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[Volcynika]

Basic Info ...learn the basics...avoid defeat

Website: Official Muramasa: The Demon Blade Website

Console: Wii

Genre: Action / Light RPG elements

Rating: T for Teen

Story ...understand the blade...FEED the blade

This adventure unfolds during feudal Japan's Genroku era, a volatile time marked by warring factions and grave civil unrest under the reign of Shogun Tsunayoshi Tokugawa. The power-hungry Shogun yearns to collect an array of legendary swords, but these blades carry a terrible curse--each one thirsting for blood the moment it's drawn. Those who wield these blades slowly become homicidal, and are destined to a tragic and untimely death.

Two heroes are thrust into this treacherous climate--Kisuke, a brave young lad who's lost his memory, and Momohime, a lithe female ronin possessed by a dark spirit. They must venture across the dangerous countryside, in a race to collect the swords before the vile Shogun can reach them.

Features ...the power to overcome is in your hands

*Over 100 blades to collect

*Two characters to choose for more replay value

*Multiple endings

*Multiple control schemes available

*From the creators of Odin Sphere, a game that truly can be described as beautiful

Characters ...friends...or foes?

--Kisuke--

A renegade ninja with no memory and hounded by a dark, unknown past. He's being chased for a crime he cannot recall...all he knows is that he must find a certain "katana" at any cost.

--Momohime--

Possessed by the spirit of a foul swordsman, she is forced to do what it says. She lived in the past as a princess, but now she leaves that all behind to do the bidding of the dark spirit..

--Sample of Other Characters--

Release Dates ...his warriors will find you...soon

Japan: April 9th, 2009
North America: September 8th, 2009
Europe: November 13th, 2009

Images ...no...your eyes do not deceive you

Videos ...watch...and learn

*To be edited in later this evening

Reviews ...the people...they will speak of your tale

Nintendo Power: 8/10
IGN: 8.9/10 Written Review / Video Review
Game Informer: 7.8/10
Eurogamer: 7/10
RPGFan: 69/100
Gaming Nexus: A-
1UP: A-
GameZone: 9/10
GamePro: 4.5/5

FAQ ...learn the situation and work it to your advantage

How much playtime can I get out of this game?

As far as approximates, if you do a normal playthrough, it'll take you ~7 hours per character. If you want to work on getting all the swords and all the endings, that'll take considerably more time. There are three endings per character and over 100 different swords to collect.

Any changes from the Japanese version?

This game has not been censored from the Japanese version, so there's no worries about that. They have also sped up traveling a good bit too! While in the JP version you had to walk between certain hub areas of the game world, you can now 'quick travel' in a sense straight there. This version is more or less the definitive one, even Vanillaware prefers it.

Any English Voice overs?

No. The game's style and world is so deep in Japanese culture that Ignition chose only an option for Japanese voice overs. For those that aren't fans of that type of VA, there is an option to turn it off.

What kind of controls can I use?

You can use the Wii-mote / Nunchuck combo, the classic controller, or the Gamecube controller. Options are great!

OMG I HOPE THIS COMES TO PS3/XB/etc HD--

Stop it. We've already been through that earlier, and since we have ZERO announcements on something like that, so please refrain from trying to bring that into the thread. Let's talk about it if it happens, but until it actually is confirmed and announced, we should discuss the one (and only) version of this game, the Wii one. Please keep this thread free of that type of discussion.

Any interesting media coverage on this?

Actually, yes, it'll BLOW YOUR MIND. Or something else: Hope you like tentacles!

Special thanks: GhostSeed for his banner, LiquidSwords for providing images, and GAF for being GAF. (Browsing kept killing my internets, so I couldn't see the title suggestions)

 

[Mejilan]

Very nice, but I'm not sure if I can look at that Kraken monster in the same light again. :/

 

[Giolon]

Larger version of the Play tentacle cover

 

[Volcynika]

http://www.radiantcg.com/neogaf/play-sept09-cover.jpg[IMG]
Has to be up there lol![/QUOTE]

It's at the end! :p

Didn't want to be too super image heavy, that's why it's in a hyperlink!

 

[Giolon]

It's at the end!

Didn't want to be too super image heavy, that's why it's in a hyperlink!

Still, good job with the thread! You got a great selection of screenshots. I can't wait until tomorrow.

 

[WickedLaharl]

look at her ridin that sword

 

[Volcynika]

And like mentioned, I'll get around to editing the reviews/videos I can find in there sometime before bed. Need a little break.

 

[Mejilan]

Just want to add that magazine cover is probably NSFW. It would be nice if the image remained linked to, instead of being directly posted.

 

[Giolon]

Just want to add that magazine cover is probably NSFW. It would be nice if the image remained linked to, instead of being directly posted.

