did yall who say this was a masterpiece ever finished the game ?

my god this is a crazy polarizing game, for every great there are 2 terribles.

pro : night and day system based on time
con : a time based quest system without the ways of making you skip the waiting, some missions will make you wait almost 20 minutes because people are sleeping.

pro : an immersive style, your character needs to rest
con : if you get tired mid quest, get ready to stare a few minutes at the screen while musashi straight up takes a nap in front of you.

pro : npcs react to time and day.
con : same problem with the time, the town can be blowing up but they will take their sweet nap and give you the mission in the morning, the npcs will also lock you into their dialog without you being able to skip it, that means sitting through a 20 second dialog box every time you go buy some C-drink to heal.

pro : zelda style, exploration is the key
con : who said you need to know how to design a zelda game to make one ? just throw a bunch of missions on random places and let the player search the entirety of the map, even if some missions are time based, i'm sure that will sell our latest guide magazine (and apparently it did )

i could go on, combat being simple buttom mashing, you being able to take enemy powers to progress but having to sit through almost 40 seconds of a dialog box explaining to you how the power works regardless if you've seen that dialog box 100 times already.
the game has secrets, but not in the metroidvania sense that you get stronger, no no the secrets are for story progression, who makes these ??
the last boss is also a joke, know his patterns and you can cheese him by attacking before he can go to the next animation.

but, despite all that, what carried it for me was the extremelly charming cutscenes, voice acting, fun npcs and puns, lots of them, this game has some amazing personallity under this cryptic monster of a guide selling design.
this is a example of a game that i wish had a remake to iron out these mistakes and make a 10\10 experience, because the style is already there, but its not that it lacks foundation, its that the foundation is poor and might break any time, most of the reviews treat it as such a masterpiece yet a lot of them say things like ''best game ever, never beat it tho''

I'm gonna be completely honest about this game, I LOVED IT, but it has a BIG problem. It's difficulty design...
Hear me out, this game has long ass dungeons, some of them are criptic and you have to figure out yourself how to beat them. Nothing problematic for sure, BUT, you literally have 1 save point, the inn.
So, the developers expects you to wander around most of the dungeons, like a decapitated chicken, busting your brains out figuring what to do or getting annihilated with the difficulty of some other dungeons, being because of some op enemies or because poor plataforming, and if you die YOU HAVE TO START FROM THE INN ALL OVER AGAIN.
And I know that the checkpoint chests exists, still they are pretty far away from some difficult dungeon parts, and if you die you'll have to start slightly closer than in the inn.
And talking about criptic, how the hell are you suppose to know how to beat the final boss? I had to look it up and there's no way someone could beat that without a guide.

Like I dunno to which audience this game aims, you would think it would be for childrens because of the goofy and cute dialogue and aesthetic, but then they kill you with it's brutal game design.

Still, even after all this rant I still enjoyed and loved this game, it has a lot of possitives too, from charming characters, to unexpected twists and really good mechanics for it's time.
If you love classic action RPGS and specially if you love Squaresoft games, then I recommend it to you, if I wasn't trying to be objective this game would be a 4 to me.
But if you play it, please, do it with save states and a guide if you respect your time.

One small extra rant WITH SPOILERS:
I don't get why they choose to put those loser thieves as bosses instead of Bubbles, Gingerelle and Roothrick (although I enjoyed Topo's fight).
Like Jon saved those guys from poverty, why would he risk their lives? wasted potential...

Gameplay: Very good
Story: Somewhat childish but good
Music: Quite good
Replayable: A little bit
Streamed: Yes

Squaresoft unleashed what appeared to be a brawler-esque action-RPG with Brave Fencer Musashi, but the shallow combat and frantic scenes of its opening chapter are misleading: Theirs is de facto an action-adventure game that takes on many forms, graced by Square's elaborate production and a cheeky sense of humor. To start with, Musashi's flippant remarks and the caricatures surrounding him give an original twist to the format, defining a sort of over-the-top version of Alundra (and Link's Awakening by extension) as the former works a variety of odd-jobs around town. Variety is also the keyword for its gameplay. Far from just fighting and exploring, their dungeons contain all sorts of clever scenarios, utilizing bits of 3D platforming, Zelda-like tools & puzzles and some tough minigames, before concluding with tense (if occasionally unfair) boss battles. Its systems are equally as diverse, and the most unusual of the bunch: Skill mimicry a la Kirby, use-based stat exp and (above all) an in-game clock that affects everything from shops, area access, villager behavior, objectives, unlocks and even a fatigue system. If gameplay polish is not exactly their strong point, they at least excel at cross-pollinating genres and mechanics.

