Muramasa: The Demon Blade

(Note: I chose not to score this game because I don't really believe in a number score.)

Most brawlers these days have more in common with God of War and Ninja Gaiden than they do traditional 2D beat ‘em ups of yesterday like Turtles In Time or Double Dragon. Vanillaware’s latest Wii effort, Muramasa: The Demon Blade, takes the core concepts that fuels today’s action games, and blends them seamlessly within a classic 2D environment, while at the same time manages to throw in a large helping of JRPG, and even a dash of Metroid to keep things interesting.

Since the game is mainly about fighting, you’d hope that it better be good, and in this case I believe Vanillaware nailed it. The game opens up with a quick tutorial showing players every single move available to them. At first it seems a little overbearing, but considering they’re showing you everything (minus special attacks that differ from sword to sword) it only takes a little while to adjust. Within a few hours, most players will likely be whizzing around the screen slashing up ninjas and monks in style. In an effort to add a bit of depth to the actual battles, players must juggle between three swords of choice, each with their own “health” meter. General use of the blade, by either attacking or blocking, slowly wears the meter down, and once it drops, the sword breaks. Thankfully the swords heal on their own, but there are plenty of times where bad guys will snap your blades with a single blow, rendering you almost useless in battle. It takes a bit of time getting used to checking on the different sword meters, but it adds a fun strategic variant to the fights.

The swords themselves all have different strengths and weaknesses, and come in either an easier to use lightweight blade (my personal choice) or a heavier long blade (which takes a bit more skill and patience to use). Outside of battles, which happen randomly like in a JRPG, players have the ability to forge new swords on the fly. Forging said swords uses a combination of souls, which are earned from fallen baddies, and spirit, which is gained from eating and cooking delicious food from items that are either picked up during play or bought from merchants.

The entire game is focused entirely around these core concepts, and rarely does it deviate from there. Is that enough to sustain an entire adventure? I think so, as I feel compelled to continue on with the experience after having finished the game with female lead Momohime. Currently, I’m about halfway through the game with male lead Kisuke, and have every intention of finishing up. While both characters control and perform moves exactly the same as one another, they each have their own unique (but slightly hard to follow) story lines, fantastic boss encounters, and separate paths through the game world.

Speaking of which, the game world takes a page from the Metroid school of design in that everything is all interconnected. Players have the ability to go where ever they want at will, though most of the exists are blocked by barriers that can only be knocked down by particular swords which are rewarded after boss encounters. On paper, this sounds great, but Vanillaware’s world is sprawling, becomes repetitive, and features no distinct level design what so ever outside of visuals. If it wasn’t for the fact that the game has an arrow pointing in the direction for the player to go, progress in this game would be absolutely impossible. Well, maybe not impossible, but there would be plenty of lost players. While the developers have an handy on screen map that overlays on top of the game screen, I found myself using it as a crutch way too often. I think I spent more time following my yellow dot run through boxes on the map than I did my actual character running through the environment, only to put my attention to the foreground once a battle commenced. Needless to say, the game has lots of extra padding that it doesn’t need.

The poor navigation through Muramasa’s world is the fundamental issue with the game. Between this and Odin Sphere, Vanillaware’s late great PS2 title, it is easy to see that while the team can absolutely nail deep and engaging combat, they know zero about level design. Players literally spend their time running through a series of interconnected boxes. Occasionally a screen will make use of some platforming, or may even introduce a hazard such as bamboo shoots popping up from the ground, but outside of that, there isn’t much else going on.

Had Vanillaware built a more focused game map worthy of Super Metroid or Symphony of the Night, we would have been looking at an instant classic. What we’re left with however, is a very capable, fun, and polished Wii effort worthy of anyone’s time that enjoys a good blood bath here and there…. sans any actual blood of course.

Score: 0.0