There wasn't any problem with it the multitude of times it was linked and re-quoted in the previous thread. Do you think it's going to be an issue now?

 

[UpperCaseN]

nice work on the thread! can't wait to talk to everyone here once the game is out and we all have impressions

 

[neoism]

Fucking a great OP! I hope I can get this tomorrow, I called GameStop, and this girl answers the phone, I ask if I can take a pre-order of another game and put it on this one, she says yes,.... we can do that and then hangs up the phone. I'm like WTF, but didn't bother to call back.:lol :lol I could tell she was new, hopefully I can just walk in and buy, I know the manger well! They're stricked about pre-orders!

 

[STG!]

Ahh, finally. Next week. Been a tough one to hold off importing, I'm itching for some new Wii games to add to the collection. I'll be grabbing this and The Office season 5 on Tuesday.

 

[dkeane]

Totally forgot this was coming out - have had it on pre-order from amazon for so many months! So excited I have a great 2d game coming to me soon - WOO

I love it when I pre-order a game and forget about it until it releases - the games always feel so fresh because most mainstream games are spoiled with so many previews.

 

[UpperCaseN]

Totally forgot this was coming out - have had it on pre-order from amazon for so many months! So excited I have a great 2d game coming to me soon - WOO

I love it when I pre-order a game and forget about it until it releases - the games always feel so fresh because most mainstream games are spoiled with so many previews.

just wait til you find out what the amazon preorder bonus is!

 

[neojubei]

Awesome thread, cannot wait to buy this next week.

 

[Giolon]

just wait til you find out what the amazon preorder bonus is!

The Amazon page currently says:

Amazon.com-Exclusive Pre-order Bonus
Pre-order "Muramasa: The Demon Blade" and receive the Limited Edition Muramasa poster. Redemption instructions will be emailed within 10 business days of the release date of the game. Must be sold and shipped by Amazon.com to be eligible.

Yesterday during the livestream the page said "digital poster", but otherwise with the same description. Sounds kind of lame compared to the GS wallscroll to me.

 

[Volcynika]

just wait til you find out what the amazon preorder bonus is!

This is where I post an angry face, since I ordered from there. Oh well, got some new games to hold me over this holiday weekend anyways!

 

[Mejilan]

There wasn't any problem with it the multitude of times it was linked and re-quoted in the previous thread. Do you think it's going to be an issue now?

It is an issue. I had to avoid that thread while working once the cover broke. I'd rather NOT be forced to avoid the official discussion thread as well.
Since it's linked to the OP in any event, would you mind editing your post, please?

 

[GhostSeed]

EDIT: .... :lol

 

[Giolon]

It is an issue. I had to avoid that thread while working once the cover broke. I'd rather NOT be forced to avoid the official discussion thread as well.

No worries. I edited it out.

 

[Mejilan]

Thanks Giolon.
I'll be at work when this hits, so I imagine a whole bunch of people here will be providing impressions. I'd love to follow 'em while I struggle through tomorrow's work.

 

[Tenbatsu]

Gorgeous 2D. Next Week!

 

[drkOne]

It'll be hard to keep holding off on buying a Wii after this comes out in Europe…

 

[ShockingAlberto]

There's very few games that I would actually like to fuck, but this one...

 

[Volcynika]

There's very few games that I would actually like to fuck, but this one...

As long as it's not my copy. YOU STAY AWAY.

 

[Giolon]

There's very few games that I would actually like to fuck, but this one...

o_0

I'm pretty sure that's illegal...

 

[Galactic Fork]

There's very few games that I would actually like to fuck, but this one...

Well... It does go with your Wii... Just sayin'.

 

[UpperCaseN]

that hentai-esque magazine cover is really bringing out the hentai fans in this thread...

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

Absolutely loved Odin Sphere. But impressions are leading me that this is weak in gameplay. Guess I should do a rental of this and see how it turns out. Gotta support the 2D games!

 

[matmanx1]

Picking this one up tomorrow. Can't wait! Pretty excited to see the variety of control options supported, I wonder if there's a consensus on which is the best..?

 

[ShineALight]

Ugh, too broke . I need this badly.

 

[LethaL ImpuLse]

The GS art scroll is beeaaauutiful. One of the more awesome bonuses in a while. Going to be picking this up tomorrow.

 

[Giolon]

Absolutely loved Odin Sphere. But impressions are leading me that this is weak in gameplay. Guess I should do a rental of this and see how it turns out. Gotta support the 2D games!

What looks weaker to you than Odin Sphere's gameplay? Getting rid of the tedious inventory juggling seems like it can only help. All I can see are improvements to the combat. There doesn't seem to be any more obnoxious stamina bar. There's still cooking, but it's not like Odin Sphere's cooking was complicated.

