Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Vanillaware) - Out now

[quote name='The Crotch']Yes, I think I've got your point. It's how you're going about proving it that's the problem.
... except, apparently, the example that I gave.[/QUOTE]
Well how do I know? Again I haven't played it. Maybe you think it'd be too easy like that, maybe you're one of those sneaky canadian truth benders. I'm just giving you the b of d since I don't know.
 
$6 to try an' prove me wrong. Hell, I think points are 30% off at American TRUs - $4.20!

Now myself, I usually go for the complex controls. Cram as many fuckers as you can on to a controller. I wish the nunchuk had another button or two on the back. But sometimes, it just ain't needed.
 
[quote name='crystalklear64']
What I think makes a game worth the "full price" is a reasonable play time with genuinely fun gameplay, a well thought out story/backstory/lore (including full voice overs/cutscenes/whatever the dev's need to do to present the story best as possible in the context of the game), and as much freedom as possible within the constraints of the game's core mechanics.

I couldn't care less about 2D vs. 3D, but in general 3D games seem to offer the whole package over the 2D games available. When a 2D game comes out that looks like it offers all those things, great. I think some genres are better in 2D. Based on the information out right now on this game, Muramasa does not appear to be one of those games.[/QUOTE]

You just need to stop talking in this thread.
 
A lot more than the nonsense you're talking about, especially when you're doing a bang up job complaining about A) a game you've never played and B) a game we have virtually no information on.

Good advice > dumb words.
 
Muramasa = Mine.

While not without it's issues, I really enjoyed Odin Sphere, and this one looks just as tasty. Will definitely keep an eye out.
 
You're right, we have little more than an old gameplay video and some screenshots to go off of. And until we get more information, which I plan to do through several sources including this thread, that is my opinion. Obviously I have some interest in this game, or I wouldn't be posting here at all. But why assume the opposite with the same limited amount of information and think the game will be great and wind up disappointed?
 
[quote name='crystalklear64']But why assume the opposite with the same limited amount of information and think the game will be great and wind up disappointed?[/quote]Odin Sphere.

Now, if you didn't like that, then by all means, expect very little from this one.
 
I'm not making any opinion on the game at all at this point, beyond the fact that it looks beautiful and that being 2D doesn't turn off my appeal. I'll up the ante further - show me where I have. One extremely sarcastic remark about Odin Sphere in comparison to this doesn't count. But my attitude of wait-and-see is a lot more even-minded and fair that your stance so far.

I don't buy that "just because I'm in the thread I'm interested" either, when all of your comments have been little more than whining.
 
[quote name='The Crotch']Odin Sphere.

Now, if you didn't like that, then by all means, expect very little from this one.[/QUOTE]
But they are different games. Perhaps they share the same graphic style and 2D setting, but so do many games.

Maybe the company will follow the same trends as their old game, maybe not.

It is another chance for the company to offer the full package.
 
[quote name='Strell']Why do people suddenly equate simple controls to bad gameplay these days?[/QUOTE]

Simple controls = fewer controls = lazy dev

FACT

;)

In the same vein I've read people bitch about MM9 and how if it wasn't developed for Wii we would be getting a super HD MM900x with wifi play and Havok physics and vehicles and 3D and and and . . .

It seems difficult for some gamers to appreciate older, simpler styles of games. I think this is captured in sports games. Each new edition, besides changing rosters, is striving to make the game more complex, more "real".

Why would you ever go backwards with regards to control options or graphics? The only acceptable reasons for this mindset is to a) cut dev costs or b) produce a game for a technically weaker platform. With many writing off the Wii, this means producing a handheld game.

In either case, the feeling is that "the savings should be passed on to us" so these games are valued at $30, which is the price I see quoted as the "sweet spot" for most Wii games (50% of a new 360 or PS3 game, about retail for a DS game).

I think this industry has a tough time separating the technology from the medium. Studios have started to make it their goal to leap across the uncanny valley and the public has come to expect it. Even so, the industry is young and eventually we'll reach some point of diminishing returns on the tech and it becomes more a matter of how we use the tech.

