Muramasa the Demon Blade is a beautiful 2D action RPG with memorable characters that takes you back to a mythical world set in 17th century Japan. But before delving into the game it is worthwile to know more about the history behind the name Muramasa.

Muramasa is one of the top 3 swordsmiths of japan. In the 16th century, his swords sharpness were unrivaled . They were claimed to reflect their maker’s ill temper & violent nature and hunger for blood and battle. Even though he lived more than 500 years ago his fame still lives on in these modern times. The game puts a twist where even after death, his spirit is trapped between the land of the living and the dead forging swords for all eternity. These highly sought after swords in the game -now called the demon blades- are cursed; eventually driving their users to madness, only a few are worthy enough to tame them.

Gameplay

The object of the game is quite simple. You travel the land (with your sexy fox spirit companions), fight monsters, collect souls (that look like green flames) to Forge demon blades. There are over 100 blades and you will need to replay the game several times if you want to get them all. As you beat bosses you acquire new special blades that open up new map areas and towns to explore and advance the story line. Each blade has a unique technique (called Secret Art) that can deliver powerful attacks in battle, and it is addictive to collect them all.

We begin the game with an option of playing as one of two characters.

• Momohime is not your typical pretty princess. With her graceful fighting style she can go head to head with the best swordsmen in land. Her body is possessed by a mean spirited samurai called Jinkuro.
• Kisuke is a ninja who  lost his memory. He travels the land fighting hoards of enemies who call him traitor for a reason he does not know, hoping to find clues to his past.
  It is interesting to see how their paths start to interwine as the story progresses.

There are 2 difficulty levels to choose from as you start a new game: Muso (Normal) and Shura (Hard). If you beat the game in Hard mode you unlock another difficulty level (Insane Death Mode). A nice addition is that you can switch between the two difficulty levels anytime in the game, which provides with a nice cushion for those hard boss battles.

Battles start with an exclamation mark and you get swarmed with enemies filling the screen. In Battle you get to use 3 swords of your choice and can alternate between them. Drawing swords in battle release a powerful blow that hit all enemies on screen and makes your life easier. As you use swords in battle it’s soul power decreases (this happens much quicker if you are hit or use Secret arts) If the Soul power reaches zero the sword will break. The best option is to put it back in it’s sheath and use another sword while it gradually heals. Also using items or recieving souls from fallen enemies heals it at a much faster rate. At the end of battle in usual RPG manner you recieve exp. and money. the amount of exp varies to the level of skill excerted through battle (quick win, 0 HP loss are examples of skill). Levelling up is not as important of a factor in winning as equipping stronger blades and cutting enemies like crazy (I didn’t bother with skill much and I beat the game just fine)

Pros & Highlights

This game has got to be one of the most beautiful games to grace the Wii (rivaled only by Okami). Most scenery in the game looks like a japanese art scroll that has come to life. Whether it’s watching Momohime as she slashes monsters, enjoying a kitsune udon at the town restaurant, cooking your own riceballs as you travel the land or even paying a trip to Hell itself! you can be sure that your eyes will be glued to the screen from the sheer beauty of it.

You will see all your favourite Japanese mythical creatures and historical characters such as ninjas, samurais, ghosts, demons heck even mermaids come to life in a scenic dramatic world with haunting traditional japanese music playing in the background.

The amount of attention to detail and love put into the game can be felt in every corner. All dialogue in the game is in Japanese with superb voice acting, which means you will not have to suffer through horrible dubbing as in other games. However, if that is not your cup of tea you can always switch it off. Boss battles are the best in this game, each has unique character design and requires different strategies to beat (which is a nice change from your usual monster battles throughout the game). The encounters in the Hot Springs (where you can go to replenish your energy between battles) have fresh dialogue that puts a grin on your face everytime you find other people in the springs with you!.

The game has high replay value as there are so many things to do once you beat the game. You can get all 6 endings (3 per character), challenge yourself at enemy lairs that are scattered across the land (some are quite hard!) or have a shot at getting the most powerful demon blades in the game.

Cons

You might feel you’re battling repeatedly and doing less of the actual story. This might be fine for some if the story didn’t need some mental work to fully grasp how the timeline and characters fit together. Where it lacks is the simplicity of battles, it makes up for with painstaking beautiful imagery.

There’s alot of traveling back and forth between areas and it is time consuming. There are some shortcuts (like boats) but they are not always useful. Toward the end of the game this is solved as you can warp between cities.

The villages are no bigger than a couple of houses so there’s not much to look forward to (except the scrumptious looking treats at teahouses!)

The verdict

If you are waiting for that game on the Wii that will blast you away and take you back in time to the nostalgic days of Shinobi on Genesis, or if you are suffering from withdrawal syndrome since playing Okami and craving some ancient Japan goodness, This beautifully designed old school 2D RPG scroller is a must. It’s a great addition to any Wii owner whether a fan of RPG or not.

3 Comments

1. 

   Mohammed Khoory
   20 Mar 2011, 6:59 am

   المرامسة
2. 

   Crab
   20 Mar 2011, 8:11 pm

   It would have been nice if you discussed in the cons how the translation in this game is extremely horrible.
   A lot of things are left untranslated, and the basic idea that they post as a translation makes no sense.

   Aside from that the game is amazing.
3. 

   asatiir
   21 Mar 2011, 7:11 am

   I personally didn’t find any problems with the translation of the game but then I wouldn’t have minded if they even dubbed the game *shrugs*