Games

[icycalm]

朧村正妖刀伝（仮）
Oboro Muramasa Youtouden (tentative title)

Side-scrolling ARPG by Vanillaware (Odin Sphere) announced early last month.

http://www.mmv.co.jp/special/game/wii/oboromuramasa/

These are the first full-res screens, posted in a recent Gpara preview:











http://www.gpara.com/comingsoon/oboromuramasa/0927/

It really has to be seen in motion to be appreciated:

http://www.gametrailers.com/game/5552.html

What I find hilarious is how the Wii can get better-looking games than the 360 and the PS3, even though compared to both it's vastly underpowered. I only wish more of its games remained 2D -- it's a crime for example that the latest Fire Emblem doesn't look like this.

[MAXCHAIN]

it's a crime for example that the latest Fire Emblem doesn't look like this.

Seriously! Fire Emblem had some great 2D graphics. All the sprites had loads and loads of personality and detail. Now we get these emotionless 3D robots =(

I noticed there's some platforming featured in the video/screencaps. I'm hoping this title will settle more on the action side of things, though I fear I'm getting my hopes up only for them to be dashed by more lame inventory management and leveling.

[ei6]

Hello everyone, I'm new around here (though pretty old to the video game scene).

Perhaps the reason why the Wii scores better visual points over the 360 and PS3 is because few developers these days choose to make 2D games anymore. Has any other developer aside from Vanillaware made an original 2D game to receive acclaim recently?

Also, here are a couple of scans:

[filterpunk]

Has any other developer aside from Vanillaware made an original 2D game to receive acclaim recently?

The only other example I can think of off-hand is Guilty Gear, but if things play out right with King of Fighters XII, ST HD Remix, etc. there may eventually be a few more that can be added to the list.

I think some developers, even traditionally 2D ones, are just warming up to the idea of games utilizing hi-res sprites as opposed to nasty, upscaled ones. Koji Igarashi and a number of others have complained about the time/money/market involved with hi-res 2D games on consoles, even going so far as to say that the PSP is too similar to a console and thus inappropriate for it. With smaller devs like Vanillaware doing it, I'm sure it'll catch on with others as time goes by.

That said, I don't expect the popularity of 2D games to suddenly explode, just that the quality will go up in some instances. Even SNK, who've been recycling their stuff for 10+ years, are finally taking steps to update their characters and designs.

[icycalm]

Interview with Marvelous producer Yoshifumi Hashimoto, which mentions Oboro Muramasa as well as modern 2D game development in general:

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_i ... tory=16558

Haven't actually read it yet, but I'll set some time aside tomorrow to do so.

[icycalm]

Preview from back in October:



And new screens:





Also, Recap tells me the title has been changed to simply Oboro Muramasa. Thread title changed accordingly.

[mothmanspirit]

http://www.gamengai.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2500

Got this. Initial impressions are good, although it's taking me a while to get used to an analogue stick and one button (for the most part). Is this getting a western release? My heart goes out to the translation team. I haven't been this confused since Okami.

EDIT: I bought it at Messe Sanno, and they kindly reminded me why I used to love going to Akiba to buy new games. The bonuses. Sometimes they suck, but they really fucking came through on this one. It's a fold out w/ an illustration of each character. Really weird paper size too. It's like it's A4 but 50% or so taller. The A3 scanner will come in handy.

Updates
Here's what I've gathered thus far.

Premise: Odin Sphere meets Okami. Battles are usually triggered randomly (like Odin Sphere), and exploration is also quite similar. Area's are much larger, and the atmosphere's are far more varied. You can tell this within the first hour of the game.

There are apparently two stories. At the start, they don't overlap at all. I'm getting into areas of the map that overlap, and the bosses are different, so that's a huge plus.

You can equip 3 swords at a time -- two different kinds. Big, and really big. The former are fast, but weaker. The latter are painfully slow. Really easy to get your ass handed to you with them. Each sword has an ougi... some have the same, but there are quite a few to be honest. Each sword also has a meter. Use an ougi, it depletes it. When the gauge hits zero, the sword breaks temporarily (items can fix it, or you can wait). Blocking the wrong type of attack can automatically break it as well (frustrating).

Items: You have an item bag which can hold 5 types of items. Healing (you or the swords), as well as status fixing (poison, etc.). When you eat, you're "full" for X amount of time. You can't eat again until you're not full. You also can't change items in your bag mid-battle, so for tough battles, you want only your good items in there.

