This was my first game in the Murasaki series, or rather my first game created by Katakema&Watson. There is something about the combination of cryptic (well-translated) lore and dialogues, powerful emotional music, bright palette and, obviously, the puzzle-ish gameplay that is hard to play, but quite rewarding when you start mastering it.

To top it off, the full-length soundtrack extends all the tracks with pieces that break their looped state and bring them to an excellent end.

If you want a different shmup experience then definitely get it! This is better to start with compared to the original Murasaki based simply on the fact that it's less punishing, but if you don't mind that then try the first one instead!

You may recognize this sort of "exploding shapes puzzle" gameplay from Irisu Syndrome. No coincidence, as the Murasaki games are another collaboration between the same developer and composer (wtetsu/Katatema and watson).
At first the addition of bullet hell to a physics puzzle seems like an odd choice, but it makes for really unique and engaging gameplay. The game pushes the difficulty to what seems like its absolute limit, which makes it even more rewarding when you conquer its harder challenges. To me this is the peak of the "puzzle shmup" genre.
The first Murasaki is worth playing as well, but Tsurugi feels like a much more realized (and polished) version of what the first sets out to accomplish. I think this is a real hidden gem of a game series and I wish more people knew about it.
Also, I love how the already cryptic lore/worldbuilding is becoming increasingly more incomprehensible. Just based on where the story goes in this one it seems like it's leading up to a third entry, but for now I can only hope about it.