Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Wii)

 This is the tale of a little game for the Wii called Muramasa: The Demon Blade by Vanillaware (of Odin Sphere fame). I was initially going to write up my experiences with Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, but not only was that fairly disappointing… this game blows it out of the water.

Gameplay: One of the few Wii games that doesn’t utilize the Wiimote gimmick – and yes, that IS a gimmick. The movement is a bit wonky, but everything else makes the game very, very fluid. The sheer amount of swords that can be collected and forged makes it addicting and adds a great depth to the overall experience. It is extremely enjoyable to cut through demons, monsters, animals, and people, and ensuring you have the proper stats to make and equip a new blade means “grinding”, which is actually pretty spiffy.

Presentation: Easily the most gorgeous game on the Wii. Now, that doesn’t say much, except playing the game is like watching a freaking painting. It’s like you can see the brush strokes being added as you run along and kill ninja. The environments are extremely diverse and there are tons of additional weather effects – rain, snow, sunset, sunrise, wind, flaming backgrounds, color effects. Beautiful towns, forests, waterfalls, treetops, plains… here are some examples.

Story: Perhaps a bit disjointed and sometimes hard to understand (the dialogue is all in Japanese with English writing), given the quite literal translation it seems to have gotten. With two playable characters, each with a separate storyline, it’s still somewhat short. One character suffers from amnesia and is hunted by his former clan. Nothing new there. The other character shares her body with a demon’s spirit. That one’s a bit out there, but oddly, I’ve seen that idea more than once.

Fun Factor: How’s a [bleeping] three million out of ten grab ya? Easily switching between three blades at a time – each of the hundred plus blades having a distinct look and special attack – is effortless and adds a strategy. They can break, but not permanently, so one has to be careful. There’s a fair amount of backtracking, but there’s a lot of optional exploring a la Metroid that yields great rewards. Some might not find it worth the 50 dollar purchase price, solely due to the short runthroughs. I, however, am already thrilled that I made the right choice. The game is nothing short of a masterpiece, and I hope to get my grubby little mitts on a sequel soon.