Muramasa was a highly acclaimed Wii game from Vanillaware of Odin Sphere (and now) Dragon’s Crown fame. It had high speed and fancy fight moves but was extremely challenging and had memorable characters. It now makes its transfer to Vita in HD with bright gorgeous graphics and two whole storylines to play through.
I played through Momohime’s (Peach Princess) storyline so my experience is based on that. Momohime is possessed by a spirit who wants the infamous Demon Blade and will cut anyone down in her path. She goes from Hell to Heaven and even cuts down gods. The game is 90% combat and man are it tough and fun. You can equip three different blades at once and switch between them with a triangle. When your blades are flashing you can press triangle to unleash a powerful full-screen attack. Each blade has their own special power which is key to winning hard fights. If you use the blade too much or block too often the blade will break and you will need to switch to a different on and wait for it to recharge. You can use whetstones to hasten this, but as you level up and forge new weapons they will break less often.
This is the basically all there is to combat: You press the attack or use special powers combined with directions. It may seem simple but the game is so tough you can’t just button mash. You have to use strategy mixing up dodges, blocking, special and regular attacks. The game constantly kept me on my toes and I had to learn every bosses’ moves and sometimes restarted dozens of times. When I finally beat a boss it was so satisfying. In between there’s some platforming and item hunting but you traveling from locale to locale and getting stopped by fights between each screen. I had a lot of navigating the gorgeous environments and even stopping to shop for health items and various other ones to help out in fights.
One other small feature is being able to cook with items you find. These are used to heal you which you will use often. Always make sure you are stocked on health items or you will never make it through the game. Outside of all the fighting, the dialogue is interesting and the Japanese voice acting is fantastic. The characters are memorable (I have already purchased a $145 figure of Kongiku) and you will stay hooked. With two stories to play through, there’s a lot of content here.
Vanillaware is known for their unique high-fantasy mixed with ancient Japanese art style and it really shines here. The game pops to life on the Vita’s OLED screen and just makes your eyes water it looks so crisp. The controls are perfect and extremely responsive, honestly, even though this is a port, it’s one of the best Vita games available right now. That makes two Vanillaware games on one system. If you love 2D games or action hack and slash games this is a must buy.
I played through Momohime’s (Peach Princess) storyline so my experience is based on that. Momohime is possessed by a spirit who wants the infamous Demon Blade and will cut anyone down in her path. She goes from Hell to Heaven and even cuts down gods. The game is 90% combat and man are it tough and fun. You can equip three different blades at once and switch between them with a triangle. When your blades are flashing you can press triangle to unleash a powerful full-screen attack. Each blade has their own special power which is key to winning hard fights. If you use the blade too much or block too often the blade will break and you will need to switch to a different on and wait for it to recharge. You can use whetstones to hasten this, but as you level up and forge new weapons they will break less often.
This is the basically all there is to combat: You press the attack or use special powers combined with directions. It may seem simple but the game is so tough you can’t just button mash. You have to use strategy mixing up dodges, blocking, special and regular attacks. The game constantly kept me on my toes and I had to learn every bosses’ moves and sometimes restarted dozens of times. When I finally beat a boss it was so satisfying. In between there’s some platforming and item hunting but you traveling from locale to locale and getting stopped by fights between each screen. I had a lot of navigating the gorgeous environments and even stopping to shop for health items and various other ones to help out in fights.
One other small feature is being able to cook with items you find. These are used to heal you which you will use often. Always make sure you are stocked on health items or you will never make it through the game. Outside of all the fighting, the dialogue is interesting and the Japanese voice acting is fantastic. The characters are memorable (I have already purchased a $145 figure of Kongiku) and you will stay hooked. With two stories to play through, there’s a lot of content here.
Vanillaware is known for their unique high-fantasy mixed with ancient Japanese art style and it really shines here. The game pops to life on the Vita’s OLED screen and just makes your eyes water it looks so crisp. The controls are perfect and extremely responsive, honestly, even though this is a port, it’s one of the best Vita games available right now. That makes two Vanillaware games on one system. If you love 2D games or action hack and slash games this is a must buy.
just rerelease it on modern consoles already
Excellent 2D hack'n'slash sidescroller. Game looks absolutely beautiful, oozing with detail from every single object. Music is outstanding, love how there's two versions of every area theme (one for traversal, and one for battle), and how they seamlessly transition between the two.
The stories are engaging, with really entertaining dialogue (fully-voiced to boot!), with a Kabuki Theatre-esque presentation to them.
Gameplay feels a bit mindless, but it's so frenetic and stylish that it never really got old for me. It also helps that every single weapon has its own unique special attack, letting you mix and match to your specific playstyle.
