Muramasa, embora tenha ideias muito interessantes no seu prato principal (o combate), me ganhou pela reverência e entusiasmo em que usa de suas raízes japonesas para entregar uma visão lindíssima deste Japão fantástico: texturizado por gravuras estilizadas que nascem nas pinturas de madeira do período Edo (a famosa onda) e se põe entre Baki e algum anime ecchi, a reverência folclórica pipocando em cada centímetro desse jogo - do fato de toda comida ter uma animação apetitosa específica (e uma importância mecânica/metafísica além de curar HP) ao número de espadas do jogo ser o número dos 108 vícios do folclore.

O combate se rege por uma dança interessante, governado por espadas que são recursos, armas, escudos e um meter de special - viva e morra através delas, e da vida e morte delas é posto o destino de cada encontro. Qualquer jogo que tenha um sistema de parries/bloqueios agressivos já me compra um pouco, e Muramasa encantou de cara na simplicidade e elegância do seu combate, que possui um ritmo encontro a encontro bem interessante e fácil de pegar. Infelizmente, a repetição acaba desgastando um pouco a relação; há simplesmente muitos encontros desinteressantes, e pouca variedade de inimigos que te forçam em situações interessantes; os bosses sendo os únicos pontos altos no que acaba sendo um fluxo contínuo de mesmice. Mesmice que me impediu de perseguir o True Ending do jogo, que envolve terminar as duas campanhas e coletar todas as espadas - não consegui seguir na campanha de Kinsuke depois da de Momohime quando percebi que estaria lutando com toneladas dos mesmos mobs de sempre, com apenas os chefes para dar uma quebrada na monotonia. Ainda assim, o que joguei ficará comigo - talvez mais pela absoluta lindeza desse jogo potencializada pelo pack 4K HD turbo max de texturas do que pelo combate maneiro.

I'm not gonna hold you, the art style in this game is fucking immaculate and is the main reason you should play this game. Not to say the gameplay or story isn't good, but dude... the art is so gorgeous and the FOOD BRO OH MY GODDDDDD THE FOOD IN THIS GAME! I know it's a meme like "oh anime food looks so good" but UGHHHHHHH THE FOOD IN THIS GAME IS UNREAL LIKE FUCK THE SPIRIT I GET FROM EATING I JUST WANNA SEE THE DAMN MEAL!

One thing I fucking despise though is how unique games like this are stuck to consoles that are no longer supported because everything has to be an instant money maker. Current video game preservation is a complete and utter fucking joke.

Gameplay: Very good
Story: It is quite good and has its spark
Music: Very good
Replayable: Yes to make several of its endings
Streamed: Nope

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.

I played the Wii version on Dolphin emulator, using a Gamecube controller.
The game has 2 storylines, and you have to make a choice when you begin your adventure. You either start playing as the Princess Momohime, or the Ninja Kisuke.
I completed the entirety of Momohime's story, and then played about half of Kisuke's story, but I grew tired of the game before I could finish it and get all the endings. So I watched the rest on YouTube.

Muramasa is a Hack and Slash set in feudal Japan, with an absolutely gorgeous artstyle.
The characters all look so pretty, and the animations are extremely stylish whenever you run or swing your sword around in battle.
Slashing hordes of enemies from left to right, sending them into the air, and cutting through all of them at the same time using the quick draw is so exhilarating.

It would have been great to have more enemies with different patterns to make the combat less repetitive. Some of the environments & layouts are also recycled, stressing even more the repetitiveness of the game.

That's weird how they handled the regular encounters.
When you die during a fight, you respawn immediatly, but the enemies don't. So the game deprives you of all this exp, which is required to earn spirits & souls to unlock more weapons.
I'm still not sure how to feel about it. On one hand, it's a bummer to miss out on this exp, but on the other hand, it allows you to progress in the story more rapidly.

I really dig the use of japanese folklore. Muramasa is full of those myths & traditions, with kitsunes, spirits and onis.
There's an evil spirit taking ownership of Momohime's body during most of the game. The NPCs often mention ghost apparitions, possessions, and you even travel through Heaven & Hell. There are also mentions of Buddha and Amitabha.
All these legendary elements made for a really fascinating adventure.

The soundtrack is pretty nice overall, and it does have some heavy hitters. I loved "Womanizing", "Dim Twilight" and "Deep in Mountain and Valley"

Now that I've seen the 2 storylines more or less, I think I enjoy Kisuke's story more. I wonder if I would have prefered starting the game with him. There are more interesting moments during his storyline, and I liked the encounters with Torahime a lot.

I'll try coming back to this game later on to do the DLCs 👌

----------Playtime & Completion----------

[Started on January 22th & stopped on February 3rd 2024]
Playtime: 12 hours
I finished Momohime's story and stopped halfway through Kisuke's story, at Sayo Boss fight. I watched the rest of the game including the endings on YouTube.

First game i beat in 2022 and man, it is a good one. I was introduced to Vanillaware through the masterpiece that is 13 Sentinels but i've known that that game is a departure from what these guy usually do. Luckily a friend of mine gifted me Muramasa (along with fellow Vanillaware game Odin Sphere Leifthrasir) for Christmas and after a few days, i finally beat it. And boy, this game is pretty good.

As far as the visuals goes, this is easily one of the prettiest 2D games i've ever played. I know hand-drawn 2D art is Vanillaware's MO but it admittedly did not shine in it's full potential in 13 Sentinels. While the art in 13 Sentinels is pretty good, i feel like this game showed me what Vanillaware is truly capable of when it comes to 2D art. I would often be staring at the backgrounds of levels just because it was so neat and it helps that this game has a killer soundtrack as well, one that's better than what is in 13 Sentinels (even if that one was also good). I'm looking forward to seeing more of this talent when i eventually get to Odin Sphere.

Gameplay-wise, it is admittedly pretty braindead. I did not get any game overs at all until near the end. However, this made it for a great game to unwind with after coming home from work so the easy difficulty is absolutely fine here. Unwinding after a long day by cutting through legions of enemies will always be fun and, to make a comparison, the more i played it, the more i was feeling like "man, this is just Tales LMBS combat but actually good and fun to play". There is a harder difficulty as well but i did get bodied when i switched to it so i never really played the game on it. However, what i don't like about the gameplay is the level restrictions on all the Muramasas you can craft. On one hand, it's to prevent you from just saving up and crafting the most powerful one but on the other hand, like 70% of them are unusable unless you grind a lot in the optional Caves of Evil. It does not help that you need to be at a very high level to even view the alternate endings for each character, something that in the end, i just watched on YouTube. Ending rankings btw are Kisuke 2 > Momohime 2 > Kisuke 3 > Kisuke 1 = Momohime 1 > Momohime 3

Speaking of the plot, it's definitely not the point of the game. It was interesting coming from 13 Sentinels, a very heavy plot game, to this, where the plot is basically a non-factor. But that's ok, what's here works. It's honestly comparable to an Inti Creates game, even if i'm generally more invested in Inti Creates plots and characters.

If you're looking for a short and quick game to play, definitely check this one out.

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?!