I think there are 8 Acts for each character. Factor in the fact that you can still forge after you beat their stories, use each other's swords, and beat the bosses over again using those swords (to get additional endings) --AND-- the fact that you have straggling monster lairs --AND-- game modes that open up AFTER you beat the game...
...you still have a lot of game left!
The bosses will get easier for you to fight as you play more; not that they get easier (although some are) but you WILL fight better and better as you go along.
In case you haven't discovered it already (and I remember this because it helped --A LOT-- with the Princess on the Horse) pressing down diagonally quickly in succession will do a defensive roll where you are basically invincible; you can roll through obstacles, enemies and attacks, like the walls and the arrows in that fight!
it seems to me that even though i level up quite frequently the random battles aren't getting much easier even as i backtrack. seems like the enemies are getting stronger and causing more damage as i level up
i'm glad i have a good ways to go still with the game. really enjoying it. i am now starting to go back and kill bosses in the lairs i left behind so far
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Listen to Wu-Tang and watch Kung-Fu
bugsonglass said:i will try that, sounds like a very useful move. the way i would fight most of the time so far is keep 'b' pressed so the character is defending at all times then i would press left, right, left, right etc then down then up and all over again ... so i keep dashing and slashing back and forth and making combos while never breaking my defense. occasionally i will switch my blade to do the sheath attack.
it seems to me that even though i level up quite frequently the random battles aren't getting much easier even as i backtrack. seems like the enemies are getting stronger and causing more damage as i level up
i'm glad i have a good ways to go still with the game. really enjoying it. i am now starting to go back and kill bosses in the lairs i left behind so far
This only works for 3 times in a sequence... and trust me, you're going to appreciate later on being good at pulling this move off --BUT-- the roll is quick and unlimited and invaluable!
*Copied from my blog before the links go dead!*
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There's a little bit of magic that seems to be missing from games these days. I know I tend to view the classics with rose colored glasses sometimes, but you can't deny there was something about the 8 and 16-bit days that just seems to be gone now.
There was a time when developers couldn't rely on graphics alone to get their point/vision/story-line across to gamers. Whether by necessity or design, games were kept simple, control and game-play-wise, and it was up to minutest of details to make all the difference in the world. I still remember being thrilled by the fact that Mega Man had a discernible face...! I nearly flipped out the first time I saw him blink... Remember when the Final Fantasy characters started showing emotions by squinting there eyes, opening their mouths wide and laughing? Or, putting their heads down in sorrow or shame? Tiny little sprites, evoking real human emotions with the shifting of a few pixels! Moments like that are rare these days!
You all heard me months ago spouting off about Muramasa. I loved it for the "elegant simplicity" the design displayed and I posted all over the place those exact words. I have to admit though, I was severely disappointed when a couple of people I know and respect turned around and dissed it for a few reasons I won't get into here. You may not know this, but I am impressionable enough where if I hear the slightest negativity about a game I love, I start to question myself and obsess over what's wrong with me... and if I am being too optimistic about that game... to the point where it gets to be too much bother, and I just get rid of the game in question! Such was the case with Muramasa the first time I owned it.
After getting over my little bout of Agoraphobia last month, I've tried to teach myself to be a little less wary of other people, to have a bit more faith and confidence in myself and my own opinions, and try to look at the world anew, again. I've been correcting some of the mistakes I've made over the last few months and, as minor as it sounds, getting back some games that I loved that I gave up on was one of those corrections.
So, I was playing Muramasa last night and this morning. You've seen the pics, you may have watched the movies, this game is CERTAINLY NOT hurting in the graphics department --BUT-- curious things were happening as I was playing the game...
I decided that I was going to get up to and passed the part of the game I had left off on when I got rid of it last time. I had lost time and progress for stupid and shameful reasons and I was out to "prove" to the game/myself/the people who turned me off of it last time that nothing was going to get in my way THIS time!
I got into that gamers "flow" kinda mindset. I was deflecting shurikens, slicing through groups of ninjas, jumping and slamming down on samurai's heads with my sword like the pro-player I used to be...
There are areas that are kinda sparse in the game once you kill off all the enemies. As I dashed through those areas trying to get to the next province's path, the character looked at me as she ran... and I nodded back in agreement... we were both anticipating the next battle we had to fight! The slightest glance in my direction from the character had me actually nodding back at her...!
A breezy, care-free kind of feeling ran through me as the Cherry Blossoms floated on the wind in one location. I found myself intrigued in a voyeuristic kind of sense when I realized I was fighting my way through a brothel district and I noticed shadows of figures dancing behind screens, wondering: "What's REALLY going on in there?"
The colored lighting and illuminating glow of another area evoked memories of Christmas Morning and made me smile, realizing it's less than a month away... I found myself gazing at the sunlight refracting and casting a rainbow across the tree tops in another place... I was actually starting to squint my eyes in anticipation of the sun fully breaking through those trees and blinding me temporarily. I chuckled for a moment, reminding myself: "Duh. It's just a game, it's not REAL sunlight!" but it didn't end there...