End incoherent babbling.
 
[quote name='Strell']I'm not making any opinion on the game at all at this point, beyond the fact that it looks beautiful and that being 2D doesn't turn off my appeal. I'll up the ante further - show me where I have. One extremely sarcastic remark about Odin Sphere in comparison to this doesn't count. But my attitude of wait-and-see is a lot more even-minded and fair that your stance so far.

I don't buy that "just because I'm in the thread I'm interested" either, when all of your comments have been little more than whining.[/QUOTE]
All your comments have been antagonistic and apparently, not pertaining to the game. As you yourself have just said, since you have no opinion on the game, maybe you are the one who needs to stop posting here?

My posts have been of my own opinion and what I feel about this game. My so called whining has as much place in a discussion about the game as the optimism of others.
 
[quote name='crystalklear64']But they are different games. Perhaps they share the same graphic style and 2D setting, but so do many games.
[/quote]Well, let's put it this way. Say Bungie put out a video for a new game tomorrow that basically looked like "Halo: This Time, Everyone's Asian". Would I be in error if I expected it to play something like Halo?
 
A comparison like that in my mind would be Stubbs the Zombie vs. Halo 2. They use the same engine and were made by the same people and both games were about killing people/aliens (I think), but the similarities end there. While waiting for Stubbs to come out when limited information was available, knowing that bungie members were making it and it was using the Halo 2 engine, you might think that it'd be similar. Now, I've never actually played either game, but for when I've seen of gameplay videos, they are very different games.

Oh right, and to answer your question, no, I'd think you'd be right to lean more towards the games being similar, but I wouldn't count too heavily on it with some of the things that have happened in the games industry in the past.
 
I loved Odin Sphere. If you didn't you have a high chance of not liking this. If you liked it then this is probably on your buy list.


And let me give a complete list of there games as I know and have played them

Princess Crown-Sega Saturn
Odin Sphere-PS2
Grim Grimoire-PS2

I myself like all 3 of those games a whole hell of a lot. If you didn't like any, or one of them then you probably shouldnt get this game. Or wait for reviews. I myself have been a huge fan since I played an import of Princess Crown a friend had.
 
[quote name='crystalklear64']A comparison like that in my mind would be Stubbs the Zombie vs. Halo 2. They use the same engine and were made by the same people and both games were about killing people/aliens (I think), but the similarities end there. While waiting for Stubbs to come out when limited information was available, knowing that bungie members were making it and it was using the Halo 2 engine, you might think that it'd be similar. Now, I've never actually played either game, but for when I've seen of gameplay videos, they are very different games.[/quote]Not exactly sure how that's a better comparison by any stretch of the imagination. These are shots of Stubbs the Zombie (and I hope I didn't grab any cutscene shots, as I was trying to get generic gameplay stuff):
925151_20051020_screen004.jpg

925151_20050929_screen001.jpg

These are shots of Halo 2:
562116_20070411_screen002.jpg

562116_20041105_screen073.jpg

Now, these are shots from Muramasa:
943228_20070921_screen004.jpg

wiiss72.jpg

And finally, Odin Sphere:
936463_20070423_screen006.jpg

936463_20071130_screen003.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
?
Those shots provide the perfect comparison imo.

Apart from being 2D, Odin Sphere and Muramasa look hardly anything alike. It looks more like Viewtiful Joe than Odin Sphere to me. Odin Sphere appears to have a leveling system, judging by the top left, of some sort and seems to be set up as a sort of action RPG. Muramasa seems to be less focused on RPG and more on plain 2D scrolling action ala an arcade experience. However, you can still see some similarities such as character design.

Just like Halo 2 and Stubbs, they are both 3D and they appear to be very different. However, you can spot similarities in things such as the environments and textures.
 
Hm.

Loved Odin Sphere, and I like the art style here, but at $50 I think I'll pass for a while. Hopefully it sees a nice drop like Odin Sphere did, since I'd like some games to play on my Wii.
 
