×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
GAME: Muramasa: Rebirth / Genroku Legends




Note: this is the discussion thread for this article

Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Reibooi



Joined: 03 Mar 2008
Posts: 394
PostPosted: Tue Aug 26, 2014 10:40 am Reply with quote
I have to say this version is worth buying for anyone who liked the original. Not having to deal with the Wii version and it's quirks in control makes the game so much more fun to play. The DLC is pretty good from the 2 I have played and I like that once you beat them you can then use that character to roam the entire game world and fight all kinds of stuff you didn't as part of their story including the bosses.

Also for those that don't mind a bit of a challenge playing the game in the harder difficulty does a good job of making it feel less repetitive as you kinda need to think out when you are blocking and what exact special moves to use and what not. Normal mode you can pretty much just hack away and be fine as long as you have a few healing items.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime
EnigmaticSky



Joined: 06 Aug 2011
Posts: 750
PostPosted: Tue Aug 26, 2014 3:41 pm Reply with quote
I have the Wii version, but really want to double dip to get the game again. I wish I could just get the Genroku Legends dlc for the Wii version. I liked the game plenty, but I can't see myself sitting through the entire game again.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
doctordoom85



Joined: 12 Jun 2008
Posts: 2091
PostPosted: Tue Aug 26, 2014 6:15 pm Reply with quote
Reibooi wrote:
Not having to deal with the Wii version and it's quirks in control makes the game so much more fun to play.


Well, I used the Classic Controller so I'm not familiar with the quirks you're referring to. I did enjoy the Wii version, but not sure I want to double-dip for the Vita version. Maybe if I can find it for $20 or less.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
InuKen



Joined: 01 Feb 2014
Posts: 20
PostPosted: Tue Aug 26, 2014 10:13 pm Reply with quote
""Chaos" keeps you on your toes, but not in any way that feels fair. Not when bosses who take dozens of combos to kill can crush you in three or four attacks."

Sorry, but this comment just made the review a lot less credible. The game is as fair as can be if you actually pay attention. It's one of those games that require a lot of skill and attention to the enemy's animation. If you're just gonna mash on Chaos or Fury, of course you're going to die.

There's a reason why people are able to beat the game on Fury Mode, one difficulty level higher than Chaos, with only 1 HP. The combat is a lot deeper than what people think it is and require careful thought in whether one should stick to one sword or cycle through them at certain moments of a fight. Anybody who says this game is cheap probably thinks the Souls games are cheap as well(which they are not). Just because you can't do it doesn't mean it's cheap or unfair. Just saying.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
lizardking461





PostPosted: Wed Aug 27, 2014 7:13 am Reply with quote
Reibooi wrote:
Not having to deal with the Wii version and it's quirks in control makes the game so much more fun to play.


As someone else also said, what quirks would these be? Don't recall having any controller issues at all playing the original.
Back to top
daveriley



Joined: 12 Aug 2003
Posts: 117
Location: Philadelphia
PostPosted: Wed Aug 27, 2014 8:15 am Reply with quote
EnigmaticSky wrote:
I have the Wii version, but really want to double dip to get the game again. I wish I could just get the Genroku Legends dlc for the Wii version. I liked the game plenty, but I can't see myself sitting through the entire game again.
Not sure if you care enough to be swayed, but the DLC is accessed from a separate menu. You don't have to play through the whole game again.

InuKen wrote:
There's a reason why people are able to beat the game on Fury Mode, one difficulty level higher than Chaos, with only 1 HP. The combat is a lot deeper than what people think it is and require careful thought in whether one should stick to one sword or cycle through them at certain moments of a fight. Anybody who says this game is cheap probably thinks the Souls games are cheap as well(which they are not). Just because you can't do it doesn't mean it's cheap or unfair. Just saying.
Something can be surmountable and yet still unbalanced. The sheer amount of life bosses have makes many fights tiresome on harder difficulties; not impossible, but eternal. Take that hoary old example, the speeder bikes in Battletoads. Plenty of people have overcome that level with effort and memorization. Does that make it fair?

That people are willing to endure Muramasa as the difficulty scales up and the complexity does not increase, just the (already endless) life bars, is not a signal that the game has depth, just that its players have an extraordinary well of tolerance. Compared harder difficulties in Devil May Cry, Bayonetta, Ninja Gaiden, and, hey, even Dragon's Crown, Muramasa doesn't test anything but your patience.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
The Joel



Joined: 19 Feb 2007
Posts: 5
PostPosted: Wed Aug 27, 2014 9:08 am Reply with quote
"and by the end we all learn a little about love, friendship, and deadly hexes."

I laughed.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
InuKen



Joined: 01 Feb 2014
Posts: 20
PostPosted: Wed Aug 27, 2014 10:19 pm Reply with quote
daveriley wrote:

Something can be surmountable and yet still unbalanced. The sheer amount of life bosses have makes many fights tiresome on harder difficulties; not impossible, but eternal. Take that hoary old example, the speeder bikes in Battletoads. Plenty of people have overcome that level with effort and memorization. Does that make it fair?

