In celebration of 200 more followers in the JCDetona's blog, I make a review of Muramasa: The Demon Blade, for the Wii.
The game developed by Vanillaware for Nintendo's white console is surely one of the best experiences of the seventh generation of consoles.
The Wii, due to the phenomenon that was at its peak, received an absurd amount of junk. However, it is also notable that he has received a series of very well-finished pearls, which have proved impressive for a console with technical capability so inferior to its competitors. One of them is Muramasa: The Demon Blade, which in a time when redeeming 2D gameplay was not yet so common, it came to Nintendo's white console with an interesting proposal.
The game is divided into two protagonists, the princess Momohime and the ninja Kisuke, each with their respective plot lines. In the case of the girl, she is possessed by a spirit called Jinkuro. Momohime then becomes a soul without body, who accompanies Jinkuro in his quest for a sword capable of making him leave his hostess in exchange for a more powerful one. Kisuke, in turn, is an amnesiac ninja and, like every individual in this condition, is unable to accurately remember his past, but knows that he has been given orders to steal a certain sword while running away from other ninjas in pursuit.
The story is actually quite intricated and more complex than that, since the plot of the two characters crosses all the time and gradually it is made clear that their background is more intertwined than it appears. Muramasa's differential, however, is instead of delimiting a linear narrative whose two cores would intersect, here it is possible to individually choose each of these character lines and follow them each in the player's rhythm.
It is interesting how this was also transposed to the gameplay. The title counts on a gigantic general map in two dimensions that can be explored by the player to be able to advance in the game. For both characters, the map is exactly the same, but with some sections unique to each, with different approaches for each. While Momohime leaves from the east to the west, Kisuke tracks the opposite way, causing at various moments, the characters end up crossing in certain locals, as in the bathrooms.
The gameplay follows a hack and slash style, in which the characters move smoothly while they tear apart the enemies. Although they have wavered and made the two characters essentially equal in their attributes - they could have made different game styles for each one, for example in order to diversify the gameplay - it is notable that each has access to a variety of swords with different forces and techniques that can be forged in a skill tree in case the player meets the level requirements and materials for that. In addition to being different sizes from one another (which alters the speed of blows, for example), the katanas each have their secret art that manifests itself in a variety of ways, such as invoking electric balls around the player or in wind projectiles which hit more distant enemies.
Because each of these weapons has its attack power, it is not uncommon for us to leave some more powerful swords aside to continue with some particular secret art that turns out to be more practical. It is possible to equip up to three swords at a time, which can be alternated during fights. Eventually, they may end up breaking if they receive a lot of damage, and as long as they recover, the player needs to use another to deal with the message. It is also interesting that the skill trees of Momohime and Kisuke also end up intersecting, being possible to release some special swords that are worth to both if some prerequisites are fulfilled.
Visually, Muramasa is wonderful. With scenarios inspired by Japanese feudal art in a softer and less tiring way than other games that have done the same before - yes, Okami (Multi), I'm talking to you - it's possible to be impressed with each new session of the map that is released, with daytime, nighttime scenarios; external, internal; urban and rural areas; each with its own personality. Bosses and other characters around the world also exude life the way they move.
Studio Vanillaware did a great job on this graphical aspect, considering that in a context of the history of ultra-realistic 3D games, they knew that it would be much harder to impress with a 2D look. It is not uncommon to find ourselves contemplating the scenarios and sprites of the characters instead of progressing in the story. It's just a shame that as the Wii had some problems with the high definition issue, in some plays of the game it ends up looking a little blurry due to the forced upscale.
After all, it is remarkable that Muramasa still has some problems. One is precisely the fact that the story at certain times simply become such a tangled mess that the player will simply advance it without understanding at all. Although your understanding is not at all necessary to have fun with the game itself, it still ends up bothering a little something that could be even better. In addition, in the final stretch, the fighting becomes a bit tiring because it becomes repetitive. However, none of these hindrances ultimately undermine the experience provided by the Vanillaware title.
In time, it is worth remembering that the game still received a port for PlayStation Vita. Titled Muramasa Rebirth, in addition to following the stories of Kisuke and Momohime, four much shorter stories were incorporated into the game by DLC, each with its own character. This version hit stores in 2013, four years after its original counterpart.
The Wii, despite its success, ended up being very stigmatized in the gamer community as a device jammed with titles of children's appeal and nothing that can be considered hardcore, however much that concept is completely relative and that such classification does not make a bit of sense . The true experts know, however, that there are a number of fantastic games for the device and that they should not at all in relation to the titles of such super-machines of the competition, being Muramasa: The Demon Blade one of the greatest representatives of this thought.