I got to the mountain tops and the snow was blanketed over the landscape like it was a big, old comforter... The wind picked up in the game and fluffy snow flakes started to fall... My feet actually got cold at that moment and I involuntarily shuddered...! Then and there I stopped playing for a moment and recognized a feeling I haven't felt for decades: I wasn't worrying about what button to press. I wasn't stressing about the strength of my connection. I wasn't pausing the game to look at my 3-dimensional map of the area. I was totally, completely, utterly INTO the game. With all the little details appealing to recently, woefully, untapped parts of me, I was being played by the game, as much as I was playing IT. In this day and age, that just does NOT happen enough any more!
It wasn't the beauty of the graphics alone. It was the gamers "flow" and being "one" with the game. It wasn't about being entertained, but being engaged. It was emotions being evoked WITHOUT the use of Full Motion Video movies to feed me a story. It. Was. Magical. It was like being transported back in time 20 years and playing the most beautiful SNES game imaginable!
I have to stress here, to everyone: Play. This. Game. Forget your Gears of War. Put aside your Demon's Souls. Push Modern Warfare as far from your head as possible. Have no expectations, open yourself up to just plain old FUN and you'll be pleasantly surprised at what happens!
I NOW feel bad for the people that COULDN'T enjoy this game! They are from a completely different time and place than me, and they'll never be able to appreciate games quite in the same way I can! Hell, if you've been following my other posts from today throughout the forum, you know what (who) else I was doing this morning that this game pulled me away from...! If THAT isn't testament to a game's greatness, I really can't imagine what else would be!
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This game is a feast for your eyes...
...in more ways than one!
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Still pictures just can't do justice to the fact that nearly everything in this game is in motion. Branches on trees and stalks of tall grass sway in the wind. Snow falls gently on the ground. You see the dust particles shimmering in the sunlight.
Ambient lighting is everywhere, be it the sunlight through the trees or that golden glow of the sun, just before it sets. Depictions of that sunset with the light reflecting off the fall-leaf covered ground gives some areas an orange-ish hue. Strings of colored lanterns hang in the brothel district, giving it almost a festive mood. The attention to detail to every thing, everywhere is stunning!
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One thing that's been constant throughout all the VanillaWare games so far has been it's attention to food and cooking. Odin Sphere kinda overdid it, so it is scaled back in Muramasa, but Oh! it still is totally significant! Eating food you either cook yourself or stop in a Restaurant to buy, gives you Spirit. Spirit and Souls are the currency by which you pay Muramasa to forge you more swords. Never, ever before in any game ever has food been shown in such a way that it makes my stomach growl each. and. every. time! Even the FOOD and the way you EAT IT, bite by bite is drawn in painstaking detail! It's something that COULD have been glossed over. It COULD have been just an item selected in a sub-screen without any visual effect what-so-ever. Not in this game! Tempura looks appropriately crunchy! Noodle soup simmers invitingly. A hot-pot bubbles and boils, releasing the steam as you lift off the lid...
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*This blog entry has been cut-short by it's poster's sudden, urgent need to rush to a nearby deli for a breakfast platter. We apologize for the interruption!*
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Tell me to get back to rewriting this site so it's not horrible on mobile
Okay my turn.
As mentioned before I am required by law to buy this game, because it has Iga Ninja's.
I won't talk the absolutely drop dead gorgeous graphics, that's like talking how the sky is blue. Even a blind man looking at the opposite direction can see it is stunning. The battle system is deeper than I thought. You really need to block and dodge to play effectively. You can't block too much, this will break your sword, but you can't button mash either. Kinda reminds me of the Smash series. Also it kinda controls like Super Smash. I also like the fact that you have 3 swords equipped at the same time. You really need to keep switching the otherwise it breaks. Also the sheath attacks where you pull out your sword and attack all enemies on screen adds a dash of strategy.
Also the enemies are awesome. Each one needs different tactics. I am never bored fighting them. The Samurai block and are a pain. Ninja's are plenty (which is weird there were definitely more Samurai then Ninja's back then). Tengu attack from above, trolls are annoying and do much damage. Like Leo said before the game does get easier, not because of the enemies, but because you learn the battle system. You really start using all these different attacks and blocks. The bosses also look and play stunningly.
The story so far makes sense. I am playing the Kisuke story line. So far I have no trouble following it at all. The music is awesome too BTW.
Now for some critique. The level design and progression could use some more refinement. It is very annoying when you beat a chapter, your next objective is way over to the other side of the map. Why? Why send me back and forth, why not put the next objective right next to the previous one. All that back and forth running is a waste.
You do know, in some instances you can take a boat, right?