That people are willing to endure Muramasa as the difficulty scales up and the complexity does not increase, just the (already endless) life bars, is not a signal that the game has depth, just that its players have an extraordinary well of tolerance. Compared harder difficulties in Devil May Cry, Bayonetta, Ninja Gaiden, and, hey, even Dragon's Crown, Muramasa doesn't test anything but your patience.


Again. That's where I disagree. Firstly, comparing the game's difficulty to Battletoads is an insult to the Muramasa. If anything, Chaos difficulty is like the Souls games. Be patient, attack only when necessary, learn and you'll be able to clear it easy. Many of the moves are telegraphed. Obviously most people will not be able to clear the bosses on their first try like the Souls games but it's still doable. If you're going to just hack and slash mindlessly away, of course you're going to find it cheap because you're going to get punished for being rash. Each boss only has a couple of attacks per phase which can easily be read if you pay attention. Nothing is random. And while I think healing items make the game much much easier, do not forget that they can be used during a fight when you're down on health.

And the life bars are not long at all. If anything, they're just right and fairly well balanced. I recommend you watch videos of people actually beating the boss without damage, it doesn't take a long time at all. And your point about depth. I was referring to the game's combat. Yes it's a one button HnS but I don't think you realize the many intricacies of it including air juggling, air dashing, various skills each sword has and etc. Many people who complain don't unitize air dashing enough, switch swords at the most appropriate times or make full use of the skills available to them via the swords. It's like saying the Souls games lack depth as well because there are no combos and all you're doing is either blocking, dodging, parrying or attacking and most players only utilize the R1 and L1 buttons for block and attack.

In short, this game on Chaos and even on Fury is pure skill based. Again, saying this game is unfair or unbalanced is like saying the Souls games are too which they are not. Don't rush in headstrong and be observant of your enemy's animations. It's a very well trimmed down action HnS that cuts away the fat of the combos in HnS game but rewards positioning, reflexes, resource management(blades) and careful observation. If anything the games you mentioned like DMC, Bayonetta and etc are more a test of patience than Muramasa and yes I've played them all. Also, if this game is "cheap, unbalanced and unfair" to you then you most definitely feel the same way about the Megaman games too since the game on a whole requires more memorization, bosses require more memorization and the only tools at your disposal are jumping and shooting.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
daveriley



Joined: 12 Aug 2003
Posts: 117
Location: Philadelphia
PostPosted: Thu Aug 28, 2014 8:53 am Reply with quote
I'm not going to write a really long post about how Mega Man keeps you feeling harried and busy, how the game forces you to learn to platform while shooting while evading, and even though your tools are few, every room is a puzzle solved in a different way. I won't describe my overwhelming love of the Souls games, some of the best games of the past ten years. I guess I'll mention, briefly, that brought up Battletoads because it seemed like an obvious comparison to beating the game on Fury with 1 HP, not Muramasa as a whole--seemed natural to me--because I feel if I don't you'll act like I'm recanting.

Mostly I wanted to say: if you're going to put things in quotation marks--"cheap, unbalanced, unfair"--it ought to be things I've actually written, literally. That's the function of quotation marks. I haven't used the word 'cheap,' not even a single time, yet there it is, in quotation marks, as if I wrote it.

That's because another function of quotation marks is to cast the opposing side in a derisive light. Why else would you start a conversation talking about "credibility?" Why do you feel the need to act as if credibility is violated? Because I said the game was unbalanced? I didn't say it's the worst game ever. I didn't say I couldn't beat it. I didn't even say I died a lot while playing it. I just said that enemies had a bit too much life, did a bit too much damage, and could've had a bit more variety. I called into question one part of this game you like, and your response to that is to act as if I've violated a sacred integrity.

Why do you take umbrage with a paragraph or two that calls balance into question in the middle of an overwhelmingly positive review? Credibility is an extremely strong word. It's the word you use to describe the friend you caught stealing from you or when you discover a reputable scientist is taking kickbacks from Big Pharma. It's probably not the best choice of words to sum up your mild disagreement with a small part of a large review.

Except that's how people respond to video game reviews. Any disagreement is world ending, colossal, and total. The internet trains people that the only response to a disagreement is to obliterate it: call its foundation into question, shit all over the author if you need to. People can't disagree with a subjective opinion, but "credibility" is about facts, not opinions, and facts are inviolable. That's why words like credibility are such buzzwords, and why I've probably had the credibility of a dozen or more review called into question, but rarely heard someone on a message board say 'well, I disagree with this, and here's why:' When you start your rebuttal talking about credibility you've gone way past coming to a discussion with a loaded gun, you've already fired it.

You've spent two posts casting aspersions onto me. I "probably think the Souls games are cheap" and I "must definitely feel the same way about Megaman." I would've been happy to discuss why I like those games, and why I think they're different, if you'd approached me like I was a human being instead of a bearing down like a angry dog with something to prove; "something" being 'i'm better than you' or 'you are dumb'--and hey, look at those quotation marks!

Do you want a conversation or do you just want the satisfaction of speaking into a void to prove yourself right and better than me? Because I'm happy to stop posting.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
catanaition



Joined: 23 Jan 2007
Posts: 13
PostPosted: Sat Aug 30, 2014 11:13 pm Reply with quote
daveriley wrote:
Truth.


*slow clap*
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group