Muramasa: The Demon Blade

[hisak]

Hey, did you know that there's a completely awesome game hitting the Wii in just over six weeks? One that's garnered significant media attention and is a possible contender for several websites' Game of the Year award? One with "impressive for Wii" graphics and amazing artistic design? No?

I guess I'm out of touch with Nintendo titles

That's a shame.


Muramasa comes out on September 8. If you own a Wii and it's not on your radar, it really should be. It's supposed to be one of the best games of the year and is easily one of the best looking games on the system. It's a 2D action-adventure with RPG elements that takes heavy influence from Japanese history and mythology (I like to think of it as a 3D Okami). Muramasa is also a spiritual sequel to the PlayStation 2 cult favorite Odin Sphere. The European release date is currently set for November. It'll be a shame if another hardcore-oriented Wii game like this fails to sell, so be sure to pick it up if you have enough money.

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

The Wii's appeal to the casual market has meant it is all too easy for sneaky developers to make a quick buck out of mini-game compilations or licensed property that the inexperienced gamers will lap up quite happily. There's bloody hundreds of these shoddy titles on the shelves of our game stores and it makes me mad as hell.

Thankfully, there are still developers out there who are looking to push the technical limits of the Wii and produce a game that the 'real' gamers can enjoy. It looks like Vanillaware is one such developer. You certainly can't fault them for lazy presentation, with the game screaming quality in the characters, the backdrops, even the bridgework!

And it appears that there will be some decent gameplay to back that up, with the furious button bashing battles remind me a little of Viewtiful Joe - a series which it was recently reported is heading for the gaming graveyard. Judging from these 13 minutes of footage, there are some epic boss battles ahead which I only wish Nintendo would learn from. If you've got a mile long centipede, you want to chop it down inch by inch, not give it three strikes on a slightly soft underbelly.

This has certainly made its way onto my wishlist for November. Now, where's my big bag of money?

[hisak]

Judging from these 13 minutes of footage, there are some epic boss battles ahead which I only wish Nintendo would learn from. If you've got a mile long centipede, you want to chop it down inch by inch, not give it three strikes on a slightly soft underbelly.

Well, I have you agree with you here, but there are a lot of applications for puzzle-based bosses that can be exploited. Nintendo just hasn't done a fantastic job utilizing them recently.

Here's a new trailer. I love the way this game looks. It also sounds like the swordplay has enough complexities to keep the game from becoming a Subspace Emissary-esque repetitionfest.

I also like having the idea of one big overworld, as long as the back-tracking is done well and isn't just there to artificially lengthen the game.

[K-64]

I MAY get this if my HUGE backlog of games depletes by a considerable amount, then there are my other purchases. So not very likely for a long time

[hisak]

Another new trailer. This game still looks so. good. I'm considering finally upgrading my Wii to component video cables.

Unfortunately Scribblenauts will be eating my wallet first, so I might not get this game until October or around then.

[Twilight Wolf]

I liked this game from the moment I saw it in Nintendo Power however many months ago.  I will probably wait until Christmas to get it, being in college and having to devote time to studies and such. 

[Scott Shelby]

I'm not overly impressed. The one boss encounter shown (the centipedes) looked far too easy and boring. I like the art style of the game, but the A.I. and combat just looks lifeless. I'll wait for a more in-depth review/ gameplay trailer to get a better understanding of what the game offers, but at this point in time it doesn't look appealing.

[Trap7740723]

Most this stuff is tl;dr

So if this has been said, deal with reading it again.
Every think the possibility of good graphics is because Wii sucks with 3D things? Most those are way too choppy. 2D you can do easily with things like that.

[hisak]

The one boss encounter shown (the centipedes) looked far too easy and boring.

I don't know if it'll be difficult "enough" but there will be several difficulty settings.

Every think the possibility of good graphics is because Wii sucks with 3D things? Most those are way too choppy. 2D you can do easily with things like that.

I don't know. Obviously I haven't played it, but Monster Hunter Tri seems to have good graphics.