Dmitry-MalayevThe legendary Samurai Musashi is back in his all new adventure, Samurai Legend: Musashi. The long awaited sequel to Brave Fencer Musashi is finally here, and for all the fans that have been awaiting the sequel, it was all worth the wait.
Samurai Legend: Musashi was only at its beginning stages of development. The game looks great with its cel-shaded graphics and cartoony environment; it's very colorful and dynamic. The graphics in the game could be improved, due to many noticeable choppy edges. Like mentioned earlier, the game is in its early production stages, so much improvement is expected in the the final release of the game. The camera work in the game is done very well; you're granted the ability to maneuver it. Musashi himself looks amazingly cool, with his Katana in his hand and the Great Sword on his back.
Many new elements have been added to the game that make the gameplay amazing. Musashi has a new Dual-Blade technique he uses, it combines the heavy attack of the Great Sword combined with the quick and light attack of the Katana. The primary weapon that is used is the Katana, giving the game a fast-paced action/adventure feel. Musashi also has the ability to learn enemy techniques allowing him to learn moves called the Mikiri Powers. Different Mikiri Powers cause different effects. For example, the Galva Thrust will stun the enemy allowing you to pick it up and will only drain 5 of your Mikiri Power; while an attack like the Cyclone Slash will deal great damage, but drains half of your Mikiri Power. The ability to pick up your friends and foes allows you to help you friends and make it easier to kill your enemies. The double-jump is also included in the game, giving it an old classic feel to it.
Musashi also helps many new friends; like rescuing the Picobeans by freeing them from within the cluster of web made by the spiders. Also rescuing friends from dungeons by first freeing them and then carrying them out to the exit, while making sure to protect them from close enemies. The game is very fast paced; targeting quickly and attacking quickly will be a necessary skill to learn. Attacking with the Great Sword, will slow down Musashi dramatically — making him more vulnerable to attacks — while using the Katana will perform combo attacks on the enemy, but will not deal a great of a damage as the Great Sword. Also by holding L1 you will lock on, and a gauge will appear at the left side of the screen, that will fill up pretty fast. Once filled up, Musashi will be able to take out his Great Sword, and use it while using his Katana. This maneuver will also target the enemy and allow you to learn a Mikiri Power from the enemy if executed correctly and if a Mikiri Power is available on said enemy. This technique is an essential when battling, due to blocking and attacking with combos.
The demo we played only had 3 available missions, and from what we have played, the game seems to be progressing in the right direction. Excellent gameplay combined with nice cel-shaded visuals make the new Musashi title look very promising. A few minor things we thought could be improved; like the choppy edges with the graphics could be smoothed out. Regardless, we were very excited to get our hands on the long awaited sequel to Brave Fencer Musashi. It came as a surprise to see the game playable on the floor. It was everything we thought it would be and thensome. The game is still in early production, the story is yet to be revealed, and the release date has not yet been announced. Samurai Legend: Musashi is progressing lovely and we can't wait to play a newer build of the game.