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Long before the merger, during the juggernaut days of Squaresoft, a young, brazen hero emerged on the PlayStation in a hip action adventure that helped solidify Square’s diversity in the market. Above all else though, Brave Fencer Musashi was fun. The kind of game that sucks you into its polygon universe as the hero compelled to save the world, one slash at a time.
Fast-forward to 2005 and our hero returns. This time, a little older and quite frankly lacking the charm that made the fight that much more compelling years ago. Clearly Square Enix had a lot to take on in making a new Musashi game, especially with the dearth of 3D action games on the PS2. What you’ll invariably notice first is the game’s style and if you let the game run on startup, you’re gonna be smiling at the sheer coolness of the animated intro. In fact, the game’s unique visual flair is what separates Musashi: Samurai Legend from its cookie-cutter brethren.
Actually, the more I think about it, there might just be too much in the game. While Brave Fencer wasn’t the simplest game out there, it was simple enough that the action becomes the foremost element. In Samurai Legend, the hero has so much to do, it seems like Square Enix forgot to spend enough time on making the fighting fun and addictive.
Musashi is a quick learner and is able to steal techniques from his enemies. Some are very useful and require no magic points; others are merely for the curious. As Musashi runs around, carving up foes, he finds new swords, imbued with powers that can wipe out hordes of enemies and overcome obstacles in the game. You can improve your sword, level up and choose the areas to assign points to, visit various eateries, invent things, appraise and equip items—man, there are so many distractions in this game, but they don’t help hide the fact that after a few hours of hacking up foes in the same manner, you might just want to take a break and play something else.
The camera is your friend. Seriously, if there’s one thing that needs to be learned by all companies attempting 3D action games, it’s that the camera needs to provide a clear view of the action amidst all the chaos. It needs to work automatically too, so you don’t have to sprout an extra arm to hit that right analog stick so you can rotate the screen and finish off a baddie. Sadly, Samurai, while giving you the ability to move the camera yourself, fails to have it work well on the fly--often you’ll disappear, or your enemy will, while finishing up that 5-hit combo.
I know what you're thinking: I’ve rambled on about the medicore gameplay; so back it up! Indeed. This is your typical battle--run up, mash on buttons, enemies get smacked around, camera swings around like crazy, sometimes losing you and after a few seconds, the enemies are dead. I will say that the killing blow is excellently animated. When fighting machinery, Musashi cleaves the enemy in two and the parts slowly slide apart. Other enemies crumble into pieces. Bam!
But where is the real gusto? There are very few innovations here and in many ways it fails to aptly represent this true-life Japanese legend. I mean, we have a series such as Onimusha introducing counter chain attacks, perfect-timing critical attacks, and other twitch elements that make the kill that much more rewarding. Of course here our hero can at least jump, but beyond the learned attacks, large-scale power attacks, and straight up combos, there isn’t much to draw you in. Plus, Musashi moves too slowly for a supposedly nimble samurai! You end up hacking away to get from point A to point B, with little keeping you immersed in the moment. Think of the action as Devil May Cry on sedatives.
Maybe I’m just over thinking things. Perhaps there isn’t supposed to be too much under the hood. Just a nice, slick visual style with enough RPG-like distractions to keep you busy for a weekend or two. The problem is that with so many features and with such a strong debut title, this follow-up is swinging with a dull blade when it comes to the action. Consider renting the game before committing to an actual purchase or wait it out until the game hits the bargin bin. |
