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Check out more of Muramasa's lovely gameplay in this new trailer
Muramasa: The Demon Blade's US release is so anticipated around Joystiq HQ, our staff can constantly be spotted exchanging fist-pumps whenever it's mentioned. Today, a new gameplay trailer has found its way online, showcasing more of the game's beautiful action. Hopefully, when it hits stores Stateside on September 8, it will live up to our lofty expectations. If not, the only arm movement we'll be making is when we throw elbows during our daily "abuse the intern" training exercises.
Muramasa: The Demon Bosses
Ignition has released two new trailers for the always lovely Muramasa: The Demon Blade. The first features the game's bosses, a collection of mythical monsters who can withstand thousands of rapid-fire slashes from Kisuke and Momohime. We've seen many of them, but we weren't familiar with that giant centipede thing. If you enjoy that particular boss as much as we do, be sure to watch the other trailer after the break, originally posted at UGO. Not only does it feature more of that boss, acting both as opponent and surface, it features a one thousand hit combo on that boss.
Video: The pretty, violent locations of Muramasa
Ignition has released a new video of Muramasa: The Demon Blade. The video highlights the game's locations, all set in beautiful feudal Japanese backdrops. Of course, the problem with beautiful feudal Japanese backdrops is they're always being ransacked by ninjas, demons and evil snow witches. You're just walking along, admiring the cherry blossoms, and then it's like, bam: Snow witch. Happens every time. Watch the trailer and see for yourself. Muramasa hits shelves next month.
New trailer looks at Muramasa's Momohime, release set for Sept. 8
Some new Muramasa: The Demon Blade media has been released. This time around, it focuses on Momohime, one of the game's main characters. She's "a princess possessed by a dark spirit and on a quest to recover the cursed demon swords," and each blade she collects gives her different abilities. But none of that matters, really. What does matter is that she can slice and dice baddies with the best of them and, as we've come to expect from Muramasa, she looks great doing it. Watch the new trailer above and then soak up some new screens and artwork below.One more thing, we can finally pin a date on Muramasa. Expect it to hit North American shelves September 8.%Gallery-70004%
Ignition opens sharp Muramasa: The Demon Blade site
Ignition opened the official North American Muramasa: The Demon Blade website today, confrming two important facts for us: Ignition is still planning to release the game this year (we need constant reassurance that not every game is being pushed to 2010) The art is still bangin'. In fact, the website allows you to take some of that art for your very own in the form of desktop wallpapers. You can also check out screenshots, video, and character profiles while you're there, and offer Ignition your own Muramasa art in a fan art contest.
Vanillaware: HD Muramasa wouldn't be 'a great deal of extra work'
Vanillaware's Muramasa: The Demon Blade is quite beautiful on the Wii, but would such a work be possible in HD? Vanillaware founder and president George Kamitani told Gamasutra that he thinks so. "Well, the original art we draw is all done in double-size -- in the case of Muramasa, the animation frames then get compressed down to the Wii's native resolution," he told Gamasutra. "As a result, producing a fully HD title would not be a great deal of extra work for us; it would just mean our original art is displayed in higher resolution." This is very similar to what WayForward's Voldi Way told us about 2D development in HD.Despite the relative ease of transitioning to HD, Kamitani said there was no plan to re-release Muramasa as an XBLA game (or to re-release it anywhere else), but that the company is "in the experimental stage" of high-definition development.%Gallery-33431%
New Muramasa: The Demon Blade trailer is all about the blading
The latest trailer for Muramasa: The Demon Blade is designed to show off the high-flying, combo-ridden swordplay found in Vanillaware's action game. Your sword is in motion at almost all times during this game, as you float around, juggling enemy after enemy. It is a little bit overwhelming at first, in a Marvel vs. Capcom sort of way.But then, when you get the hang of it, grimacing wheels, single-file lines of monks, gigantic samurai, and even transparent horses won't be able to stop you. At least, we think. We didn't really graduate past the "panicked button-mashing" technique at E3.%Gallery-33431%
Interview: Vanillaware's Jouji Kamitani on Muramasa
Jouji "George" Kamitani is the person most responsible for Vanillaware's signature look. Not only is he the company's president and director of its games, he's also in charge of the art. We were able to pull him away briefly from his busy day of signing Muramasa posters at Ignition's E3 booth to speak about action games on the Wii, selling a very Japanese game in America, and why we won't see the quirky DS title Kumatanchi in North America anytime soon. As a bonus, we were treated to an enthusiastic live demonstration of Kamitani's dream Wii minigame.%Gallery-33431%
Hands-on: Muramasa: The Demon Blade
Vanillaware's Muramasa: The Demon Blade was one of the flashier games being demonstrated on the show floor. Positioned right in front of the door at E3's West Hall, every attendee is greeted by the game's signature woodblock-esque look, with vividly colorful, swirling forest scenery. Our demo took place inside Ignition's booth, guided by new director of business development Shane Bettenhausen.We know Vanillaware from its RPG titles like Odin Sphere, but while Muramasa shares the same lavish 2D look, it differs sharply in gameplay style -- this is a pure action game similar to something like Legend of Kage. First you choose one of two characters, princess Momohime or ninja Kisuke (each have their own divergent story), and then a difficulty level, "Muso" (easier) or "Shura" (hard). Then you run, jump, and slash monsters. It's pretty simple!
