Muramasa: The Demon Blade

Muramasa: The Demon Blade is a masterpiece manqué: Vanillaware focused too much on the technical side forgetting a little about the core gameplay, and the result is a game that's visually astonishing yet flawed. Some will love it the same, but many will regret its wasted potential.

The Demon Blade pulls everyone to the television screen with it’s fantastic art direction. It also plays like a dream, but after a while you might get bored, because this game is simple. There’s not only little challenge, but also little variation in what you do. It’s a shame, because visually this must be one of the highlights of the this generation on any console. Still, you would do well to try this one out.

Oboromuramasa is shallow, rather simple and relatively short-lived, but nonetheless wonderful in its way. As a piece of visual videogame art it's at the very peak of the medium's achievements, along with Okami and Odin Sphere, and it's crafted with such obvious, loving care and attention to detail that it's impossible not to like. If only its combat were as precise and considered as the faultless presentation, this might be an enduring love rather than a fleeting but indisputably beautiful affair. [JPN Import]

Muramasa is frustrating because it's a game that should be great, but its compounded faults result in it merely being good. If you can overlook the repetitive combat and boring backtracking, then you'll get a kick out of slicing up ninjas and monsters for a few hours -- and you'll certainly like ogling one of the best looking titles on the Wii.

An arcade-style game, Muramasa is fun in short bursts, but without much depth anywhere—meaning players should only come to the table when they’re especially hungry for it.

Is Muramasa a luscious concept art gallery rudely interrupted by swordplay, or just a ponderous Ninja Gaiden clone. Whatever the case, it doesn't wholly succeed. [July 2009, p.99]