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?!