I don't think there was any announcement on a US port, let alone a confirmed price for the US.

If it is $50, hopefully whoever distributes it throws in a soundtrack or other stuff...but maybe not.
 
[quote name='crystalklear64']Some, but what are you getting at? I can look at pictures and watch gameplay videos that are available.[/quote]
Alright, then. I'd like you to look at the parts I've circled in red and tell me what about them makes you think "Muramasa seems to be less focused on RPG and more on plain 2D scrolling action ala an arcade experience."

muramasackxs8.jpg

Seriously, what is that? Is that wool wrapped around a lump of coal?
 
[quote name='crystalklear64']All your comments have been antagonistic and apparently, not pertaining to the game. [/quote]

I'm sorry, I like calling out terrible arguments when I see them. Boohoo.

As you yourself have just said, since you have no opinion on the game, maybe you are the one who needs to stop posting here?
Click to expand...

Really? I said I had no opinion?

Choose your words wisely. I said I have none expressed in this thread. There is a huge difference. Having come to see the whinefest this site has become lately - particularly in this forum from a horde of trolls who readily denounce anything on the system yet swagger in their self-assurance that "I really don't own or play that system, really" because they are incapable of seeing those two things form cognitive dissonance - I prefer to keep most of my opinions on the down low, or at least until after I've sampled the game.

You call it semantics, I call it distinction.

My posts have been of my own opinion and what I feel about this game.
Click to expand...

And they've been horrible ones that more or less say the game is little more than a downloadable title, an idea itself based on your narrow minded "facts" of 2D versus 3D.

My so called whining has as much place in a discussion about the game as the optimism of others.
Click to expand...

At least optimism can be said to be overturned. Pessimism - especially unwrought badly phrased pessimism, trumped up with bad logic and a "I need to be impressed" attitude - is far less credible.

You want to come in and talk about how Odin Sphere was repetitive, or 2D action games aren't your fancy? Fine. But don't come in and start saying gaaaaaaaaaawd I wants it to be teh ten dollars wwware tytoolz cuz me say so.
 
nuke_2.jpg


No good shots of an SC1 nuke. I think this one looks a little overly dramatic for the situation. Also, I think he hit half his own base with that thing.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Oh yeah, TC. That's a dumpling of some kind. I can't tell if you know that or not, given the word "seriously" up there.

Probably points to some kind of inventory/item system.
 
[quote name='The Crotch']Alright, then. I'd like you to look at the parts I've circled in red and tell me what about them makes you think "Muramasa seems to be less focused on RPG and more on plain 2D scrolling action ala an arcade experience."

muramasackxs8.jpg

Seriously, what is that? Is that wool wrapped around a lump of coal?
[/QUOTE]
Rice balls have been featured much the same way in the 3D Goemon games as a sort of potion to restore life. That blue bar is probably either magic or a special move bar you fill in some way, taking damage, killing things, whatever. The top left is likely a life bar. A life bar with a numeric value. You can see in other screenshots that those two swords are broken at the top, yet she is using a sword. This could mean that they are either lives remaining, special "wipe the screen" moves remaining, or something else. You might say that they are other swords to switch to, but they are identical, so I don't think it is that.
 
I finally get it. Posting nothing to do with the topic at hand to elicit a reaction? I see who's trolling who and it is my fault for feeding him.
 
Could you be any more of a crybaby hypocrite?

Go back to the circle jerk with all the other obsessed children. Don't worry - they'll make you feel better about yourself and you can all sit and jeer together like kids at the cool table in the cafeteria.

I hear that's a sensible thing to do when it's clear you couldn't say anything intelligent on the interwebz.
 
