Muramasa: The Demon Blade
is a 2009 action role-playing game developed by Vanillaware and published for the Wii by Marvelous Entertainment, Ignition Entertainment, and Rising Star Games. An expanded PlayStation Vita version was published in 2013 by Marvelous AQL in Japan and Aksys Games in Western territories. Using a 2D side-scrolling perspective, the gameplay revolves around a beat 'em up fighting system, while incorporating role-playing elements such as leveling and questing.
Muramasa takes place during the Edo period on Japan's main island of Honshu during the reign of shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi. Conflicts have arisen over ownership of the Demon Blades, samurai swords forged by Muramasa Sengo that bring tragedy and madness upon their wielders. The story revolves around two protagonists related to this conflict: Momohime, a woman who is possessed by the spirit of vengeful rōnin Jinkuro Izuna; and Kisuke, an amnesiac ninja on the run for a forgotten crime who is tied up with the tragedy that destroyed Momohime's family. The Vita port includes four self-contained stories based on Japanese folklore released as downloadable content.
The concept work for Muramasa began during the middle of development on Odin Sphere. Along with improving on the action gameplay over Odin Sphere, a great deal of effort was put into making the game's setting authentic to the period. Director and writer George Kamitani created the story based on kabuki theatre, incorporating Japanese folklore and Buddhist theology. When the game was released in the West, it retained its Japanese voicetrack to preserve its atmosphere. It was released to moderate sales and positive reviews. The Vita port, released in the West as Muramasa Rebirth, had strong sales and similar reception to its original version.
Gameplay
Muramasa is a two-dimensional side-scrolling action role-playing game set on the main Japanese island of Honshu during the Edo period. Players take control of two characters with similar gameplay abilities. Navigation takes place through hand-drawn 2D side-scrolling environments reminiscent of Japanese artwork of the period, and can enter towns to talk with non-playable characters and buy items such as health restoratives and accept quests. An additional cooking element allows the characters to cook meals using materials gathered during exploration: meals grant temporary character boosts, and fill a "fullness" meter that limits how much food a character can eat.Combat comes in the form of both avoidable random encounters and scripted fights where the camera is fixed within the fighting area: enemies and bosses are primarily drawn from Japanese folklore and mythology. Battles are triggered only when enemies are near, with the player character otherwise keeping their weapons sheathed. In combat, characters attack and guard using a single-button prompt, while another button accesses items such as healing potions. Continuously attacking triggers combos. Different moves include sword slashes combined with directional buttons, which have different effects such as throwing an enemy into the air with an upward slash. Additional offensive items such as smoke bombs are acquired during the course of the game. At the end of each battle, experience points are awarded to the player character depending on how fast the battle was finished: leveling up increases a character's health, stats, and the amount of damage inflicted upon enemies.
Weapons are distinguished into two categories, Blade and Long Blade : Blades are fast, while Long Blades are slower and deal higher damage. Three blades can be equipped at any one time: each blade has its own stats, determining the amount of damage that can be inflicted. When blocking or using a blade's Secret Art special move, its Soul Power gauge depletes: if emptied, the sword breaks and its offensive abilities are drastically reduced. When sheathed, the Soul Power regenerates. Soul Power can be gathered in various locations to restore Soul Power and the character's health. There are 108 blades that can be collected and forged in-game: forging blades requires Soul Power and "spirit", and each blade has a level cap determining when it can be forged. Weapon forging is governed by a weapon-based skill tree.
Synopsis
Setting and characters
Muramasa takes place on Honshu, the main island of the Japanese archipelago, with its overall style and setting drawing heavily upon Japanese folklore and mythology. It is set in the Genroku period, itself within the larger Edo period, during the reign of the shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi. Tsunayoshi's thirst for power has created conflict around ownership of the Demon Blades, samurai swords forged by the legendary swordsmith Muramasa Sengo that crave blood when drawn and bring madness and death to those foolish enough to draw them. Due to the chaos generated by this, the Demon Blades' powers begin summoning demons from Hell, along with causing ancient gods to stir from long slumber.The two lead characters are Momohime, a princess of the Narukami clan from the province of Mino; and Kisuke, a runaway ninja with no memories but a burning desire for vengeance. For the course of the game, Momohime is inadvertently possessed by the spirit of Jinkuro Izuna, an unscrupulous rōnin who was trying to possess the body of Momohime's betrothed Yukinojo Yagyu, a high-status samurai. Momohime and Kisuke are each accompanied and watched over by a kitsune in human form. They are Kongiku, who holds affection for Jinkuro, and Yuzuruha, who aids Kisuke in his quest against the Demon Blades' corruption. A key character in Kisuke's storyline is Torahime, Momohime's sister.
