Muramasa slashes its way to my house

Look at that fold-out wall scroll! Just look at that! That thing's HUGE! I'm a pretty tall guy, and even with my arm span I wasn't able to unfold it all and hold it up! Now THAT'S an impressive pre-order bonus!

Muramasa: The Demon Blade has been, thus far, a gorgeous romp through George Kamitani's pieces of art. Much like the same experience I had with Odin Sphere, Kamitani's artwork not only sets the mood and atmosphere, but blends naturally with the style and gameplay that is traditionally known with his games. The slight heaving of the characters' chests as they breathe, the additional animations that display your food being eaten bite by savory bite, the slight glances by your main character as you run seamlessly through the layered scenery...everything is alive and vibrant with color and movement.

I'm looking forward to treasuring every moment of this.

Muramasa - hands on

Finally, I get my hands on Muramasa (misspelled it yesterday, my bad), and what a game it is. The graphics are simply gorgeous, and I often found myself stopping a lot just to appreciate the layered backgrounds and subtle nods to the artistic style.

The gameplay's execution is as smooth as the graphics, with attacks that flow naturally like an action movie. And it wasn't any button mashing - I knew what I was performing, and everything played out beautifully.

Plus, since it's Vanillaware, there are always the little things that give the game so much character - the way your character sheath their sword away, the small glance at you while they run forward, the swaying of the grass realistically. Every moment reminds me of their other awesome game, Odin Sphere. A definite must-buy on the Wii.