Muramasa: The Demon Blade – Gorgeous in Style But Lacking Some Substance

In 2009 Vanillaware’s Muramasa: The Demon Blade was one of the most hotly anticipated titles on the Wii. Not only did Muramasa promise to appeal Wii owners looking for something beyond mediocre shovelware releases it also had some of the slickest 2D visuals around. The core gamers who owned Wii finally had a challenging game to play in the form of a side-scrolling action JRPG. Muramasa easily delivers on the visuals and action but it sadly falls short of complete excellence in other areas. Gameplay repetition and the story are where the game really lacks depth. Despite its flaws Muramasa: The Demon Blade is still worth checking out for Wii owners who are interested in both action RPGs and feudal Japan.

Muramasa is a game that is split into two distinct stories that occasionally overlap. “Muramasa: Ninja Scroll of the Demon Blade” focuses on Kisuke, a young ninja. One day Kisuke wakes up and has no memory of his past and is being pursued by his former comrades for a crime he doesn’t remember committing. Although he has no knowledge of his past Kisuke is able to use a powerful sword fighting style known as “Oboro.” The young ninja is determined to regain his memories and is soon approached by a shape shifting fox named Yuzuruha. The fox takes the form of a beautiful woman and grants Kisuke the power to forge Muramasa demon blades. She also guides him on his quest to find a powerful Muramasa sword while seeking to recover his lost memories.

“Muramasa: Pandemonium of the Demon Blade” tells the story of Momohime, the young princess of Narukami. On one fateful night she and her fiancé, Yagyu Yukinojyo, are walking alone near the palace gate when a demon tries to posses Yukinojyo. Momohime throws herself in front of him and is possessed instead. In actuality the demon is the soul of a corrupt swordsman named Izuna Jinkuro. Jinkuro mastered the “Oboro” sword technique and cut down his teacher shortly after perfecting his skills. In order to achieve immorality Jinkuro uses the technique of transferring his soul from living body to living body. He discovers he is unable to posses anyone else while in control of Momohime’s body. Jinkuro effectively holds her soul hostage and uses her to complete his goal finding the ultimate Muramasa blade.

I found Momohime’s story to be the stronger of the two stories. Not only was Kisuke’s story weaker but I found myself completely indifferent to his plight, even when he regained his memories. An Iga ninja in search of a powerful sword is a plot that has been done to death in various Feudal Japan stories. Alternatively, Jinkuro’s control of Momohime’s body and the two of them starting to trust each other made for an interesting plot. Despite my interest in Momohime’s story I found the overall story in Muramasa to be one of its weaker points. Any excitement I had for the game’s plot was quickly extinguished by the dull dialogue and the long periods of repetitive gameplay between plot points. There were very few notable plot twists, amazing moments, or anything remotely memorable about the game’s story. The game’s plot basically took a backseat to the gameplay and mechanics. While some RPG fans may find the approach to be disappointing action game fans probably won’t mind.

Unlike many localized RPGs Muramasa does not have a dub. Unfortunately Ignition Entertainment’s translation and localization work on Muramasa is lackluster. Much of the dialogue was dull and barely interesting. I actually found myself indifferent to plights of various characters. Fans that played the game in Japanese noted much of Muramasa’s colorful language was lost in translation. Being unable to speak Japanese I’ll personally never know what exactly was lost or if a better localization would have made the dialogue better. Dialogue issues aside, Ignition could have done a lot work in other places. One particular peeve of mine was when you often ran out of space for certain items in your inventory. For example, instead of reading “You can no longer carry anymore tiger pellets,” sentences always read “You can no longer carry anymore items,” regardless of what the item was. Not only was the lack of clarification confusing but I had to keep a constant eye on the inventory to know which item slots were full. While Ignition’s work on Muramasa isn’t terrible I couldn’t help but feel Xseed would have done a better job with the localization if they hadn’t lost the original rights.

Swordplay and sword collecting are major parts of Muramasa’s game mechanics. There are 108 various katana and nodachi swords to be collected, forged, and wielded. However players are limited to only being able to equip three swords at any given time. Every sword has its own health meter. Once the health meter is depleted the sword will break in battle. Taking damage from enemies and using “Secret Arts” (special magic techniques unique to each sword) also depletes the meter. Once a broken sword is returned to its sheath it immediately begins to heal. The real fun in battle comes from balancing regular slash attacks with Secret Arts to quickly dispatch enemies.