Plot
Momohime's StoryMomohime wakes up in Kyo with memories of being killed by the dying Jinkuro when he attacked Yukinojo. Jinkuro spirit, forcefully possesses her, but before the process of soul transference is finished, they are attacked. Momohime's soul is kidnapped by the vengeful monk Rankai, forcing Jinkuro to follow Kongiku as Momohime's body will die if her soul is harmed. With her soul safe, Jinkuro sets out to regain the Dark Resurrection Demon Blade so he can properly utilize his Soul Transference Technique and gain influence through a new host. Encountering Yukinojo, who is searching for Momohime, the two battle. Momohime forces Jinkuro to spare Yukinojo, even when she learns that Yukinojo's intentions in marrying her were part of a scheme to ruin her family as punishment for defying the shōgun. Jinkuro goes to Yukinojo's compound to retrieve the Dark Resurrection, but the storehouse where it is said to be is absorbed into Hell by demons. Descending into Hell, Jinkuro's soul is briefly captured by a demon, and it is only with Momohime's help that he escapes and learns that the Dark Resurrection was never in the storehouse. With Momohime's body beginning to fail due to the strain Soul Transference put on it, Jinkuro attempts to ascent to Heaven so he can become an immortal demon, but is stopped by Raijin and Fujin.
While willing to accept his death and allow Momohime her remaining time in her body, Kongiku shows them another way to Heaven on Mount Kongō, where Rankai's temple is located. There, Yukinojo reveals that he had the Dark Resurrection all along. They are then attacked by Fudo-Myoou, who is there to deliver divine justice upon Jinkuro. In the first ending, Jinkuro allows himself to be sent to Hell while Momohime lives; she forgoes her marriage to Yukinojo and becomes a Buddhist nun to save Jinkuro's soul. In the second ending, Momohime and Jinkuro are intercepted by Kisuke and Yuzuruha, who turns Kongiku back into a fox as punishment for her actions. Though defeated, the dying Kisuke delivers a fatal wound to Momohime, forcing Jinkuro to merge his soul with Momohime's to save her: this act leaves her an amnesiac but grants her Jinkuro's sword fighting abilities, which become legendary as she travels Japan with Kongiku. In the third ending, after the battle with Fudo-Myoou, Jinkuro is transported to the night he attacked Yukinojo by the Oboro Muramasa Demon Blade, which can defy the passage of fate. He chooses not to attack them, later possessing Yukinojo so he can safeguard Momohime's family. Momohime lives to be one hundred years old and bears three children, while Kongiku remains close to Jinkuro in the guise of a servant.
Kisuke's Story
Kisuke, suffering from amnesia and on the run from his ninja clan, travels to Edo in the company of Yuzuruha, accidentally breaking a seal imprisoning damned souls in the process. Defeating the souls after they manifest as Ōmukade, he learns from the ninja's employer Yukinojo that he was part of a mission to steal the Kuzuryu Demon Blade from Momohime's Nakurami Clan as punishment for defying the shōguns order to surrender it, tying into Yukinojo's intentions in marrying Momohime. Yukinojo sends Kisuke against Torahime, Momohime's sister and the shrine maiden who kept the Kuzuryu's power in check. Pursuing her, Kisuke fights both Torahime and undead soldiers loyal to her family, and agents who are preserving the flow of magic energy to Mount Fuji. His battles awaken his memories: he was originally disguised as a servant in Torahime's household as part of Yukinojo's scheme, but fell in love with Torahime and attempted to betray his clan when stealing the Kuzuryu. Dying from his wounds, the spirit of Senju Oboroya, the creator of the Oboro Style that controls the Demon Blades, fused with Kisuke to save his life and pass on the Oboro Style to someone who would use it for good. The fusion triggered Kisuke's amnesia, but left him with the ability to wield Demon Blades without succumbing to their evil.