I mean, I loved Odin Sphere to death, but its gameplay was really quite shallow (the story is what kept me going on it). I haven't seen anything that looks worse in Muramasa in all of the video coverage (including two live streams by Ignition and one by 1up). I think it looks faster and more fun with the added bonus of moderate exploration!

 

[inner-G]

I wonder if there's a consensus on which is the best..?

Wavebird

 

[kiryogi]

OOOOOOOOOOOOH SNAAPZ

CLEAN VERSION OF THE SEPT 09 PLAY MAGAZINE COVER! No text, high resolution but still not as clean. BETTER THAN NOTHING

http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/6361/coverclean.jpg

 

[Deleted member 20415]

Wavebird

I've been playing with all three schemes, alternating off and on... they each have their own merits.

 

[ZealousD]

Picking it up tommorow. Probably won't be able to play it for a couple weeks though, gotta finish replaying all the Prime games in the Trilogy.

 

[Why would you do that?]

Can't wait! More 2D gaming goodness is a good thing. I hope it sells well, for Marvelous's sake.

Any of you NYC Gaffers going to the Nintendo World launch party? I'm sorry for not linking to the IGN article I read about it at (I'm on the Wii browser), but apparently, it is on a Saturday, and it starts at 12, and the first 100 people would get some Muramasa goodies.

 

[lordoftherink]

Have had it preordered for a while, does anyone know if EB Games in Canada are getting the wall scroll?

 

[Nemo]

Wait wha, this has GC controller support? Any game that does this will have my attention. Might buy even though I wasn't that big on OS

 

[Teknoman]

Nunchuk plus wiimote for me.

 

[VegaShinra]

NES style for me. Can't wait to get this game tomorrow.

 

[SolarPowered]

Can't wait! More 2D gaming goodness is a good thing. I hope it sells well, for Marvelous's sake.

Their expectations in America are about 50000 so they've set their expectations pretty low. This game is getting insane amounts of hype though, so I'd expect lifetime sales of 300K with some legs. There may be even more, but that depends on word of mouth.

Any of you NYC Gaffers going to the Nintendo World launch party? I'm sorry for not linking to the IGN article I read about it at (I'm on the Wii browser), but apparently, it is on a Saturday, and it starts at 12, and the first 100 people would get some Muramasa goodies.

I was going to go since I thought the party was going to be on the third. It turns out its on the fifth so I'll just get it at my regular place. This game, and LKS are the primary items to get this month. Not even ODST has me as hyped as those two purchases for the month. I really need to satisfy my appetite for sidescrollers.

 

[Mejilan]

Any of you NYC Gaffers going to the Nintendo World launch party? I'm sorry for not linking to the IGN article I read about it at (I'm on the Wii browser), but apparently, it is on a Saturday, and it starts at 12, and the first 100 people would get some Muramasa goodies.

I suspect that my GS will bone me tomorrow when I go to pick up my copy. If they don't have a wall scroll for me, I'll definitely cancel the preorder and go to the Nintendo event.

Hell, I might still go to the Nintendo event even if I luck out tomorrow. We'll see.

 

[DrAndonuts]

This game is getting insane amounts of hype though, so I'd expect lifetime sales of 300K with some legs. There may be even more, but that depends on word of mouth.

I doubt it'll reach 100K, at least in America.

 

[Lucis]

Their expectations in America are about 50000 so they've set their expectations pretty low. This game is getting insane amounts of hype though, so I'd expect lifetime sales of 300K with some legs. There may be even more, but that depends on word of mouth.

lol?
no...
lol?
no.....

neogaf hype is not real world hype

already have the japanese version, will not double dip (well i don't think i ever have double dipped anything)

 

[ZealousD]

I doubt it'll reach 100K, at least in America.

The game actually has over 10k fans on Facebook.

I think 100k is a strong possibility. Odin Sphere solid pretty well for a niche game.

 

[Lucis]

The game actually has over 10k fans on Facebook.

I think 100k is a strong possibility. Odin Sphere solid pretty well for a niche game.

how many of them will buy it vs how many will pirate?
I mean I love this game, but lets not have unrealistic expectations. Well actually I can see 100k. But 300k like the guy said earlier? well...

 

[batbeg]

Japan: April 9th, 2009
North America: September 8th, 2009
Europe: Early 2010

This was actually bumped up to Winter 09... though we've yet to here anything more specific about it :-/

 

[batbeg]

What the hell? I was checking out this Armory Trailer on IGN when I got this ad to the right:

Obviously without the spraypaint over it, though. So yes you can see boob and nipple in it normally.

The trailer is beautiful by the way.