Biggest flaw with the game would have to be map traversal. Even after you unlock the ability to fast-travel between shrine savepoints in the postgame, running all the way across the map is legitimately exhausting, even if you don't run into enemy encounters (you will).
Overall, an extremely strong showing from Vanillaware, and one of those rare "you should own a Vita just to play this" games. The game desperately deserves a modern port.
The stories are engaging, with really entertaining dialogue (fully-voiced to boot!), with a Kabuki Theatre-esque presentation to them.
Gameplay feels a bit mindless, but it's so frenetic and stylish that it never really got old for me. It also helps that every single weapon has its own unique special attack, letting you mix and match to your specific playstyle.
Biggest flaw with the game would have to be map traversal. Even after you unlock the ability to fast-travel between shrine savepoints in the postgame, running all the way across the map is legitimately exhausting, even if you don't run into enemy encounters (you will).
Overall, an extremely strong showing from Vanillaware, and one of those rare "you should own a Vita just to play this" games. The game desperately deserves a modern port.
Muramasa gets a lot of things right, like its gorgeous art direction and satisfying combat. Unfortunately, its lacking a lot of depth to its gameplay and story to make it any more of a lasting experience.
ill start by saying what youre missing out on by playing rebirth instead of the demon blade
-they translated a lot of sword names and all the difficulty names, which is pretty dumb and detracts from the japanese style the game is going for
-having a big screen to truly appreciate the game on
other than that, this game is the definitive version of muramasa. all the new characters are fun and have unique and varied movesets. you get the updated textures as well, which is amazing considering how absolutely gorgeous the original game is.
if you dont have a vita, id recommend playing the demon blade for wii for now. the new content doesnt ineract with the older content at all, in fact by the game they're considered sort of as if theyre separate games.
overall, one of my favorite games and an absolute must play for literally any human being with a pulse.
-they translated a lot of sword names and all the difficulty names, which is pretty dumb and detracts from the japanese style the game is going for
-having a big screen to truly appreciate the game on
other than that, this game is the definitive version of muramasa. all the new characters are fun and have unique and varied movesets. you get the updated textures as well, which is amazing considering how absolutely gorgeous the original game is.
if you dont have a vita, id recommend playing the demon blade for wii for now. the new content doesnt ineract with the older content at all, in fact by the game they're considered sort of as if theyre separate games.
overall, one of my favorite games and an absolute must play for literally any human being with a pulse.
falling asleep just thinking about playing this game again
This is the first game from Vanillaware I beaten. And it was a really good start, the game is so gorgeous to look at and with lots of charm. The OST is pleasant and the rhythm is perfect, the game doesn't last more than it should. Not much I would change on it. Would maybe change the teleports to when you encountered a shrine and not as it is (all of them opens after you finish the game the first time). More weapon styles would be nicer too.
Absolutely gorgeous visuals that you would expect from Vanillaware, but the combat left me a little wanting. Still absolutely worth playing through (and should really be allowed to escape the Vita).
probably the most gorgeous game in existence. only played monohime’s route, might go back and do the other one at a later date
An essential title to play for the Vita. The first version for this game on Wii does not compare well, the Vita port is entirely improved upon, in both translation and gameplay aspects. The art is very crisp and beautiful. The soundtrack sets the tone well. I honestly want this to be available to play on the big Playstation consoles, but if you are lucky and have a Playstation TV, you can enjoy it on the big screen.
A breathtakingly gorgeous action side-scrolling game with a really cool sword-upgrade system that can even change your endings. I desperately need to replay this, but I wish this would get a Switch and/or PC port so I didn't have to play it on such a small screen.
I desperately pray this game doesn't die with the Vita, it deserves so much more.
I desperately pray this game doesn't die with the Vita, it deserves so much more.
A versão de Muramasa para Vita é definitivamente a versão definitiva, em relação à original, no Wii.
A bela arte visual e o combate fluido, somado ao enredo carismático e a temática folclórica japonesa que são de muito meu apreço são incapazes de contrapor o gameplay absurdamente repetitivo, de baixa criatividade em progressão e level design pobre.
É um desperdício um jogo tão charmoso e carismático se perder com um design tão simplório e maçante, apesar de funcional.
A bela arte visual e o combate fluido, somado ao enredo carismático e a temática folclórica japonesa que são de muito meu apreço são incapazes de contrapor o gameplay absurdamente repetitivo, de baixa criatividade em progressão e level design pobre.
É um desperdício um jogo tão charmoso e carismático se perder com um design tão simplório e maçante, apesar de funcional.