Rescuing Torahime from the spider demon Tsuchigumo, Kisuke learns that she died while fleeing from Tsunayoshi's forces, and that her present life is a temporary gift from Amitābha. The two travel to Mount Fuji, where its native dragon god has gone berserk with rage after the energy of Japan's dragon veins are diverted to Edo, forcing a route into Heaven. The true culprit is Inugami, a mad god imprisoned in the Kuzuryu. In the first ending, the possessed Tsunayoshi is defeated by Kisuke after fatally wounding Torahime, who dies in Kisuke's arms. After the battle, Kisuke asks Amitābha to return the now-enlightened Torahime to life, then commits suicide as an act of defiance when his demand is refused. At Torahime's request, she and Kisuke are reincarnated, with Yuzuruha trying to helping them reunite. In the second ending, Tsunayoshi is killed by the Jinkuro-possessed Momohime, but Kisuke exorcises Jinkuro, and following Torahime's final request becomes Momohime's servant. The two set out on a personal quest to locate all the Demon Blades causing conflict in Japan. In the third ending, after defeating Inugami, Kisuke is sent back to the day he betrayed his employers by the Oboro Muramasa. His warning allows Torahime to foil the plot against her family, then Kisuke steals the Kuzuryu and sets off on a journey around the world to exhaust its power by striking down evil, promising to marry Torahime upon his return.
Genroku Legends
The Genroku Legends are split into four different stories directly inspired by Japanese folklore and set in the Muramasa universe. In "Fishy Tales of the Nekomata", a domestic cat called Miike sees her family brought to ruin and all its members killed. Becoming a nekomata and taking on the form of the family daughter Okoi, she vows revenge against her family's killers: assassins employed by their rival Netsuzo Wakamiya and his samurai retainer Shinzaemon Shigematsu. Using teachings from the tanuki Danzaburou, Miike infiltrates the Wakamiya estate as Okoi to kill Wakamiya and Shigematsu. Despite succeeding, her rage extends to the entire household. In the end, her tails are cut off by Jinkuro when he is hired to exorcise her: in the process she curses Jinkuro with illness, setting the events of Momohime's story in motion. Now at peace, Miike spends time with an old priest and hosts moonlight dances with local cats and bakeneko. In the alternate ending, Miike becomes a demon whose rage is finally quelled by the old priest.
In "A Cause to Daikon For", the farmer Gonbe is forced to form a revolt when the local daimyō raises taxes to the point that local villages are on the brink of ruin. Abandoned by the authorities and aided by the spirit of his deceased wife Otae, Gonbe and his neighbours fight through the daimyōs minions before killing him. Executed for his actions, he relates his story to Enma, who acknowledges his reasoning but condemns him to Hell. Due to her love for him, Otae joins Gonbe despite being a pure soul. After complaining to Enma about the exhausted demons being unable to punish their souls, Enma banishes Gonbe, Otae and his comrades back to the living world, where they live in peace under a kinder daimyō. In the alternate ending, the entire sequence is an illusion produced by Gonbe's spirit around the ruins of the daimyōs castle, ended when a passing Yamabushi frees their spirits.
In "A Spirited Seven Nights' Haunting", the Iga ninja Arashimaru goes on the run after learning his latest target, the Okabe clan leader and caretaker of the Spear of Bishamon, was his father. Taking shelter in a shrine, Arashimaru accidentally breaks a mirror sacred to the Goddess Inaraki, who becomes a Shirohebi that curses him to die in seven days. After besting his master Shiranui in combat, Arashimaru learns that his mission was orchestrated by the monk So Xian, a century old Chinese spy working to destabilize Japan's ruling classes who was indirectly responsible for taking the young Kisuke from his family. Arashimaru kills So Xian and escapes with Shiranui's aid, then goes peacefully to his death after asking the saddened Shirohebi to give his head and Spear of Bishamon to his brother Dengoro to restore the Okabe house. Arashimaru's head is given proper burial at the Shirohebi's insistence, and Arashimaru's spirit is deified due to the grave becoming a prayer site for pilgrims. In the alternate ending, Arashimaru is possessed by So Xian and enslaves Shirohebi, becoming the sorcerer "Orochimaru"; the Okabe's last surviving heir escapes, taking on the name "Jiraiya" to fight Orochimaru.
In "Hell's Where the Heart Is", the Oni girl Rajyaki, daughter of Enma, is journeying to recover the treasures of the Seven Gods of Fortune. On her journey, the womanizing ex-monk Seikichi accidentally proposes to her and she accepts him as her husband. In the end, Seikichi saves her from a Jorōgumo's poison by feeding her the sacred peach of Fukurokuju, though this prompts Enma to banish her from Hell. The Seven Gods of Fortune persuade Rajyaki to return to her father, while Seikichi moves to live a proper life, with Rajyaki returning as a human to formalize their marriage. In the alternate ending, Seikichi saves the still-banished Rajyaki from hunters by pretending he killed her, establishing himself as a samurai; Rajyaki becomes his wife, and they have five children who bear their mother's demonic horns. The Genroku Legends conclude with the narrator detailing the locations of the Seven Gods' treasures scattered through the stories, and thanking the player for locating them and calming Enma so his demons could return to Hell.