Oh man, early reviews aren't being too kind to Muramasa.

It currently holds an average score of only 69 at Metacritic, and while the less-than-stellar reviews so far only consist of the ever-finicky Edge and Eurogamer, and two sites an I'm not especially familiar with, this does kill my excitement a little bit.

The consensus among the reviews seems to be that the much-lauded art $tyle is really the only highlight, and that gameplay-wise its a rather generic, shallow and repetitive 2D beat-em-up. Kinda what I was expecting, actually. I'll still wait for the bigger outlets to chime in before I make my decision, but at this point my anticipation has fallen from "eventual purchase" to "rainy-day rental", and A Boy and his Blob is looking to be the far more unique and endearing Wii side-scroller this year, which is just as well considering Metroid Prime Trilogy will probably occupy most of my time and money between now and then anyway. :)

Your thoughts?

Well if you read any previews they say quite the contrary about the gameplay, they say you can button mash your way through and if a reviewer did that I can see why they say its generic. This isn't a license game where the game they preview and the one the review are seemingly two different games. That question has already been answered, but if you were interested in the game, then you still will be, you've seen the game. Don't let metacritic make your decisions for you. Sepewrath

I've read a few previews, including gamespot's, and I haven't really seen or heard of any features in particular that wow'd me. Come to think of it, since I'm not really that into hack-n-slash/beat-em-ups to begin with, I honestly think the art style was all that drew me to it in the first place. That, and its remote association with my favorite JRPG developer Atlus via Odin Sphere, but this may have also been unfounded since I haven't even played that particular title, and Atlus isn't involved in Muramasa anyway.

As for metacritic, I wouldn't say I let them make my decisions for me, at least not in the sense that I instantly flock to any game with universal 9's and 10's. However, I have been finding myself taking the particular points in negative reviews more seriously (and I do actually read the reviews). Even when reading customer reviews on Amazon, my first stop is always the most (reasonably) scathing ones.

My line of reasoning here is not without precedent. This year I purchased Deadly Creatures, Dead Rising CTYD and The Conduit on day one, hoping my original starry-eyed anticipation would allow me to enjoy them despite the perfectly legitimate points drawn out by the less merciful (and by far more numerous) critics in the months prior. $140 wasted dollars later, I'm much more careful as to how I invest my meager entertainment budget in this troubled economy, and i find Metacritic to be a useful starting point in that regard. Not the final word, of course, but a handy tool nonetheless.

I'm much more careful as to how I invest my meager entertainment budget in this troubled economy, and i find Metacritic to be a useful starting point in that regard. Not the final word, of course, but a handy tool nonetheless.

creepy_mike

Same, The Conduit was only the second game I had ever pre-ordered, and it taught me to never do it again for an unproven game:P

I still plan to get it, I'm expecting a 2D action game and from the videos I've seen, thats what we'll be getting.

I still pick up the title. I enjoyed Princess Crown and Odin Sphere a lot (developed by the same devs). I except Demon Blade will have the same enjoyment as the other two titles.

Most people tend to know what kind of games they prefer personally. Muramasa is one of those games I know I'll love. I'm getting it regardless of critical reviews.

[QUOTE="creepy_mike"]

I'm much more careful as to how I invest my meager entertainment budget in this troubled economy, and i find Metacritic to be a useful starting point in that regard. Not the final word, of course, but a handy tool nonetheless.

Same, The Conduit was only the second game I had ever pre-ordered, and it taught me to never do it again for an unproven game:P

I'm also not going to get all gloom-and-doom just yet and will wait for more reviews to pour in, but I do have to admit that this doesn't look great at the moment. Much like the TC, I can't really say that I've been amazed by Muramasa's gameplay; as much as I want to have faith in the 2D slicing and dicing, it has appeared to rely more on its flash and visuals to impress at this point. Actually, I think the game's almost over-flashiness in videos has made it tough to see how great the action really is. If the game's solid, I'm still going to do my best to take a look at it, but considering that there are at least three other Wii games I'm looking forward to far more than this game AND the fact that I do have at least one more system I can invest in with my DS, this game is going to have to pull a nice turnaround as far as impressions go to have a chance to make its way into my collection, it seems.

