Another Vanillaware RPG? (Muramasa)
 

Looked around and didn't see any mention of this, but apparently there's a scan of some new game headed for the Wii that has the same style as Odin Sphere (2D, side scrolling and apparently it's a hack 'n slash). If anyone's got any info on this one, I'd be glad to hear it.

Here's the scan (don't mind the shirtless ogre lady):

All I really know is that the game is called "Oboro Muramasa Youtouden", and that it's basically like Odin Sphere (probably using the same engine and all), but with a more Japanese feel--which I guess looking at the screenshots is pretty obvious. I'm already excited about it, anyway.

Ooh, so basically Odin Sphere but based on Japanese lore and stuff? Sounds cool, especially since there only seems to be 2 playable characters.

Most excellent. The Odin Sphere system on a more powerful platform, maybe there won't be as much crippling slowdown or ridiculously long load times this time around. (I'm looking at you, Pooka Kitchen and Cafe)

Also looking forward to the possibility of another amazing soundtrack.

If that's all they're doing to it, I'll pass. They need to fix some of the serious problems that were in Odin Sphere.

After reading about it some more apparently there will be two modes of play--"Light and easy" and "hardcore".

MORE UPDATES AS EVENTS UNFOLD

Err, is there a normal mode for normal folks? Unless Hardcore is supposed to be code for normal mode now, that is.

That was actually my first thought, since I usually play at normal mode unless I know the game is too easy on it or whatever. But what I'm guessing is that the light and easy mode is more aimed at like, children and casual gamers, while the hardcore mode is more like... People who have played Odin Sphere. :D

A neat guy at NeoGAF has blown up the screenshots:

Pretty cool looking so far I have to say!

Ah, looks like there's going to be a bit more jumping this time around. Looks nice and I see no circular stage map.

Bleh, for the Wii? I was really hoping to see Vanillawares next project would offer some high definition sprites considering how beautiful Odin Sphere was.

I don't know if Vanillaware could do that since they're like ten people or something. But yeah, it would be nice.

Wow, this is actually making me consider buying a Wii at some point. The setting looks very appealing to me and as Metal Sphere pointed out, there are no circular maps, which also makes me happy. Perhaps it will be a more fleshed out and less linear type of Odin Sphere, closer to what I was originally expected.

Very cool...

Really. You're telling me you'd still complain if it was on the PS2.

You'll have to forgive my skepticism, Cetra.

For a Vanillaware game, yeah I would. Let's be honest, the major aspect of Vanillaware games are in the graphics. It's not like Odin Sphere offers a spectacular level of gameplay rather it's major praise comes from how beautiful it was. This aspect could be brought out a lot better on the Xbox 360 or PS3 with 1080p sprites and backgrounds rather than 480p versions. That's all I really meant.

The screens make it look like it won't even be natively widescreen. :'(

A definite reason to buy a Wii at some point. Hopefully the control mechanics will be nifty and all of that. Want to see how the game will go with a remote and all of that.

Well, I wouldn't mind if they thought of something with the Wiimote+Nunchuck or they simply went with something a little tamer or traditional. It'd be pretty hard to fuck up a hack and slash, since what you do is hack... and slash (and some other things).

I don't know why they wouldn't make it 16:9 considering it's what the Wii accepts as well.

It's what Odin Sphere desperately needed.

Well, do most wii games sport true widescreen or is it all/mostly anamorphic? I don't have a wii so I really wouldn't know.

The screenshots for this game don't look like they are native. Infact many don't even look widescreen at all (though a couple look like they might be because they seem slightly wider). I mean, as long as it supports widescreen at all it'll look okay on my TV -- but games like these would benefit so much from the extra space that I really wish this would have wound up on the 360 or the PS3 just so I was sure it would sport true widescreen. Still looks good, though.

I'm just being nitpicky I guess.

Bioshock on Xbox 360 doesn't support true wide screen.... I believe it's up to the developers :P

No. That's called them being retarded and believe me, plenty of people are bitching and moaning about it online. Definitely not something that has or will happen often. Doesn't help that wide screen users actually see LESS in that than full screen users, but that's not really applicable to this topic. Point is, I doubt many devs will opt to take such a stupid and shitty stance on wide screen after the way 2K was treated over it.