Progression is more of a mixed blessing - however. While getting lost is very likely - mainly due to the camera's short range and the lack of a permanent map, they offer a lot more clarity in terms of tasks and item usage, often guiding/instructing the player via menus or NPCs. In other words, there's difficulty in 'where to go' but rarely in 'what to do'. Only the final dungeon veers into truly vague and frustrating territory, and that's enough to end the playthrough on a sour note. But for the most part, each of these ideas coalesce into a lively, sprawling work that - in a sense, acts as a bridge between the RPG-spoofing of Mother and the incendiary whimsy of Disgaea.

Well, it managed to be an experience to say at least. I feel like I could've appreciated this game more had I played it when it first came out, but I never did and now over 20 years later it's showing it's age pretty badly.

Mushashi starts out really solid, the first chapter is truly a blast to play through. There's some basic high-action platforming, easing into the game's unique assimilation-mechanic, cool robot boss and a kickass soundtrack. However, after the tutorial ends you find yourself in a somewhat open world with day/night - cycle, exhaustion bar and a goal to save the world.

Now, the RPG elements didn't bother me that much. They were hindrances at times, but it was easy to play around them and the game didn't really punish you for taking some prolonged tlc breaks. It kinda left them feel pointless if I'm completely honest, but at least it was nice to have an option to skip the time until the village's fishmonger does his midday butt-scratching and progresses story.

What really annoyed me was the platforming. Musashi really suffers from the early 3D-platforming with stupid camera angles and confusing hitboxes. On top of that, every time you jump in this game, the character does this little slide upon landing, which can sometimes throw you off the platform completely. Then, just as you're ready to pass on the game, it gives you double jumping, which makes platforming so easy you wonder if the devs realized how janky it was and decided to give you a break.

Musashi also really drags during the middle parts, especially in chapter 4 and 5. The story introduces new characters for the sake of introducing new characters to the plot and the fetch quests are really starting to grind at that point. Fortunately the last level brings it all around with the same type of action you saw in the first chapter and manages to make the game end on a high note. Musashi also has a banger of a soundtrack worth checking out.

Really soulful ARPG from Square. It's pretty awkward at times but has so much personality. I really like the time progression system even if it led to some annoyances, I like the immersive feeling of knowing how long an area took my hero to complete, and that aspect is something pretty largely ignored in most RPGs.

Chapter 3 is a bit of a low point, with a lot of really difficult platforming right before you unlock a powerup that really helps you with platforming, but everything else is pretty fun and Chapter 6 is a particular highlight, with a really awesome final dungeon.

Overall once you can get past some of it's PS1 jank, this game is really good and well worth playing, even the story has some interesting beats (though seriously wtf was the point of Kojiro lol)

Not a bad way to spend a couple days.

Just as 1987 and 1988 seemed to be the peak years of sidescrolling action/adventure games in the vein of Zelda 2, 1997 to 1998 seemed to be the peak of 3D action/adventure games in the style of Ocarina of Time (though I use both Zeldas here as simple examples, as Nintendo certainly didn't invent either genre). Konami had Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon, Nintendo had Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Capcom had Mega Man Legends, and SquareSoft had Brave Fencer Musashi. Though it's in a similar genre to those other three games, there is a decidedly SquareSoft twist to the formula, as you would certainly expect from them. This was another game I got relatively far in (about halfway through) as a kid, but I ended up putting it down and just never going back to it for some reason or another. This time I was determined to see the game to its conclusion, though, and in the course of about 13.5 hours, I beat the second game based (extremely loosely) on Miyamoto Musashi I've played in the past six or so months XD

