Topic: Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Oboro Muramasa Youtouden)

[GoldenPhoenix]

It's the new king of style over substance.

We aren't talking about Killer7, were talking about Muramasa

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Don't bring up off-topic things.  We were discussing that Muramasa was "mash A to see your $50 worth of 2D sprites."

[noname2200]

"It doesn't hold up compared to the boss battles.  The normal enemies only pose an actual threat to you if you aren't paying attention or if they're all ganging up on you at once such as when you're fighting off 100 of them in sequence.  An example of this is when you're fighting Ninjas that are spread out over a map, who like to throw bombs out as well as Shuriken and occasionally chains.  If you don't remember to hit low to hit the bombs as well, you can easily kill the enemy and then get hit by the bomb explosion.  Otherwise, you're mashing the A button to utter victory without even really trying"

Amazingly, this sounds like a shoot'em-up rather than a platformer.  Waves of enemies that fall easily but set you up for small mistakes, while serving as sources for level score/point generation.  Not sure that I'm drawn to this mix.  I'm also not a fan of Capcom VS.-style hyper-animations.

To be honest, I'm not sure I can recommend this game as a $50 purchase.  It's truly a gorgeous game and I have a lot of fun playing it, but the gameplay is extremely shallow and the story's pretty poorly told (which is wierd for how much emphasis the plot gets).  It's a great rental, but I don't think this mix of gameplay is worth a purchase till it drops another $10-$20.

That's pretty much was I was afraid of. Thanks: I'll just add it to the list of "wait 'til it hits $20." Too bad too, because I really like Marvelous and would have liked to "support" them by buying their game, futile as the gesture would be.

[that Baby guy]

Funny, I bought the game at Best Buy, and it did cost $40, not $50.

However, the game is supposed to play completely differently based on which mode you choose:  It's actually a difficulty setting.  Muso mode has you automatically block attacks when possible, and the amount of damage enemies do is relatively minimal.  Shura mode is by far more difficult, and enemy groups can deal anywhere from 1/4 to 1/10 of your health per hit.

Either I'm terrible at the game, or when I enter a new area, enemies are actual threats to kill you.  Since you instantly revive in the same room you died in, they're no real threat, but still, they can do great damage.  Those monster lairs with 100 enemies really require you to identify and understand the best way to avoid one particular kind of enemy, which can be very difficult in some cases.

I'd say it's worth it, so long as you don't play wimpy on Muso mode, and instead choose Shura.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

"I'd say it's worth it, so long as you don't play wimpy on Muso mode, and instead choose Shura."

So the game is preset to run in CASUAL MODE like Metroid Prime 3 is?  HOLY ****, that's an important detail!

Why aren't more players bringing attention to this?  If it weren't for the excessive smearing cloudy-black damage animation effects, I'd pick this game up eventually.

[that Baby guy]

Well, the game doesn't advertise it's easy mode.  You choose which mode to play at the beginning.  It says something like the mode "...has a focus on attacking."  For the Shura mode, it says it has a focus on dodging and evading, or something like that.  I chose Shura mode, because it looked more difficult.  The two can be changed at any time during the game.  Apparently a more difficult "1-HP" type of mode, where any attack can kill can be unlocked by beating the game with the Shura mode on, I believe.

[Elixir]

Seems like Vanillaware ran over some peoples' dogs, because I am not really sure where are all these negative comments are coming from, nor think they are deserved.  The fighting is simple, but dangerously addicting (20 hours in and still not getting old to me), and the story is really quite cute.  I do wonder, however, if *end game spoilers* these people bothered getting the extra endings.  The story does not end with the final boss on either side.  And the presentation is obviously pure class, but that is besides my point.

Any self-respecting action game fan NEEDS to buy this game.  At full price.  Right now.

[GoldenPhoenix]

I agree Elixir, the game is fantastic and well put together. The visuals are stunning, the controls are solid, the fighting is fun, and it some really cool boss battles.

[Dirk Temporo]

I give this game a rating of "Dope as hell/10"

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

If I buy this today, I can play this in January.

Win/win situation?

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

I bought this a couple weeks ago, played an hour of it, Shura mode only.  I'm not very drawn to it from that short time.  The first boss was enjoyable, involving more pseudo-platforming and adaption, but the regular swarms haven't been interesting.  Slashy combo combat and animation is inherently exciting, but I feel like my job is to keep the combo going and move across the screen as some infinite combo blob, such that projectiles won't hurt me.  Not exactly what I want out of games, as I appreciate more exchange/adaptation with opponents and platforming as a means of defense.