I'll just say that I agree with Elixir, and that Odin Sphere would have been much better with more 'real estate' on the screen. When a game is completely side scrolling, the more space on the sides, the better. So that applies for this game too.

That's only true if it isn't true widescreen like many PS2 games' widescreen mode, which lop off a good bit of the picture.

That was my point. It was confirmed that Bioshock cropped off the top and bottom in widescreen; You can't see your wrists when you play in it. It's why people are so irritated with it, is not only is it not true wide screen, it isn't even just anamorphic -- it's cropped in addition. I think they said they were working on a patch before but I haven't been keeping up with any info about it since I beat the game.

This is $50 that will immediately go into Atlus' back pocket if this game is ever translated.

YouTube Video

Actually, I don't recommend watching the above. After seeing it in full glory on gametrailers, checking this out is an absolute must:

Gametrailers.com - Oboro Muramasa - TGS 07 Trailer

16:9 confirmed!!
 

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/...02/wiiss71.jpg

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/...02/wiiss73.jpg

http://www.gpara.com/files/contents/c_l1223300906_5.jpg

http://www.gpara.com/files/contents/c_l1223300906_6.jpg

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/...02/wiiss72.jpg

http://www.gpara.com/files/contents/...3300906_10.jpg
True 16:9 widescreen confirmed!

Huh. Odin Sphere tackled Norse Mythology while this seems to be going after traditional Japanese mythology, maybe its a hint of future titles?

Looks VERY pretty in any case.

That's Oboro Muramasa Youtouden, and it sounds like it's coming to the Wii.

Additional Spam:
The article from IGN is over a year old by now, but another page shows it as being playable at TGS in a few days.

It's also coming out in North America some time in mid-to-late 2009.

Holy shit, that's an awesome homage to the classical Japanese painting by Hokusai in the first shot. I was always intrigued by Odin Sphere's glorious visage, but never did buy it. This title looks - dare I say - even better. Maybe just because I'm weeaboo like that.

Looks freakin' delicious, and the 5 seconds of footage from that infamous Wii video made it look more actiony than Odin Sphere, which to me always felt like playing a game stuck in spiderwebs. I'm excited about it, but I have to hold out until I see a bit more of it. Despite the spectacular visuals, I thought Odin Sphere was a bit disappointing (though still great).

If you're in the US, Odin Sphere is on the Greatest Hits line now. Get it.

I like Vanillaware's side scrollers, though not much has changed since Princess Crown (though Grim Grimoire was very different). I hope this game has some new mechanics we can play with.

Will come to N.A. under the title Muramasa: The Demon Blade in 2009.

"Based on ancient Japanese lore, Murumasa: The Demon Blade plunges players into the mystical Genroku era, ruled by the skilled shogun Tsunayoshi Tokogawa. But this culture is threatened; Tokogawa's thirst for power leads to a conflict over the enormously powerful, though cursed, Demon Blades. Used in hatred, drenched in blood, the cursed blades condemn those who use them to tragedy, madness, and untimely deaths. As chaos spreads, denizens from the netherworld breach their realm as these malevolent swords summon evil spirits - and the Dragon and Demon Gods as well.

Featuring hand-drawn 2D art reflecting the heritage and tone of the storyline, Muramasa: The Demon Blade transports players into a little known mythology, envisioned by the creators of the critically acclaimed Odin Sphere. Players take on the role of a male ninja or female kunoichi, utilizing their ninja prowess to traverse the clever side-scrolling levels that feature vertical progression as well as the traditional horizontal stage advancement." - source

7 min gameplay footage - Gametrailers.com - Muramasa: The Demon Blade - TGS 08: Extended Gameplay

TGS Trailer - Gametrailers.com - Muramasa: The Demon Blade - TGS 08: Debut Trailer

It looks fucking beautiful, but I'm not really pleased with what I'm seeing gameplay-wise there. The "random encounter" style battles don't appeal to me so much, I was hoping for actual levels with some interaction in them. I don't like the incoherent backgrounds, although perhaps that's just because it's the demo version. The combat also still looks a bit stiff to me, though definitely a lot more action-y than Odin Sphere.

