Reading about the new site for Muramasa: The Demon Blade yesterday gave me an excuse to talk about this stylish action-RPG from Vanillaware. For those unaware, Vanillaware brought us the niche classics Odin Sphere (published by Atlus) and Grim Grimore (published by Nippon Ichi) a couple years back. This very stylized game carries the name of a famous - yet supposedly insane - swordsmith who lived during the 16th Century in Japan. The game tells the story of a conflict over powerful and dangerous swords, the Demon Blades. These swords are supposedly cursed, and bring about ill occurrences to those who wield them. This story, in a way, parallels the real legend behind the swordsmith I mentioned earlier, Muramasa Sengo. He had a violent and insane mind, and those traits were believed to transfer over to the swords he made, passing them on to whoever wielded them.

Muramasa has over 30 stages that are rendered in an awesome hand-drawn 2D visual style. You can use the Wii-mote or a standard classic controller while fighting as either Kisuke, a ninja with amnesia, or Momohime, a young princess. There’s approximately 108 katanas to find and collect throughout the game as these characters traverse ancient Japan. The games includes three different modes of play, and each sets different parameters for the player. The most insane of these modes is, rightly, called “Insane Death” mode, which sets the player’s HP at 1 throughout the entire game. Do people find something like that enjoyable? I think I’ll pass, thankyouverymuch.

I was a fan of Odin Sphere, the visuals of that title are quite stunning. It’s unfortunate this new Vanillaware title is on the Wii…but only because that’s the one system I don’t own. Needless to say, Wii owners who enjoy 2D action-RPGs are in for quite a treat come September 8, when this title ships in North America.