Like any RPG experience points are rewarded upon winning a fight. However Muramasa is somewhat unique in that point are gained by dispatching enemies in interesting ways. Finishing a fight quickly, repelling attacks, and even eating copious amounts of food in battle can bring extra experience. Leveling up determines a character’s HP, strength, and vitality, while equipped swords determine attack power. Certain amounts of strength, vitality, and souls (which are collected while exploring) are needed in order to forge many of the swords found within the game. The characters themselves don’t actually learn any combos or abilities beyond what they already know at the start of the game. I found the system of relying on Secret Arts be fun but some fans might be put off the lack of variation.

Muramasa has two difficulty settings, Muso (Easy) and Shura (Hard). The game itself describes Muso as being more RPG orientated while Shura is for hardcore action game fans. Players are allowed to switch between these modes at any time during the game. I personally found Muso to be extremely easy for everything in the game except for end-game random battles and many boss fights. I could easily spam Special Art techniques in lieu of any real skill. Shura on the other hand was extremely difficult. Not only did enemies have higher defenses but their attacks were much stronger. In order to barely survive fights found I had to use every skill and technique available to me. Even then my swords shattered faster than normal and I found myself running around defenseless. In short, I found easy mode lacked any real chall
enge and hard mode was brutally difficult. It would have been nice to have a normal setting that straddled both difficulties.

Overall I found Muramasa to be a lot of fun but the game still ended up being too repetitive for its own good. Constant backtracking through various areas and the lack of variety between Kisuke and Momohime’s fighting styles were the biggest offenders. Muramasa is split into 16 different locations on the world map and many of the locations are blocked off by colored barriers. The barriers must be destroyed by special swords that can only be obtained from bosses. You’ll spend much of your time crisscrossing the world map several times in order to progress. Many areas are only accessible to either Kisuke or Momohime until you clear the initial game with each character least once. After beating the game you’re able to explore previously unreachable areas. Unlocking new areas is somewhat of a mixed bag. You can warp to previously visited areas to access new areas and you can fight through each character’s bosses at any time. While the fights are not new they are a breath of fresh air from constant random battles and add replay value to the game.

Muramasa’s 2D graphics are nothing short of fantastic eye candy. Anyone who admires feudal Japanese aesthetics will certainly admire the artwork in this game. Each and every one of Muramasa’s backgrounds has been drawn in painstaking detail. Rural fields, open plains, buildings, caves, and even castle interiors are colorfully rendered and really pop off the screen. Backgrounds also move at a slower pace than the action in the foreground creating a 3D-like field of depth. While moving from area to area I often found myself completely immersed in the gorgeous backgrounds. The graphics are even more stunning when viewed on an HDTV even if the Wii itself isn’t capable of HD graphics.

Along with the graphics Muramasa’s music is easily one of the best aspects of the game. Hitoshi Sakimoto’s unique compositions really add a rich component to the game’s overall atmosphere. The songs are an interesting fusion of traditional Japanese music and contemporary music. Traditional strings, drums, and flutes are often accompanied by guitars riffs and even a light touch of rock. The combination may seem odd in writing but in practice Sakimoto’s compositions blend together extremely well. The blending is aided when slower paced traditional songs seamlessly transition into fast paced modern songs during battle segments. Muramasa’s soundtrack is unique in that it appeals to fans of both traditional Japanese music and modern music. I never found myself tired of listening to the beautifully immersive music.

Muramasa: The Demon Blade is a game that’s far from perfect. The game mechanics can quickly become repetitive and the constant backtracking is annoying. Kisuke and Momohime play exactly alike which only adds to the repetitious feel of the game. Furthermore, the barely interesting plot drags on for far too long at nearly 40 hours. Just to get Muramasa’s best endings you’ll have to defeat the game’s two final bosses three times each. Despite the flaws I had fun mastering sword techniques, fighting tough boss battles, and collecting new swords. Those aspects of the game easily outweighed the game’s repetitive elements. The beautiful 2D graphics are visually stunning and combine nicely with Hitoshi Sakimoto’s excellent soundtrack. The frenzied gameplay, visuals, and music are all good reasons to at least try the game once. If you’re a fan of arcade-style action RPGs and don’t mind the lack of a compelling story and somewhat shallow gameplay Muramasa is satisfying choice. If you prefer more depth to your RPGs you might want to simply rent this game or borrow it from a friend.