Muramasa: The Demon Blade

[Devyn]

Seriously, this is the kind of game to play before you go to sleep. I know this game was hyped a good time ago, but I finally found it cheap, so I picked it up along with some cheap beer.. and wow, this game is beautiful. I was in the middle of a fight, and I almost forgot to stop fighting because I was staring at the background.

The game is really fun too. The first couple hours, I was like "Meh. This is alright" but then you realize that you can really power up and get the upper hand on enemies, much like an RPG. You realize that the system isn't empty and that the battle system and "level system" are integrated with the rest of the game. This game is just so well designed, and the backtracking doesn't bother you, because the vibe of the game is just so relaxing. Part old school Metroid, part old school Ninja Gaiden. Great stuff, and frikkin' gorgeous too. I don't even know how they did it. Wow. Does anybody else just dig the shit out of this game? That's why I made the thread. Frikkin' awesome. How could you not love this game?

[Dr.Flintlock]

Oh hell yes. I love this game something fierce. Its got some tight controls, slick visuals and a decent story that seems to compliment Japanese folklore rather well. I mostly like the fact that most actual fights only last maybe 20-30 seconds at most. Kinda makes you feel more lethal in that regard.

Also, as I've played Odin Sphere, the sister title to this game, I love the bosses this game has to offer. They kinda look like concept art ripped from an artbook, which is certainly a major plus.

I still haven't completed either of the storylines (I got caught up with Little King Story awhile back and now its way back on my backloggery), but I intend to finish it as soon as I get an opportunity to. Glad to see someone else appreciates this game. It kinda was a sleeper hit last yer. Although I think a lot of people were upset that it was only available on Wii.

[Gollgagh]

Although I think a lot of people were upset that it was only available on Wii.

well I certainly would have bought it were it not

[Dr.Flintlock]

well I certainly would have bought it were it not

Yeah, and I would've gotten Disgaea 3 had it come out for the Wii, but nooooo

[Gollgagh]

wouldn't have bothered me a bit if it were

[Flash Strife]

I beat the game with Kisuke the other day, which is rare since everyone picks Momohime.

Was good, though I played Muso mode and found it pretty easy. Even beat the giant octopus. Thinking of trying Shura when I do Momohime's half and Kisuke's other ending or endings. Hope it's not too hard, I hear there is no auto blocking in Shura mode.

[Schwaltzvald]

Would have picked up Muramasa had I been able to find it.

Then again I heard it ends too quickly so...

I will say though the art I find for it is quite pleasant to the eyes. :wink:

As for Disgaea 3 flintlock, if you were expecting it to be different from the first two games, you shouldn't wouldn't bother; otherwise you'll enjoy it as much as the first two. Personally I enjoyed the series enough to get it as well a long time ago.

[The Mutericator]

I beat the game with Kisuke the other day, which is rare since everyone picks Momohime.

Was good, though I played Muso mode and found it pretty easy. Even beat the giant octopus. Thinking of trying Shura when I do Momohime's half and Kisuke's other ending or endings. Hope it's not too hard, I hear there is no auto blocking in Shura mode.

Only play Shura, it makes the game way more enjoyable and difficult. I played back and forth as both characters, one act each, with both on Shura... loads of fun, and now that someone's reminded me, I still need to do the secret cave against EVERY ENEMY IN THE GAME.

[BardicKnowledge]

This game is on my list to get during my next buying spree, probably late March. Too bad it'll have to compete with FF13 and Assassin's Creed 2 for playtime.

[Malaki-LEGEND.sys]

So many damned great games out on the Wii now and people still have that attitude. Oh well...

At any rate, now that the game hit my reasonable price range($30 or less), I'm definitely gonna be picking it up post haste as I missed Odin's Sphere on the PS2(another game I should grab off Amazon). I love the beautiful art direction and off beat style of both games. For some reason I feel like the game hearkens back to to Saga Frontier.

[AzureZeal]

I'm playing on Shigurui mode(your hp stays at 1HP). It gets challenging during the boss fights but it's still fun.

[Archaon]

"The Desmond Blade"?

OK. I now have to write a novel purely so that I can put a character called "Desmond Blade" in it.

[EC2151]

This game is indeed overlooked and lots of fun.

Great music, and really damn fun boss fights (like the Spider, or the samurai guy...), and of course, simply beautiful graphics and art design.

If this type of game was being made in 2D's heyday, it would have been hailed as a masterpiece.