The story takes place in the Yakuinikku kingdom, where while the king and queen are on vacation, they find themselves under attack by the Ru Koaaru Empire. In dire straights, they decide to use the princess's magic to summon the legendary hero Musashi, who had saved the kingdom from the king of darkness over a hundred years ago. Upon his successful summoning, however, they find that he's a bit more pint-sized than they imagined him to be, and with a pretty smart mouth as well. Even though the princess ends up getting kidnapped, Musashi sets off on a mission to save her (even if it's mostly only to let him return home to his own world) by finding the five seals of the five rings (a reference to the real life Musashi) and defeating their five guardians. Very much like Mega Man Legends or Mystical Ninja, this game's story is mostly here to be entertaining, and while it might not be quite as memorable as Mega Man, it still manages to be pretty good fun and packed with silly puns and larger than life, buffoonish characters. It does a fine job of setting the stakes and making the world itself a compelling place to explore and fight in.

And fight in this world you absolutely will, as this is an action adventure game! Unlike Ocarina of Time or Mega Man Legends, however, this is a top-down game more like a traditional 2D Zelda rather than a 3D Zelda. There's enough jumping and platforming to put it firmly into the 3D genre rather than the 2D one, but the overall design philosophies veer harder towards something older despite it coming out in 1998. Not that that's a bad thing, as Musashi uses his two swords (another iconic bit referencing the historical figure) to do various combos and deal out magical attacks using the seals you've broken. There's even a system of hurling one of your swords into an enemy to absorb its power to give yourself a special magic attack! There are also the many villagers and workers in the castle who've been kidnapped and hidden in crystals for you to find out in the world. Not only will they be grateful for you saving them, but every one you save increases your magic meter a little, and some will even craft you special upgrades or teach you new combos~.

However, for whatever Musashi has in flavor and style, it also ends up having quite the amount of baggage trying to juggle and balance all of those different pieces. While the game is solidly enough put together, it's often too focused on gimmicks or just too poorly signposted, and it gets in the way of the adventure and the fun. There are some really annoyingly difficult vehicle sections, a hell of a final gauntlet to the final boss, a money system that's almost useless because there's almost nothing to buy, a really annoying day/night system with almost no meaningful purpose, and some really awkward platforming puzzles you're forced to do several times to pad out the playtime. That's only naming the bigger problems off the top of my head, but that's not even an entirely exhaustive list. This game is most certainly a PS1-era SquareSoft product in how it's entertainingly written and has ambitiously designed systems, but it's also a SquareSoft production in how just how much of that stuff tends to trip over itself as a result of its ambition.

The presentation of the game is very good, as one would expect from a SquareSoft game of this era. The characters are colorful and easily recognizable despite their small sizes, the enemy design is memorable, and the music is quite good too. None of it is my favorite in particular of a SquareSoft PS1 game, sure, but it's all very well done and none of it feels like it's only their B-team effort or anything.


Verdict: Recommended. There's a lot to enjoy in Musashi, but there's also a lot to complain about. This is definitely more along the lines of "cool but significantly flawed" that Mystical Ninja: Starring Goemon is than the sort of timeless classic that Mega Man Legends is. If you're into retro 3D action/adventure games, than this is definitely one you should check out, as Musashi definitely does more right than it does wrong despite all its problems. However, if the awkward nonsense that retro games are so often full of bother you to a significant point, then you are likely going to not enjoy your time with this game very much and will feel your time well wasted as a result of trying it.

An immensely cute and sassy Zelda-esque style adventure featuring a little purple haired samurai and a lot of goofy characters. The game hits the ground running, introducing all your mechanics and your main villain in a nice 5-10 minute opening. One of the core mechanics in this is the ability to absorb your enemy's abilities and use them yourself, which is both beneficial for combat and puzzle solving.

The game is quite slow and platforming is not its strong suit. It often likes to backtrack on specific events to do them multiple times which feels like padding more than actual progression, which I find very tedious.

However a lot of its frustrations and long stretches of running around are ammended by having fantastic presentation, (mostly) decent boss fights, and humor that's so immensely part of 1990s anime dub culture that it carries the game into its cult classic status. A unique little gem of a game that deserves a look if you need a fun action-adventure for a weekend.