I'm not sold on the visuals.  Backgrounds and individual sprites are great, but the low-frame-count vector-type Flash-style animations stand out and aren't pleasing when laid over the flowing high framerate of the scrolling backgrounds.

Not pleased with the controls in a platformer context.  Biggest offender is the lack of a jump button; never liked pushing up to jump.  Some analog sensitivity to aid animation transitions and other tweaks would've been appreciated to better adapt the feel to the Wii-Chuk control scheme, to avoid the "floaty" feel and other things.

It also doesn't help that I spent some time with Viewtiful Joe a few days before I bought this, tho I wasn't my intention to create a comparison.

Seems like a great sidescroller game for the "Capcom VS." crowd, but I'm in no hurry to play more of it.  Deadly Creatures and LKS are high up in the queue.

[GoldenPhoenix]

I bought this a couple weeks ago, played an hour of it, Shura mode only.  I'm not very drawn to it from that short time.  The first boss was enjoyable, involving more pseudo-platforming and adaption, but the regular swarms haven't been interesting.  Slashy combo combat and animation is inherently exciting, but I feel like my job is to keep the combo going and move across the screen as some infinite combo blob, such that projectiles won't hurt me.  Not exactly what I want out of games, as I appreciate more exchange/adaptation with opponents and platforming as a means of defense.

I'm not sold on the visuals.  Backgrounds and individual sprites are great, but the low-frame-count vector-type Flash-style animations stand out and aren't pleasing when laid over the flowing high framerate of the scrolling backgrounds.

Not pleased with the controls in a platformer context.  Biggest offender is the lack of a jump button; never liked pushing up to jump.  Some analog sensitivity to aid animation transitions and other tweaks would've been appreciated to better adapt the feel to the Wii-Chuk control scheme, to avoid the "floaty" feel and other things.

It also doesn't help that I spent some time with Viewtiful Joe a few days before I bought this, tho I wasn't my intention to create a comparison.

Seems like a great sidescroller game for the "Capcom VS." crowd, but I'm in no hurry to play more of it.  Deadly Creatures and LKS are high up in the queue.

Not surprising, the game got a positive response overall so obviously you wouldn't like it!

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

I'm so out of touch with that shrinking gamer audience.

What's it like to be buddies with Ian?

[that Baby guy]

Seems like a fair, objectionable assessment of the game to me.  It hits everything about the game that you'd find in a few hours of play, and for the most part, that hasn't changed from the beginning to the middle.

[BeautifulShy]

Is this game out in Europe? If so does any of our European friends have it?

[Dasmos]

Na, it's not out until November.

[Amy01]

Hi guys,

I'm trying to get some feedback on this game from the people that play it, it's not out in the UK yet but if anyone's played the Japanese/US version or seen the trailers etc, I'd be interested to know what you think of it!

Thankyou!

[BlackNMild2k1]

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/forums/index.php?topic=22159.0

[Amy01]

thanks for moving it, i couldn't find this thread!

[Spinnzilla]

I <3 this game.  At first i thought the battles were going to get repeatitive, but the whole infinite combo system kept me going. 

Plus, i'm gah-gah over the art and visuals. 

[Kairon]

Anyone know how to get the final blade for the final secret ending? My brother's asking, it doesn't seem to be on gamefaqs yet.

This game crept up on him, it seems the sort of thing that's enjoyable in 40minute increments, but impossible to play for long periods of time. He compares it to a book that you enjoy reading one chapter of every night. It's not a page turner/all-nighter though, which is why it strangely uncompelling to people who've only played a little bit of it. Of course, since the game keeps your end-of-game progress for both characters after you beat it, you can easily switch between the two of them and work out the secret endings the game hints at.

Which brings me back to my original reason for posting here. Anyone know how to unlock the Muramasa Oboro blade? My brother says he can't for the life of him figure out how to unlock the four key blades that he needs before he can unlock what we believe to be the last secret ending.

[Kairon]

Also, just gotta say this, I've never seen a game that made food look so... so... good... as this game. It's a small touch, but dear god it's a wonderful and unique thing about this that they animated the jiggle of the tofu, the packing of the rice balls, and the lowering level of soup with such care and dedication.

[Halbred]

I'll definately buy this when it drops in price...which it will, because it's 3rd party, and appeals to a niche audience. $20 in 2010? A girl can dream!

[noname2200]

I'll definately buy this when it drops in price...which it will, because it's 3rd party, and appeals to a niche audience. $20 in 2010? A girl can dream!

What, you still think it'll be retailing for up to $20 by next month?