Muramasa rights picked up by Ignition, due in September
We love it when the wheels of progress turn quickly, but this is a bit much. Just a day after we learned that publisher XSEED had dropped the rights to Muramasa: The Demon Blade, Vanillaware's followup to the PS2's Odin Sphere, we hear from Ignition that it will be scooping the game up for a North American release on Wii in September.Jeez, Ignition, you didn't even give us time to mount an elaborate, multi-pronged effort to take to the streets to save Murasama. Now what the hell are we going to do with all this poster board and puffy paint?%Gallery-33431%
Muramasa staff answers fans' disgusting questions
Nakamura and Mori, two of the developers working on Muramasa: The Demon Blade, posted a Q&A column on the game's Japanese site, offering answers to questions some fans may have, and to questions that nobody should ever ask.Describing the difference between the "Musou" and "Shura" modes, Nakamura said that the Musou system is for people invigorated by raising levels, and the Shura system is more for action gamers who "have the habit of saying 'I am a god,'" and can play at godlike levels. He adds that players can switch modes at any time!The final question in the column is from a 19-year-old otaku who asks if the female protagonist, Momohime, ever flashes her panties in battle. Nakamura responds, according to Siliconera's translation, with a historical defense that immediately turns into a huge mistake: "N...never! Wearing panties underneath a kimono is unsophisticated. You can't see something that isn't there! Absolutely... you won't be able to see... Wait a second, Sayo..." Mori interjects with, "Hey! Please stop looking at Muramasa: The Demon Blade with such a wicked perspective!"%Gallery-33431%
Muramasa: The Demon Blade will accommodate action and RPG fans
According to (our iffy translation of) Famitsu, Muramasa: The Demon Blade will be playable in two different modes: "Musou" and "Shura." Musou mode may be best-suited for fans of previous Vanillaware action-RPGs like Odin Sphere: it focuses on character leveling rather than action. Shura mode is all action, with less emphasis on strategy. We don't know how the modes differ mechanically, but it may be as simple as easier enemies in one mode and fewer character customization options in the other.Along with this news, Marvelous released new screens of Muramasa. As usual, yum. Muramasa comes out April 9 in Japan, which is not fair at all. It's out in Europe in spring of 2010, and in North America sometime this year. But probably not next month.%Gallery-33431%
A welcome Muramasa: The Demon Blade media overload
We're going to take the rest of the day off. We just uploaded a ton of new screens of Muramasa: The Demon Blade, and we just need a little mini-vacation to stare at them. We are always surprised when we see this game again and realize that it's even more beautiful than we remember it being. This is what it feels like to care about graphics. We totally understand it. The gorgeous boxart is also in the gallery. If you're as awestruck by the backgrounds as we are, you should have a look around the newly redesigned website (updated in anticipation of the April 9 Japanese release date), which has character/UI-free background images. Marvelous also added a new trailer to the page, which we've embedded after the break. Apparently, there will be some sort of preorder bonus for the Japanese version, an unknown item that will show off the character art and other artwork. A poster? Art book? Whatever it is, we want it.%Gallery-33431%Source -- screens, via NeoGAFSource -- site, via AndriaSang
XSEED drawing Muramasa: The Demon Blade this summer?
