BLADE - PREVIEW
only commit a save file to their
play-through of one character. This
prevents a player from hopping back
and forth between characters without
employing multiple save slots. Such a
system seems like it divides Muramasa
into two games, and we're left
wondering if there's any advantage to
that design. It's hard to see what it
would be.
Really Long Health
Bars: This is not a
universal bias, but
some gamers don't
want to fight a boss
whose screen-wide
health bar
represents maybe a
sixth of its overall
health. Five more
screen-wide health bars to deplete
after that.
Wh at Sh ou ld St ay Th e Sam e?
Those Beautiful Things: Screenshots of
this game look great. Movies do too.
Seeing it in person is no less visually
stimulating. Characters are colorfully
drawn, sunsets and wheat fields are
painted to look equally splendid.
Enemies are worth a gawk, some of
them massive storybook paintings
come to virtual life.
Motion-Free: Muramasa is played with
a thumbstick for movement and
jumping, as well as just a few of the
Wii remote and nunchuck buttons
activating attacks and special attacks.
It's hard to see how motion control
would add
anything
constructive.
Broken Swords: Spam
the same sword attack
buttons too much and that sword
breaks. The fractured swords restore
themselves over time, but the minutes
during which the sword is broken
force the player
to change
weapons and
sometimes
change
strategies.
That's an
interesting
wrinkle to a
combat system
that otherwise
seems to be about as basic as it gets.
Fin al Th ou gh t s
Muramasa The Demon Blade doesn't
seem to have gameplay deep enough
to engage gamers for a long time
without some other attraction keeping
players engaged. Thankfully,
Muramasa has that: a graphical style
as imaginative as a storybook and as
beautiful as anything rendered in a 2D
video game in a long time.