Quick question?

I've played Odin Sphere and loved it but that was an RPG. I have yet to see anything in Musamasa that isn't a brawler or action game. Is it still an RPG or have they taken out that part in the game?

Score wise I was never expecting anything ground breaking. Regardless I'm sure I'll enjoy it a lot.

No way I'm not buying my anticipated game of the year because of a couple early reviews. Everything I've seen and heard about this game interested me greatly. I'll be getting it asap when it releases.

By the way, yokofox33, your signature is amazing. :)

By the way, yokofox33, your signature is amazing. :)

creepy_mike

Glad you like it. Chie is the best.

Just a typical beat-'em-up, eh? That sounds similar to how Odin Sphere was commonly described (which I didn't like). That's a little disappointing. I was hoping the combat would have some depth to it, but it's nothing more than a beat-'em-up, then chances are it doesn't have that. Oh well. As long as the game itself is still good, I suppose it doesn't matter (though from the sound of those reviews, it isn't all that good).

Quick question?

I've played Odin Sphere and loved it but that was an RPG. I have yet to see anything in Musamasa that isn't a brawler or action game. Is it still an RPG or have they taken out that part in the game?

JLF1

I don't know. I haven't seen, or heard about any role-playing game elements similar to the ones in Odin Sphere. Based on that, one could say those elements were removed. But I'm saving judgement for after the game comes out. As it could still be there, and the press may have decided not to say anything in their previews about it.

Again, I don't know. But it's definitely possible that it's there.

These won't change the fact that I'm excited for it.

"Do you really need someone in authority giving you a simple Yay or Nay before you buy anything? Why don't you roll over so they can stomp on the other side of your face." - Yahtzee

Eh. Felt like pulling a Yahtzee quote.

This generation, I rather trust my feeling about a game and user reviews, than gaming ''journalism''. And Muramasa definitely looks like a game I will enjoy. Seriously, tedious and uninspired games on HD consoles get at least 80% average score by default, if it's a ''high budget'' game, while something like Another Code Wii, which was one of the better, more beautiful and unique games I've played this generation, only 69% average ? aaalright...

[QUOTE="creepy_mike"]

By the way, yokofox33, your signature is amazing. :)

yokofox33

Glad you like it. Chie is the best.

Without going into too much...er, detail....yes, I agree.

Thus one of the reasons I don't read reviews. Reviews are biased no matter how you look at them. No one person or even team of people can tell individual buyers if a game is good or bad for them. That's just gamers giving their own personal experiences with the game which can be COMPLETELY different from the view of another person when they play the game. Reviews are nothing but forced opinions in my book, End of story.

I still pick up the title. I enjoyed Princess Crown and Odin Sphere a lot (developed by the same devs). I except Demon Blade will have the same enjoyment as the other two titles.

jasonharris48

[QUOTE="creepy_mike"]

I'm much more careful as to how I invest my meager entertainment budget in this troubled economy, and i find Metacritic to be a useful starting point in that regard. Not the final word, of course, but a handy tool nonetheless.

TaMuK711

Same, The Conduit was only the second game I had ever pre-ordered, and it taught me to never do it again for an unproven game:P

Since my mind is not made up on this game yet I will just wait for more reliable sources like 1Up and Gametrailers to review it. If the reviews aren't so good I will wait for a price drop.

It's Odin Sphere with a Japanese mythology setting. How can it suck?Michael-Smith

Ouch, that's not too good. Oh well I don't care one bit what those guys think, I'll wait for IGN, Gamespot and NP before I start having any doubts, the game looks really cool and the previews are hope raising.

Still getting it....reviews aren't always correct. :)