We were thrilled by the implication that Muramasa: The Demon Blade's planned November 2009 European release date meant a similar date for North America -- just because the date made the whole thing seem more real. Now, according to retailers, we may have a release window for Vanillaware's unsettlingly gorgeous side-scrolling action RPG that doesn't seem like it's five million years away. Both GameStop and Amazon report summer release dates for the title: Gamestop says July 15, and Amazon on July 28. Even if it is earlier than November, July may seem like a long time from now -- but Wii action gamers will probably have a lot to play in the first half of the year, including stuff like House of the Dead: Overkill, MadWorld, Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers, and The Conduit.%Gallery-33431%[Via Siliconera]
Muramasa slicing up Europe in November 2009
Rising Star Games has already confirmed it will localize gorgeous 2D ninja romp Muramasa: The Demon Blade in Europe, and now the official site has pinpointed a release date of November 2009.Why is this good news for North Americans? Spencer at Siliconera believes that Marvelous is attempting to align release dates for its biggest titles in the U.S. and Europe (No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle and Little King's Story have similar launch dates in both regions), and hypothesizes that Muramasa could fall into the same pattern. Now seems like an appropriate time to celebrate with half a dozen new screens!%Gallery-33431%Source: European release windowSource: Screens
TGS08: Muramasa gameplay footage will change you
We have been keeping up with Muramasa: The Demon Blade. We read the interview in which the director namechecked The Legend of Kage. We've stared at screens. We've even seen video from as far back as last year's TGS and as recently as the Nintendo press event (though we saw only seconds then). We thought we knew Muramasa. We were not prepared for this video.It looks like Odin Sphere, sure, but with sharper graphics and more beautiful settings. It also appears to be far more actiony than its predecessor, and also less beset by slowdown. It looks like, well, Ninja Gaiden crossed with Ninja Gaiden. Enjoy these seven minutes of amazing Muramasa footage.%Gallery-33431%
Muramasa: The Awesome Screens
It's been a long time, but we're glad Nintendo's press event and TGS have kick-started the release of news regarding Vanillaware's Oboro Muramasa Youtouden, coming here as Muramasa: The Demon Blade. Only a few days after the last release of screens, we have another ... couple of screens!While we'd love to read hands-on impressions, or learn more about the release date for any region beyond "2009," we can state honestly that it's quite enough for us to look at screens of this incredibly beautiful game. We'll need a couple more months to take all this in before we'll need to play it or anything.Well, actually, it isn't enough for us. Marvelous will be handing out Oboro Muramasa screen-cleaners at TGS, and we would definitely like to see one of those. In our hands.%Gallery-33431%
Vanillaware's Muramasa: The Demon Blade coming stateside
The publishing duo of XSEED and Marvelous Entertainment announced plans to bring Vanillaware's Wii-exclusive ninja-action title, Oboro Muramasa Youtouden, to the US sometime next year. The game, which will be redubbed as Muramasa: The Demon Blade for the local market, marks the second title to emerge from a co-publishing deal inked in May, following this week's release of Valhalla Knights 2 for the PSP. Muramasa looks to continue the tradition of Vanillaware's eye-poppingly gorgeous titles, Odin Sphere and Grim Grimoire, promising hand-drawn 2D sprites and side-scrolling levels. Beyond this, details are scarce, though more is expected to be revealed next week when the game is officially unveiled during TGS.
Marvelous! Oboro Muramasa Youtouden announced for US
Marvelous Entertainment told The RPGO earlier this week that they had three unannounced projects for the US in the works. NeoGAFfer Botticus reports that the latest issue of Nintendo Power confirms the identity of one of those projects as Vanillaware's Oboro Muramasa Youtouden! The publication announced that Marvelous/XSEED plans to release the side-scrolling ARPG from the Odin Sphere creators as Muramasa: The Demon Blade sometime in 2009. Having heard absolutely nothing about the game's progress since troubling news in April, this announcement, in addition to letting us know it's coming out here, serves to reassure us that it's coming out at all.
Kumatanchi wallpaper plus a bit of backstory
The site for Vanillaware and Dimple's bizarre zookeeping game Kumatanchi has opened, though it currently offers absolutely nothing other than guest wallpaper. Eventually, it'll have an introduction to both the game system and the setting, and ... probably more wallpaper.Last week, Zepy of Canned Dogs uncovered the reason that Vanillaware, best known for sidescrolling RPGs like Odin Sphere and Princess Crown would veer off into a game about little girls with animal ears, and it's pretty interesting. One of their staff artists makes amateur doujin games, like Habanero-tan House (which looks like Kumatanchi with plant-girls), in his spare time with a group called Ashinaga Ojisan. Somehow, Vanillaware decided to work with the group on a DS game. It's not uncommon for an amateur-made game to become a console release -- Melty Blood comes to mind, as does ABA Games' TUMIKI Fighters. But since this is being done professionally in collaboration with Vanillaware, Kumatanchi isn't exactly a doujin game.