[quote name='crystalklear64']Rice balls have been featured much the same way in the 3D Goemon games as a sort of potion to restore life. That blue bar is probably either magic or a special move bar you fill in some way, taking damage, killing things, whatever. The top left is likely a life bar. A life bar with a numeric value. You can see in other screenshots that those two swords are broken at the top, yet she is using a sword. This could mean that they are either lives remaining, special "wipe the screen" moves remaining, or something else. You might say that they are other swords to switch to, but they are identical, so I don't think it is that.[/quote]
Crotch Speculation OVERDRIVE PRIME!!!!

I see the busted swords in another screenshot, but I can see in the screenshot that brought up there that there is some sort of "meter" being filled. Now, the suggestion that it's a special move on top of the other super moves that we're assuming the blue bar is... not particularly appealing, but hey, this is all speculation anyway. So let's go with that.

But let's consider...

muramasack2mp9.jpg


If that ain't the character's level - or, if we want to be particularly Odin Sphere-ish, the character's HP's level - then that calls into question my entire ability to speculate about a game based on a couple of screens utilizing a language I do not understand.

...

I think the original point that I was trying to get at here was that all current evidence indicates that yes, this will be quite similar to Odin Sphere. Which I think is on-topic. Or have I wandered in to the OTT again?
 
Do the Japanese use our symbols for their numbers? If so, what's with the sideways "1"?

Besides that, it seems quite obviously tied to the increase in HP.

Gunmp: Odin Sphere was a very action-based, beat-em-up-ish RPG. So I'm really not sure what's being argued here, as CK said that he expected his to be a very... action-based beat-em-up. Or something like that.
 
Numbers look the same. Not sure which you're talking about, but the "1" looks like it is referring to the numbers of hits like a combo counter in a fighting game or something.
 
1: Why is it attached to the HP bar? And why does its increase correlate to the increase in HP?
2: Why does it have a meter on it, if not to track EXP?
3:
muramasack3ag8.jpg

Question: Did you play Odin Sphere?
Bonus Question: Is this stuff bugging the rest of you? I myself like speculating based on early screenshots and consider myself alright at it, but I can stop if this is annoying anyone else that wants to use this thread.
 
[quote name='crystalklear64']Well what else would we do in this thread but speculate with the info released so far?[/QUOTE]
Dunno about you, but I'm enjoying people who say stupid things like "3D games seem to offer the whole package over the 2D games"... that's like saying Michael Bay's Transformers is better than Hitchcock's Psycho because it has CGIwhassits. :roll: :booty: ;)

--R.J.
 
In the case of this game, perhaps it could be the blowjob giving triple A powerhouse that some people here seem to think it will be. Hell, for those people, it could be the shittiest game ever to everyone else, but for them, it's gonna be a masterpiece because they already have it setup in their mind that it will be.

But with so little info being out for the game, and people saying things like, zomg day 1 purchase fo' sho', that's just silly.

Also, funny, but I don't remember wearing special glasses with red and blue lenses for either Psycho or Transformers.
 
I was waiting for a version that isnt borked before linking it to the OP. Unless its just me, but I was having problems playing it correctly.

I'd say the verdict is in. Its sufficiently similar to Odin Sphere that if you liked/disliked one, it should hold to the other. The levels have a little more to them vertically, and the fighting is a little flashier/quicker, but in the end it is clearly Odin Sphere++. Of course that shouldve also been obvious from just the screenshots.

I hope the CC control scheme doesnt use the right analog stick. I played Odin Sphere with an arcade stick and just missed out on being able to move the map around, since that was the only function of the right analog on the DS2. I might just decide to waggle it though :bouncy:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
[quote name='Dr Mario Kart']I played Odin Sphere with an arcade stick and just missed out on being able to move the map around, since that was the only function of the right analog on the DS2.[/QUOTE]
I'm afraid of the answer but: why did you play Odin Sphere with an arcade stick?
 
Looks like they made some improvements to the odin sphere combat, but it still has those pauses that interrupt your play. It seems to be integrated more with the game (used the sword as the select screen) and theres a lot more vertical action like dmk said.

It also looks like they've added some more platforming elements which is a good thing.

Those breaks in gameplay are a major issue for me though and it doesn't look like, so far, they've done enough different.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top