Muramasa,the Demon Blade [Wii game disc]
Autor: misuta Kuraido | Publicado: 2011-07-17T02:14:00-03:00

Starting my not-about-Flyff posts with this one. I'd like to talk about one particularly underated hardcore-friendly Wii game called Muramasa.

I find it really, really sad how so many people who own a Wii don't bother glancing twice at games that have no Nintendo logo. Even more those who won't bother purchasing a game that isn't 3D.
Because those people will be missing games like this one.









Muramasa: The Demon Blade ( 朧村正 ) is a game developed by Vanillaware and localized in the US by the team of Ignition Entertainment. I don't think there was a lot of advertisement for the game, but it was released in 2009. Only recently I gave it a try.
More than just giving a try, actually. I'm trying to beat the game 100%.
Considering this game is entirely based on the japanese culture and its somewhat mature (and big boobs), I'm surprised there have been games like these being localized. Surprised in a good way.






Despide not having 3D graphics the game still has a rather good look. The animation and scenery give it a perfect 'cartoon' feel that just shows how it can be done without the ankward toon-shaded 3D games have been pulling off before the PS360 generation. Sadly Vanillaware didn't go so far with their artistic skills and pulled a Legend of Mana on us. If you have played Legend of Mana for the original playstation you should remember how most areas were almost exact copies of one another. You will experience the same in Muramasa, which is really disappointing. But I guess there is a nice excuse: The story takes place in the Tokugawa era, and the villages or forests wouldn't look so different from one another.
So, area copy-pasting, lame? Sure is. But it worked well this time.


If the graphics still won't amuse you, maybe the soundtrack will. Unless you just hate the whole 'old Japan'-esque music you will agree with me when I say Muramasa has one of the best soundtrack for the Wii. I don't need to say they suit the game well. No, you won't hear anything you'd expect to hear while watching a generic anime.

The game has voice-overs in every dialogue. Not only the important characters but even the most random NPCs have their own unique voices. Still, that doesn't means you will get tired of that. Most of the dialogues are short, and in 'safe' areas you won't see more than 3 NPCs with 1~2 speeches.
The audio is in japanese like you or not. And Ignition seems to have made a poor job at translating. Even if you don't know a single word in japanese you can tell they've shortened the dialogues a little bit too much by how long a character will talk after you're done reading. It also gives the impression the plot is too rushed when it isn't. Not that much anyway.
Regardless, it's enough to let you enjoy the game and know what's going on.





You get to choose between two characters, each with their own story. The region they start at differs, as well as the kind of blades they can obtain. One character is a fragile princess accidentaly possessed by a sarcastic and infamous swordsman, the other is a mysterious young ninja who can't remember his past. There are multiple endings that can be unlocked by progressing with each character alternatively. Both characters are assisted by kitsunes during their journey, able to forge new types of blades in exchange of spirits and souls, and cook restorative food.
Spirits are obtained by digesting food (using restorative items), and souls obtained through fighting or collecting in the areas you run by. (I found it rather amusing how you get to see the food being made or bitten when you cook any.)

The game can be played with the regular Wii + Nunchuck, Classic Controller or even a Gamecube controller. It feels better to play it with a Classic, considering there is no waggling or usage of motion or aiming. There are two difficulties, Muso and Shura, which you could consider 'Easy' and 'Normal' respectively. Muso turns the game into another button-mashing fest, and Shura requires actual skill in every battle. So it's up to how you enjoy it the most. I stickied to the button-mashing and I still died a couple times in boss battles.
Regardless what difficulty you choose, the control becomes totally familiar after a few minutes of gameplay. Don't let the tutorial scare you.


There are a lot of blades which you can forge. Most of them have their own special effects and secret arts. A secret art is basically its special power which you can use at the cost of some of the sword's soul. Eventually the blade can break. No problem! Just unsheathe another one until it gets repaired. You can carry 3 swords at a time afterall.
The moves you can perform with a sword are many, allowing you to achieve up to 3-digit combos before the end of a battle and reaching enemies quickly regardless of where they run off to. But don't think you can just slash through everything, some enemies will block your attacks and require you to use a little bit more strategy.
Most enemies fight in groups, and the bosses are all huge and deadly, ranging from arrogant swordsmen to angry demons and divinities.
Slaying them earns you experience points and money (in this case, mon and ryo) like in any RPG. But gladly there really isn't much need for grinding in this game. Even if you're a grind-addict like me you'll realise it doesn't takes long to get to the level you desire since the enemies will start giving slightly more experience.
Also, unless you're playing on Muso mode levelling really won't make that boss you're struggling to beat a lot easier.

The formula you follow to get to the end is really simple. Reach the boss, beat the boss, obtain the power to break a new barrier and that's it. There are a few optional challenges in areas known as Enemy Lairs along the way. The game itself is not very lenghty. Doesn't takes long to beat it.
Even so, Muramasa is a great game without any of the tiring complications or insane lenght most hyped titles have. I can't recommend it as 'The Game' if you're looking for one, but I certainly recommend it if you want to take a break of the usual overhyped 1st party games without having to purchase a first-person shooter. It's also a great choice if you're playing a certain game but could use a 2nd option to go to now and then.