Story
In what feels a throwback to the past (I attribute this more to its presentation, as this is still evident in many games), the only story is thrown in through small pieces of dialog before and after bosses. Nothing you actually accomplish between these scenes has any effect on the storytelling bits, though you can speak to drunkards, workers, and various villagers to garner a general ambiance of a particular locale.

As for the story itself, you can choose the paths of either Mimohime or Kisuke, both on the same save file, and can switch between them every time you load up your save file. Mimohime is a princess possessed by a particularly spiteful demon, which causes some tension between host and parasite, as she is not nearly as bloodthirsty as he. Kisuke has suffered amnesia and is working his way through finding out what happened to him. Neither is particularly compelling in terms of drawing in a player and engaging him or her in a particularly strong manner. These are plots that are reminiscent of what you have read, seen, or heard before, with good reason.

Considering the name of the game, Muramasa, the swordsmith known for his maliciousness (unlike Masamune), there is plenty of allusion to Japanese mythology, and if you are particularly knowledgeable of such, there is a certain amount of joy to be gleaned from such. Considering Odin Sphere's allusions to Norse mythology, this is both familiar in the way most mythologies are, and vastly different.

In a move that both extends gameplay and offers almost a new game, after finishing the game through an initial playthrough, you are given directions on how to beat it a second time to gain new endings. Seeing as you will only have unlocked perhaps half of the swords by the time you get to the ending, this is something that will draw in completionists of both gameplay and story.

Gameplay
Vanillaware manages to blend pretty successfully the old arcade side-scrolling beat-em-ups with some RPG elements. As with Odin Sphere, there exists an option for making recipes to boost your health and provide small benefits. There also now exists an option to call upon the spirit of Muramasa to forge blades for you, which will happen with some regularity as you gain spirit and soul points and unlock key blades during boss fights.

At any given time, three of these blades can be equipped, each with its own special attacks. Considering that blades can, and will, break, this allows for quick-switching, and for strategic use of the Quick Draw battle maneuver, which damages all enemies on screen with you. Here the player is presented with optional strategy in selecting which blades to use when based not just on strength, but desired abilities.

Unfortunately, through the initial play of the game, there is quite some backtracking, with no option to speed along in a more hurried manner. This can be annoying in levels that have the same preset enemies with ninja who throw their bombs and such. If it were not for the gorgeous backdrops, this would likely have annoyed me much more than it ended up doing. The good news, or perhaps ambivalent news, is that upon completing the game, you unlock the ability to fast travel between save points, saving you some time.

The combat itself has both random and preset encounters. The boss fights are never ridiculously challenging, though some will have you making initial mistakes and going right back to hopefully play smarter, having learned something to aid your fight. The game is never unfair or punishing, and allows switching of difficulties every time the save file is loaded.

To progress, you must also use the key blades obtained from boss fights, which will unlock colored barriers that impede progress. It is a natural form of guiding the player, and one will never feel lost between this and a guiding arrow on the map provided. It also means some things cannot be unlocked until after beating the game the first time, at which point Mimohime and Kisuke can both visit each others' specific plot areas.

With the myriad options of forging, cooking, finding hidden bosses, and multiple endings, Muramasa is definitely a game that encourages replayability. My initial playthrough was sixteen hours long playing both characters, so it certainly had not worn out its welcome by that point.

At the same time, this feels like an Odin Sphere simplified, which will be a cause for joy for many, and a point of consternation for some. Along with the pared back story, the gameplay loses much of the complexity of its spiritual predecessor. Considering my own schedule of late, this was a boon alongside the frequent save points, and made me feel I was not investing huge expenditures of time every time I loaded up the Wii.

Graphics and Sound
Where the game truly shines is in its presentation. This is not 'pretty for a Wii game.' No, this is just outright pretty and could rival any current-gen title. The artwork rendered in the game means I frequently had friends sitting watching me, and just marveling alongside me at how fluidly the game moved, and how the backdrops could have as many as three discrete moving pieces, along with a more subtle foreground. Character design is certainly something that has a degree of layers, as I continued to notice small things that I had not upon my initial glances (such as the string of skulls attached to Kisuke's belt, brought to my attention by a dialog early in the game).

The soundtrack, like the 2D sidescrolling, feels like an updated homage to a previous generation of games. It is both unobtrusive and complementary when it needs to be; by this I mean that when trudging through the same levels, it does not particularly bring much attention to itself, blending in with the rest of the experience, but it adds that level of appreciation when fighting a particularly difficult battle or stopping to admire the scenery of a snowy mountaintop.

Controls
The control options for this game include Wii-mote + Nunchuk, GameCube controller, and classic controller. I never bothered with the latter two options, as the first worked quite well for me. The only time there was any consternation were in some particularly long vertical jumping levels, as the jumping seemed slightly off at the time, but was something to which I quickly adjusted.

Otherwise, battles flow seamlessly, and I recall cackling with glee rather early on as Kisuke was easily jumping around on screen attacking one boss and easily netting a 300+ combo. The battles, while not completely intuitive, can flow very easily and offer a bevy of options without being too complex. Without waggle, these controls do not get in the way, and that is really all I can ask of the game so as to be satisfied.

Conclusion
While I would recommend this game, it is not one I feel all would appreciate or from which they would receive much enjoyment. For some, the draw of the artwork and level of detail would relegate them to being content to just watch the game being played. However, it is a relatively simple game with some more complex underworkings teased out by repeat plays. The problem is getting to the repeat play, which may frustrate more than one contemporary gamer not used to having to backtrack constantly.

I will say that regardless of the console on which this game may have landed, it is worthy of attention for any who might enjoy a lighter action RPG. At the same time, for those with a longer history of gaming, and those more familiar with Odin Sphere, this may well be a let down for its paring down. If you found the difficulty of Odin Sphere particularly rough, this may be a better entry for you.

8 out of 10