Now it's more "Not 3D with guns so it sucks" or, more accurately "Not Carnival Games so it sucks"

Which is reflective in the sales. It's kinda sad.

I never got to beat Momohime's story (played only Kisuke on Muso before giving the game to my brother before he left for college cuz he wanted to play it), so I had a fairly easy time... Until I played Momohime on Shura, and was consistently getting my ass kicked (that Wheel.... FFFFFFFFFF-).

[zykO]

i'm sold. i'm gonna try it out.

[Thalzon]

A great game indeed, but I'm a pussy and play the easy mode. Say what you will, but I still find it a good challenge. Besides, Odin Sphere's easy mode was friggin' crazy.

Anyway, so far I've beaten all of Kisuke's bosses with Momohime (heh, Momohime = Princess Peach), and am working towards beating all of Momohime's bosses with Kisuke. Muramasa's definitely in my personal top 10 wii games.

Although, the story could've been less dry...

[Devyn]

Haha, sometimes I switch to the easy mode. I wish there were something in between.... Oh well, I think I'm ready to play again. I like how the music changes in different areas. Very old school, and not in a cheap only-for-nostalgia way.

[Dr.Flintlock]

One thing about this game I found extremely interesting is that they chose to deliberately leave out an English dub. If you play this title, you're reading subtitles unless you understand Japanese well enough. This is something you don't see very often with games of this nature. Usually a dub is put together, even if its not that good, and people complain about the original dialogue being "better".

So in this regard, the developers skipped all that nonsense, and just gave people who play this sort of game what they'd want from the get-go.

Kind of a way to scare away more casual individuals, but what can you do?

On that note however, I will say that the subtitles and the pacing of the spoken dialogue don't really match up. On particularly long cutscenes, I found myself skipping through the actual voiced stuff, just because I could read faster, and it seemed my protagonist liked to pause. after. every. word.

Minor nitpick and definitely not a game-breaker.

[Strike911]

Yeah, the English translation is pretty bad. I was reading a guy's blog that spoke Japanese and he said that the English translation is bare minimum, and you can tell even if you don't speak Japanese just by how short the text is. Furthermore, the character's personalities are completely devoid of emotion. The Japanese voice acting is highly emotional and personality filled, but that just doesn't come across in the poorly written translation. It's frustrating to think that a better translation could have made an already great game that much greater...

I loved every minute of Muramasa. I bought it back when it first came out. Went through and got all the swords and secrets. It was one of the few games as of late that I felt compelled to complete 100%, and that's really rare as of late for me.

The art style is great and the music is fantastic. If you don't own it, you should. :]

[The Mutericator]

I'm glad I'm not the only one that noticed that the subs were pretty minimalistic. I can't speak Japanese, but I've watched enough subs that I can tell the mismatches when I see them.

[Gasaraki]

Yeah, the English translation is pretty bad.

Yeah considering how heavily Odin Sphere and Grim Grimoire relied on great dialog to tell it's story well, Ignition REALLY messed up with their translation in that sense.

The stories in the two previous games really moved me and were at least half the reason I absolutely LOVED them, so it's just aggravating to see Muramasa not get the same high quality treatment. Those games both had incredible dubs too.

There's a sweet Momohime figure coming out in July too:

http://akibahobby-c2.sakura.ne.jp/image/20100208/a028.html

http://akibahobby-c2.sakura.ne.jp/image/20100208/a030.html

[Hawkwing]

Digging up a really old thread to say that I picked this game up, and it is PHENOMENAL.

Granted the dialogue may be lacking, and I can definitely tell they left a lot out in the translation. The battle system is amazing, the sword creation system lets you get an upper hand on enemies and bosses. I love the sealed monster tree trunks. They're actually challenging and you have to plan out which swords you're taking in with you, and what food to cook before you go in.

Artwork is amazing, and I find myself button mashing during some battles just to stare at the background.

I definitely vote this as one of my top 5 Wii games.

[Gollgagh]

tbh whenever I get around to actually getting a wii, this is the game that I will buy it for

[Salluz]

Ooh, never played it, I'll consider it. Checklist!

[EC2151]

I still need to get the real ending of the game.

But Momohime's Shura mode is fucking hard... ;_;

[Hawkwing]

Once I get to the actual final ending, I'll go back through and do it on Shura mode. I figured going through once will give me a better understanding of how to go through it on Shura mode. I did Monohime's story second, and I think her abilities are a lot more interesting than Kisuke's.