I'm so glad I remembered this game.
I knew of this game as a kid, I watched some youtuber play it, but I can't find who it was. I had always wanted to play it, but never got a chance to. Only a couple days ago, I remembered this game existed, and immediately went to play it.
And my god, was this game amazing. The combat is amazing, I love how fast paced it is, and being able to do crazy combos was absolutely thrilling. The bosses are really fun too, I was a bit worried that they would be tedious due to what seemed to be massive health bars, but honestly I never really noticed it that much.
This game also has a surprising amount of postgame content too, and I bet the postgame took up a 1/3 of my total playtime, and honestly they felt pretty worth it.
The sword-forging could be a little annoying when you're low on souls or spirit, but I really love it too, I love being able to make progress enough to craft a stronger sword, and at some point I eventually started to strategize which swords to get sooner rather than later.
I have to heavily emphasize the absolute greatness that is the art. Each environment is absolutely beautiful, and sometimes I just stood around, taking in the scenery. And I love how the monsters are designed too, they have a unique style I rarely see in other games. The music as well is great, and adds so much to the game as well.
I really hope this game gets a port or remaster at some point, it's well deserving of it, and I definitely think this game is very worth playing.

As you can tell by my username, I like this game a perfectly normal amount, I swear. It's deeply steeped in esoteric Buddhist lore, which is probably the most interesting thing about the game for me. One of my favorite things about Vanillaware’s body of work as a whole is the care with which it interprets myth and classical art, and the work on this game balances deep reverence and cheeky excess on an edge sharp enough to rival a real Muramasa. It's a game that comes from the intimate knowledge of a spiritual tradition that is alive and well, and there's something very remarkable about that.

The visuals are perfect as you’d expect; you cannot ask for more. But even by atrociously high Vanillaware standards, these are standout. Be prepared for some of the most beautiful backgrounds you'll see in a video game - and dare I mention the food? This is not a game to be played on an empty stomach.

Sadly, I just can't give it a perfect score because the enemies and gameplay get repetitive after a while, the teleportation system is inefficient and makes the game a bit more circuitous than it needs to be, and the translation on the Wii version is lacking (but is much improved in the Vita version). For me, that doesn't stop it from being a work of art and an absolute must-play.

And consider me next in line for a statue of the big-titty foxgirl, but when is that Torahime figure coming out?!