with amnesia hunted by his ninja brethren for a crime he doesn't remember. Both are selectable from the start and unlike Odin Sphere's diversified characters move, here the two characters gameplay are identical to one another.
Let's talk controls. First thing....no motion controls. Better yet, you can plug in the Gamecube controller or Wii classic controller. So, you can't complain about sore wrists. Let's concentrate on the Wiimote and nunchuk cause this is the setup I've played on thus far. Analog stick moves your character, while jumping is done by pushing the stick up and crouching with down. Awkward on paper but actually very intuitive. Pressing two buttons to move while jumping replaced by one motion of the thumb. It's works fluidly and becomes second nature for 2D no less. The advanced moves like dash slashing and parrying are covered extensively in the tutorial.
Battles are fast-paced, smooth, and intense thanks to the combo of kickass super sword with super attacks and wicked cool ninja moves. Overdoing the blade's special mojo drains its power and break it, forced to restore its power in its sheath or collecting souls lying about. I'm allowed to bring up to three blades into battle and can't swap them out, so caution is needed or be left in a boss fight with a bunch of broken swords.
Forging new swords requires certain number of soul and spirit. Spirits are gained from eating foods cooked by you or at restaurants (another trait delivered from Odin Sphere). A certain level of strength and vitality is necessary to wield them and requires level grinding but the game's fast action battle and EXP bonuses will feel like a breeze.
Boss fights should be one of three things: fun, memorable, or epic. Muramasa hasn't failed all three yet. All I can say is Momohime's Mountain God fight and nuff' said. ;)
One interesting note is with all my hours of play, not once had I seen "Now Loading..." or slowdown of any kind. Bear in mind, Odin Sphere was riddled with loading screens and heavy slowdown on a last-gen system. In Muramasa, a smooth. continuous, fast-paced motion like it was on a cartridge, except this is a CD game! Hopefully, the streak will continue for the whole game.
As for the visuals....well, you have to see for yourself. What are you waiting for? GO before I sick Momohime on you. ;)
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