As you get more swords (by beating bosses) you can make more based on them. They require spirits which you pick up along the way, and get form killing bad guys, and this other meter which you also get by killing shit. Most of the swords are called ________ Muramasa. The last is Oboro Muramasa I would assume. To use them, you have to have X Strength and X Defense. The ones at the bottom require 220+ of each, and as per before, I'm 4 hours in on one story at about 21/23. So, unless there's some faster leveling, this is going to take a while.

Cooking: You can cook items to take with you and put in your bag (onigiri, Yaki Imo) to use in battle, and some you cook and eat on the spot. You can buy or pick up ingredients.

Thus far, I've never found a spot where it's necessary to use a healing item outside of a battle. If you die, you simply start that screen over again. If it's a boss, he'll be there and even if you used items, they are replenished when you die (like a save state). On that note, the cooking of items you can't take with you are (thus far) useless. They waste ingredients when you can simply die and be replenished any way. In short, at least in the first 7 hours (3 of one story, 4 of the other), there's been no upside to using healing items outside of boss fights, or a handful of really hard normal fights.

On that note, I'm quite enjoying it. 7 hours in 2 days I've not done in a LONG time. 2 years probably. Helps that my wife and kid are out of town.

Sounds pretty boring, visuals aside.

[icycalm]

Just the idea of exploring the setting sounds fun to me. Haven't played many games of this type though -- only one I can recall is Moonstone on the Amiga.

Recap's latest editorial mentions this game actually, and something about the fact that it supports both 16:9 and 4:3 display. I am not sure exactly what the deal with this is, or what Recap has to say about it.

http://postback.geedorah.com/editoriale ... 90409.html

[El Chaos]

He basically says that the game has been designed in high resolution (as opposed to both low resolution and high definition), so HDTVs are inappropriate for playing it at full screen, as is also the case with any other Wii game. He noticed that the 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio shows more stuff than the 4:3 fullscreen one, which should logically alter the enemies' behaviour and general game mechanics substantially. He wholeheartedly recommends using a CRT VGA monitor or TV display for playing this game.

According to Wikipedia [spoiler ahead]:

The game has two different control methods, one for casual players that will presumably involve the Wii Remote, and another for more experienced players who prefer a more precise method, using the Classic Controller.

(...)

The game can be played in 3 modes: Unmatched (無双 ,Musō) Mode, Carnage (修羅 ,Shura) Mode and Insane Death (死狂 ,Shigurui) Mode. Unmatched Mode focuses on character leveling as opposed to action, whereas Carnage Mode is more action based, recommended for skilled players. Insane Death Mode is only available after a player clears the game in Carnage Mode, this mode plays in the same fashion as Carnage Mode but limits player's HP to 1 and will never grow when leveled up.

[Recap]

The game has two different control methods, one for casual players that will presumably involve the Wii Remote, and another for more experienced players who prefer a more precise method, using the Classic Controller.

It's not like that, I understand. The game IS conceived for the Classic Controller whichever the mode you choose. And there you should be getting proper two-button action (attack + jump). Hope GP realizes soon [laughs].

[icycalm]

got this yesterday and despite being beautiful to look at it's functionally bloody brilliant too. All the basic attack moves are context sensitive affairs based around directional inputs, which makes just the low-level gameplay hugely varied. Then you have specials and sword switching on top of that, both of which are pretty meaty endeavours. I also love the fact that the game can also be played with a Cube controller too. I'm glad I got the Japanese version too, as having American voice "acting" (I use the term very loosely) would just ruin it I think.

http://forums.insertcredit.com/viewtopic.php?t=10558

Doesn't sound boring at all.

[icycalm]

Great cover:



And three full-res videos for your download pleasure:

http://videogamerx.gamedonga.co.kr/zbxe/1149045

[A.Wrench]

After being disappointed by Odin Sphere, I swore I wasn't going to get fooled again... but it sounds like Vanillaware's actually learning from their mistakes. Color me excited...

[ChevRage]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muramasa:_The_Demon_Blade

A PlayStation Vita port titled Muramasa Rebirth will be released in Japan on March 28th. The port is said to feature four new short scenarios available as downloadable content and also have four new playable protagonists. Aksys Games has announced that they will publish the North American version of Muramasa Rebirth.

Some screenshots:

http://www.allgamesbeta.com/2013/03/mur ... shots.html

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGWGIl5O904

[Some guy]

Second DLC trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJbec2Mtetg

http://www.allgamesbeta.com/2014/01/mur ... ailer.html