Muramasa: The Demon Blade
Vanillaware crafted a smooth and beautiful action title for the Wii in Muramasa: The Demon Blade, which excels in feeling good.
Muramasa: The Demon Blade quickly became one of the top anticipated games for the Wii this year. Its gorgeous hand-drawn graphics and smooth frame rate prove that Vanillaware knows how to make a Wii game look great.
Muramasa is set in the Genroku era of Japan's history in the 17th century, and draws from Japanese tales and rich culture to give a unique feel to the game. Even the vivid, layered backgrounds are inspired from Japanese art. The game centers around Kisuke and Momohime (who's stories run parallel in the game and are played separately). Kisuke has amnesia and can't remember a crime he committed, while Momohime is possessed by the soul of a swordsman. Typical, right?
Mysterious barriers can only be shattered by key Demon Blades.
Even more important in the story is that the current shogun is filled with greed, and is after the all-powerful Demon Blades, which sparks a conflict in the region. To make matters worse, the Demon Blades begin to call forth dangerous monsters to the land. While navigating each area, you run into different characters both for and against your cause. The storyline doesn't branch off with these characters, so much as it leads Momohime and Kisuke into different directions to aid others. Unfortunately, a good amount of players probably won't follow the convoluted storyline so well.
Most are playing the game for its action anyways. The fast-paced combat combines button-mashing/fighting with well-executed timing for different ninja-like moves. Few things on the Wii to date are as satisfying as flicking an enemy into the air, and then crossing them as you dash back and forth through the air with your katana in tow, whipping the enemy down to the ground, only to follow with a swift stab as you plummet downward, sword-first. Muramasa brings a visual flare to the system in its swordplay, and manages to let players dominate multiple enemies onscreen without noticeable slowdown. Sometimes, this ends in huge combos (I got a combo of over 200 against one boss... twice).
Do ninjas get cold?
These ninja moves translate well to the controller. Three options are available for you to use: the Wii Remote/Nunchuk, Classic Controller, or GameCube controller. I'm happy to say that literally all of them work well. Sadly, none of them use a button for the character's jump command. Instead, in Super Smash Bros. style, the scarcely-controllable jump and double-jump of your character is done by pressing the joystick of your controller up.
The advantage to this unwieldy setup lies in the flashy way you can cut up enemies that I described earlier. While jumping through the air, you can push the joystick in any direction to have your character zip in that direction while slashing at enemies. Add that to the parrying, rolling, and reflecting of any ranged weapons thrown your way, and the combat makes up the best part of the game. This game does a great job of making your every move feel very ninja-like.
Players have access to a few items during battle for quick healing both your character and your blade, as well as support items. Blades wear down throughout battle, leading them to eventually break (they repair over time). You need not fret, though. At any given moment, you can flip between up to three different swords you are equipped with, sometimes starting out by slashing every enemy on screen at once.
The blades acquired are short lived in your equipment, though. With 108 different swords to be found or forged in the game (essentially split between Momohime and Kisuke), you'll often find that you'll obtain four or five at a time. Each blade may have different status effects and special moves attached, but these perks typically don't play into your decision to always go with the more powerful ones. Muramasa didn't fully realize the opportunity to let players get more acquainted with the swords to find ones they really like. Even some sort of sword customizing option would have proven more friendly.
Special moves are over-the-top, like doppleganger shadows.
Muramasa is also heavy on the backtracking. Kisuke's story, for example, has him running through a few areas of the game for hours. This sort of constant backtracking in turn keeps piles of enemies appearing on most of the screens, always seeming to respawn the second you turn your back. Even if some of the battles take literal seconds, this wears a bit thin. Combat itself begins to feel repetitive, only to be picked up a bit more once more blades are opened to you.
The enemies range from familiar ninjas to oh-my-god-what-is-that-thing-attacking-me. One of the early bosses is a giant centipede (below), for instance. Each larger-than-life boss is designed with the same care as the rest of the enemies, with striking detail. While some enemies repeat with different colors and a few accessories, there is still a respectable number of beasts to fight in the game.
Sorry, those aren't enormous Creepy Crawlers.
Muramasa has a dash of "side quests," for lack of a better term. Swords can be forged, food can be cooked, and items can be found. Scattered around the levels are not only items, but green flames that represent souls. By collecting souls, you fill up your blade gauges. Souls are also spent when forging new blades. The blade forging tree depends on finding key Demon Blades when beating bosses, as well as balancing your play time between both characters to unlock more swords. Perfectionists will often go out of their way to find every stray soul or item in each screen, and collect every possible sword and accessory.
Plus, you can seek out the optional enemy lairs, which throws literally hundreds of enemies at you, often in groups of 15-20 at a time (depending on the enemies you're facing). The enemy lairs reward players with rare items and accessories, usually making the 10+ minute battles worthwhile.
Delicious. The game's soundtrack and hand-drawn imagery blends together to make a perfectly presented title.
Intricate structure. The parallel stories bring a unique twist to the storytelling, while also being implemented in the design of the blade forging tree.
So many swords. The amount of swords and accessories for players to dig for in the game is incredible. Each successive blade gives you a feeling of power in your combat.
Wax on, slice up. Kisuke and Momohime's acrobatic ninja skills mix well with the controls to make the gameplay entirely rewarding.
Play it again. Two difficulty modes exist in the game, Muso (normal, which strengthens the RPG elements of the game), and Shura (hard). In this way, devoted players may find themselves coming back for more.
See it once, see it again, and again. The excessive backtracking occasionally gets agitating.
Core players want more. The controls may work well, but extra attack buttons for combos and the possibility for more RPG elements like magic would have been a welcome addition and a perfect fit.
Forget what you're fighting with. One of the game's strong suits, the weapon catalogue, suffers from the game's quick pacing. Instead of getting the opportunity and being given the incentive to get acquainted with each new sword, combat benefits most from equipping based on the newer, more powerful swords.
Muramasa has a few issues in its design. However, even if you are easily frustrated by backtracking, the style and execution of each battle and light-RPG element make it worth playing. Muramasa is clearly one of the best games to grace the Wii this year, and is easily one of the best looking games you can get on the system.