I'm still solid on the fact that Muramasa: The Demon Blade is a beautiful game, but after my hands on time with it at E3, I wonder if it can match its looks with interesting gameplay. I will admit I found the action itself slightly repetitive in the short demo, but it's really hard to say until you get the game in your living room. We shall see.
At any rate, Ignition released a new Swordplay trailer, which you can watch after the jump. A friend of mine who imported the game described it "lots of beautiful running in one direction for six to eight hours". Of course, any game is really a series of doing the same things over and over, it's just a matter of whether you have fun doing it or not. Considering the game is due out in early August, we ought to know just how much fun it really is soon enough.
IT'S BEAUTIFUL! Honestly, I don't care if the gameplay will be repetitive, the fighting still looks damn entertaining. I'm a big fan of Vanillaware, and I will be picking this up for sure(had my pre-order set up for months).
I mean, I get the NSFW angle... But it is, err, classy? Classy in a you-probably-could-flog-the-dolphin-to-this-but-probably-wouldn't-because-everyone-already-knows-at-least-one-free-porn-site-with-much-better-porn-images kind of way.
Odin's Sphere is an absolutely gorgeous-looking game with great voice acting and a fantastic story. I don't doubt that Muramasa will follow in it's footsteps...
...Which is a sad thing because Odin's Sphere is also a soul-crushingly repetitive game. I forced myself to finish Gwendolyn's chapter with the hope that the rest of the characters different gameplay styles would reinterest me in the game. Sadly, there is near no difference in play style from beginning to end. Every freaking area is slash slash slash eat eat eat repeat repeat repeat (with certain areas (underworld, mountain, volcano) adding some bull**** other item into the repetitive mix).
Vanilla-ware need to stop making their own games because they are terrible at them. What they need to do is become a contract studio. When some other studio needs badass sprites, Vanilla-ware should be there. Because, honestly, graphics are their strong point (with story being a close second) with gameplay being their bum leg.
I thought the release date was September 8 for North America, wasn't it? Did it get moved up? BOSS!
I imported the game, and all I can really say is that it is breathtakingly beautiful. It is a button masher in the purest sense of the word, but at least it is pretty to look at.
I honestly can't wait for this to be released, so I can stop pretending that I know Japanese.
@FistfulOAwesome: Mercedes and Velvet's chapters disprove your statement. Mercedes is a pure shooter, and Velvet cannot spam her attack because it's not safe to do so. Boss battles also require strategy (unless you go on easy), and spamming slash WILL get you killed.
I'm looking forward to this game. Even if it is repetitive, so long as it's mechanics are fun, then I will have fun.
sincerely hope they've learnt from the mistakes of Odin Sphere - a game that i adore but wouldn't replay.
FistfulOAwesome makes a great point, though I'd rather see the vanillaware team grow to include a few devs that can really build gameplay into their next little gem.
I can't help but feel that these guys are onto something wonderfully unique that must be refined, rather than watered down and blended with a mixer.
What FistfulOAwesome said. I'm conflicted about this game... on the one hand I appreciate the aesthetic aim, but on the other, I'm tired of the gameplay rut Vanillaware seems to have worked themselves into.
That, and too damn floaty. Hope you guys do a review when it hits your desk.
With all this praise (2 guys) I feel I should at least respond to Ckarasu's comment.
I probably wasn't clear enough on my original post. I didn't beat Odin Sphere or even another character. I got through most of the bunny guy but quit once I saw that I would be repeating the same areas and generally the same actions (possibly potion, slash, WAIT, repeat until potion runs out or low on health, take appropriate actions, slash...)
The mechanics of Odin Sphere were alright (they probably could have been fleshed out more somehow). The problem is that the game didn't change. Alright, so apparently the fairy girl shoots things and the dark knight has an alternate form, but so what? It will still devolve to that same boring pattern I outlined before.
I want to like games like Odin Sphere and Muramasa that dare to be different. But if one of those differences is stagnant gameplay, I can't support it. I'd rather have a well done cliche game (example: FPS) over a beautiful boring game, because of that word: Game. At the end of the day, what matters is that I have fun, not the developers.
@FistfulOAwesome: Well, Oswald dies fast, so you can't really charge in with him. I do get what you're saying, though. I thoroughly enjoyed Odin Sphere, but I can see why might not like it. I do disagree with the whole "everyone plays the same" thing, as it is clear that they do not (though they do play similarly). also, the game ramps up in challenge and awesomeness the moment you unlock the Book of Armageddon. The final chapter is easily the best in the game, and the bosses are really challenging. I loved Odin Sphere, but I do acknowledge its weak points. It is likely I will also enjoy Muramasa as well.
i can kind of agree with both fistful and ckarasu... in the end, what i really loved about Odin Sphere was... everything but the gameplay. that said, the gameplay *is* actually much more complex than just bashing through everything - the big issue is, Odin Sphere was a bloody elite game, really quite difficult, and required a *lot* of thinking about how to properly build your character, not to mention a huge amount of fiddling with all that alchemy (or whatever they called it - all the item management stuff). the problem for *me*, was that i didnt find all that to be particularly enjoyable at all - actually found it to be quite grueling, and would occasionally be horrified when i'd encouter a particular type of enemy which was extremely resistant to my attacks, which i could really only kill with certain items that i hadnt the foresight to create beforehand.
i'd recommend it to anyone for the aesthetics (visual and audial), and most certainly for the story (particularly Gwendolyn's story, which was written with a sensitivity i find is often lacking in most games). but the gameplay... is certainly not for everyone. people who are not only OCD, but who *enjoy* games which encourage OCD... and who love getting their ass handed to them by a game... will love the gameplay of Odin Sphere.
and that's perfectly alright - there's a definite place for such games. but, unfortunately, it *will* alienate a lot of other people.