I'll still get it cause it just looks freakin' amazing and it'll probably be fun, but I'm a bit more skeptical now.

Damn, this looks so good. I think the "random-encounter" battle thing seems pretty cool. Also, I would guess that the random encounters are similar to Princess Crown, because its pretty much the same thing, except faster in Muramasa (I haven't played either though, not like I'd be able to play Muramasa anyway). Still looks awesome, can't wait, shitty post, etc.

It actually looks fun to fight, though. Which puts this game about a million miles ahead of Odin Sphere. I'm genuinely looking forward to playing it.

That was my impression as well, it just looks like a faster and flashier Odin Sphere, and the STAGE CLEAR crap after each battle looks like it'll get annoying real fast. It's definitely pretty, though.

Please don't tell me you folks liked that Gardening/RPG hybrid that was Odin Sphere and are complaining about the encounters. The fact this more resembles an RPG-Beat em up makes it a thousand times better than Odin Sphere could ever be. You know what's annoying? Having to realize that the only thing to the video game you're playing is growing plants, farming the spirits for EXP, rinse-wash-repeat-ad nauseum.

First of all, my deepest apologies for bumping a thread that is over a year old. I just want to give a heads up for all those Princess Crown & Odin Sphere fans that Muramasa: The Demon Blade is out for the Wii.

I just picked it up today while I was making my regular visit at EB games, because it completely flew off my radar. I didn't realize it was already out. I'll probably be playing it, when I get back on my next turnaround since I'm heading back out to Alberta tomorrow.

The visuals look amazing and I hope this game is just as enjoyable or even better than Odin Sphere. It is showing to be a very solid title: averaging 80% on Metacritic.

I'm about 10 hours into the game and it's pretty fun. Definitely better than Odin Sphere so far due to the lack of slowdown and no hassling with those shitty bag things. Also two characters instead of twenty million makes replaying the same areas a lot more reasonable.

Only thing that's kinda blah is both characters play exactly the same and I've only encountered a handful of different types of enemies. They scale with your level, so they have to palette swap even less frequently than most games. Backgrounds/animations/everything is amazingly beautiful, though the fact there's only a few backgrounds makes the novelty wear off kinda quickly.

I've only played a bit, like you said, it looks great and no slowdown. I'm not that far in so no palatte swap annoyance yet. The game is sort of on hold while I beat another game first.

So how's the difficulty for one? Is it as notorious as Sphere was (impossible on some segments) or is it toned down?

I pretty much finished the game 100% today. There are two difficulty levels you can swap between during the game which greatly affects how hard it is. The first will let you block pretty much any attack as long as you have "sword power" left. If your power runs out, the sword breaks and you have to swap it out for another one while that sword recharges (you also take significant damage from a break). In the other mode you block attacks in front of you as long as you're attacking, but your back is open to taking damage. It's significantly harder, and I bailed on using it partway through the game since I wound up just wanting to finish it off.

If you beat the game using the more difficult style you can unlock a third mode which is like the first except you only have 1hp, so if you break your sword, you're dead.

There's also multiple endings you get by fulfilling certain tasks after you beat it each time which is kinda neat. All in all I'd say it was a fun game, certainly more enjoyable than Odin Sphere, but it still felt like it was missing something that would make me ever want to replay it again.

In that case can I borrow it? :3:

There seems to be a mechanic that, right when you take damage, you mash A to regain the lost health (or, if you're in air you simply are guarding). You still count as being hit, but it's the mechanic that keeps you alive in that third mode. In otherwords, it's a more technical mode, probably for all of those Smash players out there.

It is most certainly a gorgeous game, though, and even though it's a hack and slash, you're likely challenged to actually use strategy towards the latter half of either character's story.

I found the oversized "normal" monsters to be more difficult than most bosses, actually. Especially when you had the red/blue Oni or the horses with the blacksmithing tools. The monster cave where you had to fight four at once where each one had something like four lives was insane.