Muramasa: The Demon Blade's launch is right around the corner, set to go down on September 8th on the Wii. By now, you've probably already decided if you are going to get the title or not, so these releases and teasers and such are probably lost on you.
Nevertheless, there's a new Muramasa trailer that they're calling the "locales trailer." This one shows lead characters Kisuke and Momohime running through several of the game's environments. This gives you a peek at the range of locations that the game is set in -- everything from snow-covered hills to amber waves of grain.
The water stuff is the best. I really liked how you could run through (or on?) a raging river as waterfalls crashed down in the background. Even better is a segment that shows rain, with splashes shown on the ground. Very nice.
What about you? Are you signed up to get Muramasa next month?
Dale North is Destructoid's Editor-In-Chief, a founding editor, and specialist in Japanese gaming. An accomplished musician, Dale was reporting from Japan during the earthquakes of 2011. Luckily, he got the fuck out alive and is home in America now with his wife and beloved corgi, Einstein. Dale is also a co-founder of Destructoid's sister anime site Japanator. Likes Corgis, Sega Saturn, PSP, iPhone, Photographic tools.
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As you can tell by the avatar, I'm a big fan of ninjas running around 2d levels slicing shit up, but what about the actual level design? Every trailer looks like you walk around a beautiful place, it suddenly stops and you have to fight people, when the fight is over, you keep walking until the next sudden stop of combat. I felt like they neglected level design, and thats a BIG no-no in 2d platformers. Strider 2 and Shinobi 3 is just as much about great level design as it is about whooping ass. This game...
@Ninja In Distress: The game is not really a 2D platformer. Is more like Odin Sphere for the PS2: you run, you get attacked by surprise, you fight, then you keep advancing, but unlike Odin Sphere, not every screen is filled with endlessly respawning enemies.....
Sure, Muramasa's levels have platforms and sometimes multiple paths (Odin Sphere's levels were always flat), but you won't die if you miss a jump, and there are not many levels that require timing, twitch reflexes or precision in the jumping (so far, only the first level, set in a forest, where you have to reach some branches for spirit orbs. Nothing critical).... It's more like a beat'em-up/RPG mashup with some jumping, not a platformer.
But it does have gorgeous 2D ninjas.... and hot springs.
From the trailer, the fields of grain looked great, but my favorite was the beach level. Just seeing those waves crashing on the shore...Damn I want it!
while i'll agree with you that this game looks nice, that's all i hear about it over and over. from the one hands on preview i've seen on this hype train, the controls and gameplay are meh. i might rent this one, if my rental place ever gets it. still waiting for them to get madworld tho, so i won't hold my breath.
@bobyoko I've been playing the japanese version for a while, and it's more than evident that it was made by the same people hat made Odin Sphere. The main differences here are that the fights are scarcer, quicker (a group of 5 or 6 regular enemies can be dispatched in 10-15 seconds if you know your combos), and you don't have to worry about your character getting stunned after attacking 3 or 4 times (some people misunderstood Odin Sphere's combat system, it wasn't button-masher friendly), plus I haven't experienced any slowdown yet (OS's greatest offense)
Being basically y beat-em-up with RPG-lite elements, you'l be doing a lot of walking-to-the-right and smashing the A button for combos... this genre isn't known for its gameplay variety after a hour or two, and what's gonna keep you playing (or not)are the visuals, the story, and the japanese mythological setting... if beat-em-ups like Streets of Rage or Final Fight aren't your thing anymore, you won't enjoy this game so much. But if you enjoyed Odin Sphere at least a little, this game delivers much more than OSphere, and corrects many of its biggest flaws.
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Contest:
9:30 PM on 08.20.2009
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As you can tell by the avatar, I'm a big fan of ninjas running around 2d levels slicing shit up, but what about the actual level design? Every trailer looks like you walk around a beautiful place, it suddenly stops and you have to fight people, when the fight is over, you keep walking until the next sudden stop of combat. I felt like they neglected level design, and thats a BIG no-no in 2d platformers. Strider 2 and Shinobi 3 is just as much about great level design as it is about whooping ass. This game...
I don't know.
Sure, Muramasa's levels have platforms and sometimes multiple paths (Odin Sphere's levels were always flat), but you won't die if you miss a jump, and there are not many levels that require timing, twitch reflexes or precision in the jumping (so far, only the first level, set in a forest, where you have to reach some branches for spirit orbs. Nothing critical).... It's more like a beat'em-up/RPG mashup with some jumping, not a platformer.
But it does have gorgeous 2D ninjas.... and hot springs.
Hahaha
From the trailer, the fields of grain looked great, but my favorite was the beach level. Just seeing those waves crashing on the shore...Damn I want it!
Being basically y beat-em-up with RPG-lite elements, you'l be doing a lot of walking-to-the-right and smashing the A button for combos... this genre isn't known for its gameplay variety after a hour or two, and what's gonna keep you playing (or not)are the visuals, the story, and the japanese mythological setting... if beat-em-ups like Streets of Rage or Final Fight aren't your thing anymore, you won't enjoy this game so much. But if you enjoyed Odin Sphere at least a little, this game delivers much more than OSphere, and corrects many of its biggest flaws.