Muramasa Rebirth

The team at Vanillaware did outstanding work with Muramasa, complete with haunting forests, villages overflowing with detail and twisted creature designs. It's easily one of the best 2D games for the system. On that note, Muramasa Rebirth comes highly recommended, as it provides a visually striking journey through demon-infested Japan. With two characters to play and a wealth of swords to unlock, you'll find plenty to love about this addictive game.

For fans of Vanillaware’s games, this is a no-brainer. Muramasa Rebirth is the more complete version of its Wii predecessor. With an amazing art style, fast action, and even some humor, sidescroller fighting game fans will find a lot to like here. This is one of the Vita’s prettiest games, and is fun to boot!

Muramasa Rebirth is a great game, and if you’re looking for a meaty Vita game this one is definitely worth the purchase. This game has great graphics, fast combat and an interesting story with multiple outcomes – who could complain!?! The ability to make new swords I really enjoyed, pushing further to acquire new swords and test out its unique special attack was addictive.

Muramasa Rebirth is exactly what developer Vanillaware intended it to be: a better-looking version of the 2009 release. However, achieving that goal doesn’t make Muramasa any more entertaining today than it was back then. Yes, the art and animation are even more gorgeous, but none of the core design problems from the original version were addressed. The result is a familiar experience that feels both faithful and flawed.

Visually, Muramasa Rebirth is stunning. The Vita's sharp screen enhances the already gorgeous graphics and rewarding gameplay, resulting in fast-paced combat and satisfying boss battles that have never looked better. Although backtracking and repetition will eventually take their toll, it's still a fine choice for your portable action-RPG fix.

Any complaints I have, though, are fairly minor (save the tedium of backtracking). Muramasa Rebirth is a wonderfully enhanced version of an already terrific game that melds old-school action sensibilities with more modern complexities and a storyline that manages to feel notably mature.

Fortunately, that’s a great thing. Thus, if you haven’t had the pleasure of playing Muramasa before, and you have a Vita, Rebirth is wholeheartedly worth playing. It’s breathtakingly beautiful in all aspects — from its combat to graphics to soundtrack to the sword forging mechanic, this is just an immensely enjoyable game, even in spite of its repetitious combat and under-emphasized story.

It's fortunate Muramasa Rebirth is so good looking and easy to play. Without its compelling visual style and simple and intuitive controls, the wash-rinse-repeat nature of the game would have worn us down much faster. Muramasa isn't a bad port; it's extremely faithful and features improved presentation and a better translation, but it also brings the old ghosts of monotonous gameplay. If only Vanillaware had found a way to alleviate that tedium, revisiting this old friend might have been a more enjoyable experience.

The two campaigns can be played through in just around seven hours each, making for a shorter quest than many would hope for, but the promise of multiple endings and challenges to complete is sure to entice avid players and have them coming back for more. If you're interested in a well crafted and fulfilling experience beautifully disguised as a hack-and-slash platformer, then this one is for you.

But in spite of the lack of new content, Muramasa at its core stands on its own as a solid action game. Vanillaware's visual style is absolutely timeless, and even though you may get sick of seeing the same locales over and over, the Vita's portability and instant standby feature make it much easier to pick up and play over the course of a few days.

A fine showcase of what the PS Vita and developers can do to make each other look good. The artistic direction and arcade gameplay style will bring you back to Muramasa Rebirth again and again, even if the map is cumbersome.

My appreciation for the art in Muramasa Rebirth is exceeded only by Muramasa Rebirth's appreciation for the art in Muramasa Rebirth. This is one of the best looking games I've ever played, but it feels like the gorgeous graphics came at the expense of the gameplay in a few instances.

Muramasa Rebirth is a faithful port of Vanillaware’s classic action-RPG, one that absolutely shines on Vita’s OLED screen. It’s not only Vita’s prettiest game; it’s also a hell of a lot of fun to play. Immersive, stylish, and full of action, Muramasa Rebirth’s twin campaigns, multiple endings, hidden Demon Swords, massive exploration and other optional goodies are enough to keep you busy for a good long while.

Sporting beautiful HD visuals, an updated and polished translation, and a control scheme befitting an action RPG, Muramasa Rebirth stands as one of Vanillaware's finest outings and the definitive way of tackling the samurai epic.

Overall, Muramasa Rebirth is still a great game but not necessarily a great re-release. Not much has been added to this experience to make it worth checking out for anyone that has played the original. But if you have not experienced this game before then Muramasa Rebirth is one of the most satisfying Vita releases in a long time.

What it comes down to is that Muramasa Rebirth feels like a good experience, but not a great one. You're constantly yearning for something just that little bit more to complement the visual splendour, but it never truly comes.

No debe pasar por alto aunque no llegue en formato físico, además de que lamentablemente no se ha localizado al castellano y no se sabe nada de los personajes DLC que cambiarían la jugabilidad del título y que eran uno de los grandes atractivos respecto la versión de Wii. Una de cal y otra de arena en la conversión, pero igualmente imprescindible como en su versión original.

Vanillaware nos regala otra aventura marca de la casa para PS Vita. Se trata de una adaptación muy fiel pero gráficamente aún más brillante de la misma y sensacional aventura que vivimos en Wii hace ya unos años. Profunda, bien estructurada en líneas generales y dotada de un aura especial, cualquier jugador que no disfrutara del original y que posea esta portátil debería descargarse esta estupenda aventura desde el servicio online PSN.

Aussi jouissif à prendre en main que fascinant à regarder, le titre de Vanillaware fait aussi forte impression qu'au moment de sa sortie sur Wii, d'autant que la traduction a été entièrement refaite (mais en anglais uniquement), et que des scénarios supplémentaires seront bientôt accessibles en DLC.