*=Video
^=Music
All Caps=Recommended
Hover mouse over screenshots for commentary.
September 2014
 |  |  A typical screen. Your health and level is at the top left, your selected weapon is in the top meddle, and your current item is on the top right. You can choose to show or hide the map, seen below the weapons. |
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 Many of the enemies in this game are ninjas. LOTS, of ninjas. |  |  An amnesia story. It reeks of originality! |
 The game can be quite pretty at times. |  |  This lady will save your progress. There is no auto-saving, because apparently it's 2001. |
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 This dude will forge new swords for you if you have the needed resources. Or not. |  You occasionally find hot springs which restore your health. |  |
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 |  This exclamation point appears when you're being ambushed. |  |
 A non-hostile ninja. |  That is one big centipede! |  |
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 |  |  Enemies that fly are super annoying. |
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 |  You get a quick results screen after every fight. |  |
 |  |  Hmm. That's a large spider web . . . |
 Ah! A talking spider! |  |  |
 |  This spider will mess you up. |  |
 |  |  These barriers dot the land. You can only get through them with the proper equipment. |
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 |  |  Awkward . . . |
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 |  |  Possibly the weirdest looking cyclops's's's ever. |
 |  You can buy super-expensive food from vendors, which will heal you. |  |
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 This dude is a jerk. All zen-like and stuff. What a jerk. |  This giant dog will mess you up, too. |  |
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 |  You can also play as a woman. She has a story-line so great that I don't remember a single thing about it. |  |
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 That foot is almost as big as mine! |  So much bacon . . . |  |
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 |  |  "14 karat gold!" |
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 |  Level 99 with a 118 hit combo. Aww yeah! |  |
 |  |  Taste my pain, devil dog! |
Muramasa Rebirth
I believe this is a game in a larger series, but this is the only one I've played. You play as either a male or female ninja, each with their own story. I chose the male protagonist. His story was somewhat interesting but a bit cliched - you have no memory of anything prior to the events of the game and you are trying to figure out why there are so many monsters around. Random townspeople tend to blame you for the sudden outbreak in baddies. The rest of the story is a bit of a blur in my mind so that should tell you how strong of an impression it made on me!
The gameplay is far more tedious than I usually put up with. You have a very limited move set with your sword and you battle wave after wave of enemies. I found myself fighting all of the enemies in basically the same way throughout the entire game. You can use either short swords or long swords - but since the short swords are fast enough to hit enemies before they can hit you I just used them the whole time.
There is an experience and sword-creating system in the game. Gaining enough experience automatically increases your characters stats, which feels noticeable. The sword-creating mechanic works well enough in terms of feeling like you've actually gotten a more powerful weapon, but the way you upgrade is very obscure and mysterious. There is a big list of all the possible swords you can make but there is nothing that indicates why you can or cannot make the sword. Many times I had enough experience and money to build a sword but the game wouldn't let me build it for some unexplained reason. I found this pretty aggravating and it made me feel like my hard work farming experience and gold was for nothing.
Perhaps the thing I liked the most about the game was the art style, specifically the background environments. As you can see, I took quite a few screenshots so this was one aspect of the game that was persistently engaging. Also, despite the oft tediousness of the combat system, something about the game drew me in and I kept playing, so that's worth something. Overall, if you like basic combat and pretty environments then it's worth a shot. The game was free with PlayStation Plus, so it's definitely worth the price!