(for the record - didnt beat the game, but completed all but Velvet's story... i just ran out of steam part way through hers. furthermore, i didnt get the final chapters that, presumably, you get after finishing Velvet's story... and i think achieving certain other requirements)
@feighnt
Thanks for going more in-depth about why Odin Sphere is so alienating than me. I didn't feel like writing all you did but you got it right. I remember in that bunny dude's chapter that those slimes in the city required a fire spell or something like that and it was kinda hard to have one prepared (and the game didn't even tell you that that was how to defeat them. It was all trial and error).
Although, I'm going to go farther than your post and suggest that anyone with an interest in Odin Sphere should just watch the story on YouTube instead of actually playing the "game".
I adored Odin Sphere, but I won't lie. Certain characters were pretty damn repetitive though Mercedes and Velvet weren't so bad. That being said, I don't see anyone mentioning Grim Grimoire which is a rather nice little RTS with all the gorgeous Vanillaware eye candy.
On the other hand, I've played several hours of Muramasa and I'd personally play it for the gameplay alone. Much faster paced and arcade-y. Of course, it doesn't hurt that it's even more hard-on inducing than Odin Sphere, graphic-wise. ;)
This is going to be an absolute delight for anyone who appreciates beautiful 2D graphics and Japanese culture.....which there must be a fair few of on Dtoid.
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Contest:
8:00 PM on 07.30.2009
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I mean, I get the NSFW angle... But it is, err, classy? Classy in a you-probably-could-flog-the-dolphin-to-this-but-probably-wouldn't-because-everyone-already-knows-at-least-one-free-porn-site-with-much-better-porn-images kind of way.
Madden might have to wait...
*fapfapfapfap*
...Which is a sad thing because Odin's Sphere is also a soul-crushingly repetitive game. I forced myself to finish Gwendolyn's chapter with the hope that the rest of the characters different gameplay styles would reinterest me in the game. Sadly, there is near no difference in play style from beginning to end. Every freaking area is slash slash slash eat eat eat repeat repeat repeat (with certain areas (underworld, mountain, volcano) adding some bull**** other item into the repetitive mix).
Vanilla-ware need to stop making their own games because they are terrible at them. What they need to do is become a contract studio. When some other studio needs badass sprites, Vanilla-ware should be there. Because, honestly, graphics are their strong point (with story being a close second) with gameplay being their bum leg.
I imported the game, and all I can really say is that it is breathtakingly beautiful. It is a button masher in the purest sense of the word, but at least it is pretty to look at.
I honestly can't wait for this to be released, so I can stop pretending that I know Japanese.
I'm looking forward to this game. Even if it is repetitive, so long as it's mechanics are fun, then I will have fun.
FistfulOAwesome makes a great point, though I'd rather see the vanillaware team grow to include a few devs that can really build gameplay into their next little gem.
I can't help but feel that these guys are onto something wonderfully unique that must be refined, rather than watered down and blended with a mixer.
That, and too damn floaty. Hope you guys do a review when it hits your desk.
I probably wasn't clear enough on my original post. I didn't beat Odin Sphere or even another character. I got through most of the bunny guy but quit once I saw that I would be repeating the same areas and generally the same actions (possibly potion, slash, WAIT, repeat until potion runs out or low on health, take appropriate actions, slash...)
The mechanics of Odin Sphere were alright (they probably could have been fleshed out more somehow). The problem is that the game didn't change. Alright, so apparently the fairy girl shoots things and the dark knight has an alternate form, but so what? It will still devolve to that same boring pattern I outlined before.
I want to like games like Odin Sphere and Muramasa that dare to be different. But if one of those differences is stagnant gameplay, I can't support it. I'd rather have a well done cliche game (example: FPS) over a beautiful boring game, because of that word: Game. At the end of the day, what matters is that I have fun, not the developers.
i'd recommend it to anyone for the aesthetics (visual and audial), and most certainly for the story (particularly Gwendolyn's story, which was written with a sensitivity i find is often lacking in most games). but the gameplay... is certainly not for everyone. people who are not only OCD, but who *enjoy* games which encourage OCD... and who love getting their ass handed to them by a game... will love the gameplay of Odin Sphere.
and that's perfectly alright - there's a definite place for such games. but, unfortunately, it *will* alienate a lot of other people.
(for the record - didnt beat the game, but completed all but Velvet's story... i just ran out of steam part way through hers. furthermore, i didnt get the final chapters that, presumably, you get after finishing Velvet's story... and i think achieving certain other requirements)
Thanks for going more in-depth about why Odin Sphere is so alienating than me. I didn't feel like writing all you did but you got it right. I remember in that bunny dude's chapter that those slimes in the city required a fire spell or something like that and it was kinda hard to have one prepared (and the game didn't even tell you that that was how to defeat them. It was all trial and error).
Although, I'm going to go farther than your post and suggest that anyone with an interest in Odin Sphere should just watch the story on YouTube instead of actually playing the "game".
On the other hand, I've played several hours of Muramasa and I'd personally play it for the gameplay alone. Much faster paced and arcade-y. Of course, it doesn't hurt that it's even more hard-on inducing than Odin Sphere, graphic-wise. ;)
This friend didn't play games before the 5th generation, right?
Can`t wait!