...and it's on one of those boat trips you will fight that massive squid that is often depicted!
And, speaking of secret bosses: Have you been in many of the Monster Lairs yet?
phantom_leo said:You do know, in some instances you can take a boat, right?
...and it's on one of those boat trips you will fight that massive squid that is often depicted!
And, speaking of secret bosses: Have you been in many of the Monster Lairs yet?
Yeah, I know and also took the thing that the two guys carry you on. But still the backtracking is the weakest point. You just passed a barrier you can't brake and you get a new sword, but instead of breaking the barrier you just passed, you have to go way back. Shame, really the rest is awesome.
I also wish that there were more weapons than just swords, or at least have some shurikens. You are a ninja after all But the swords are cool too and fit the story line.
P.S. Leo was there something lost in translation? Every time someone talks to me, they talk for a minute or so, but the sub tiles only show 2 sentences. Reminds me of a Bug Bunny cartoon were a guy says one word and the sub tiles are like a whole paragraph or he keeps talking and the subtitle is just one word!
I get the impression Muramasa was done in the very, very formal style of Japanese speech. This tends to be much more verbose and flowing than how the average person actually speaks.
The literal translation is probably much, much shorter --AND-- they probably streamlined things a bit for the Western audience so as not to make the story TOO confusing.
I think we got the bulk of the story, it's probably just the way in which they are speaking.
at Kisuke telling Momohime that she is too thin for him
@Leo, is Muramasa translated by Ignition? The one that has that 1up Editor?
I must say very crappy translation
This looks like a PSP game.
Iga_Bobovic said:
@Leo, is Muramasa translated by Ignition? The one that has that 1up Editor?
I must say very crappy translation
I'm not exactly sure. Progress? Have you finished Kisuke's Story yet? Tried any of Momohime yet?
phantom_leo said:Iga_Bobovic said:
@Leo, is Muramasa translated by Ignition? The one that has that 1up Editor?
I must say very crappy translation
I'm not exactly sure. Progress? Have you finished Kisuke's Story yet? Tried any of Momohime yet?
I am at the end with Kisuke (still need to beat the final boss), will probably play Tuesday at the earliest. I am a busy man, right now.
Finally got a chance to play the game again. Beat the final boss with Kisuke. I almost died, but I finished the old bastard.
The ending was pretty cool, now I need to brush up on my Japanese mythology to understand it better. This is also another part where the localization fails hard. Don't just name the deities and legendary creatures, but explain it to the baka gajins what the hell they are supposed to be.
Momohime's story is also really interesting. The stories are definitely connected. Playing one gives you better understanding, while playing the other. Also cool that you start where Kisuke ends. Momo, moves more fluidly, but is weaker. Also Kisuke seems to be the 'main' character while Momohime seems to be more sidestory-like. I heard her quest is cooler though. Can't wait to play more. After I finish with Momo, I will go for 100% with both characters.
Also unlocked a new difficulty. Too lazy to try out now, what does it do Leo?
I will discuss this soon. 
BTW which character should I play as?
Iga_Bobovic said:Finally got a chance to play the game again. Beat the final boss with Kisuke. I almost died, but I finished the old bastard.
The ending was pretty cool, now I need to brush up on my Japanese mythology to understand it better. This is also another part where the localization fails hard. Don't just name the deities and legendary creatures, but explain it to the baka gajins what the hell they are supposed to be.
Momohime's story is also really interesting. The stories are definitely connected. Playing one gives you better understanding, while playing the other. Also cool that you start where Kisuke ends. Momo, moves more fluidly, but is weaker. Also Kisuke seems to be the 'main' character while Momohime seems to be more sidestory-like. I heard her quest is cooler though. Can't wait to play more. After I finish with Momo, I will go for 100% with both characters.
Also unlocked a new difficulty. Too lazy to try out now, what does it do Leo?
The game can be played in three modes: Muso, Shura, and Shigurui. Muso Mode focuses on character leveling as opposed to action, whereas Shura Mode is more action-based, recommended for skilled players. Shigurui Mode is only available after a player clears the game in Shura Mode. This mode plays in the same fashion as Muso Mode but limits the player's HP to 1 and will never grow when leveled up.
Dvader said:I will discuss this soon.
BTW which character should I play as?
It doesn't matter really. I started as the girl, got a few chapters in, switched to the guy, got to the same chapter number I did with the woman, then alternated...
Only piece if advice I'll give you: DON'T play on Muso!
I have just started and I am kind of getting beat up. I am not dying but I am almost always close to death and have no health items since I used them all. I could attack well, I have no grasp of defense at the moment. Beautiful game, the sword making seems cool and the action can be fun. Surprisingly very little story here, isn't this an RPG kind of game?
hope to play a good bit more tomorrow. i'm loving this game so far.
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Listen to Wu-Tang and watch Kung-Fu