Musashi: Samurai Legend

"One of the most underrated games ever!"

Please play this game! I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed it. This game was designed by many famous developers such as Tetsuya Nomura of Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts fame. In addition the music was done by the same people who did Final Fantasy X's music. I'm amazed so many people weren't satisfied by this spectacular game. Just because the frame-rate can be slow at times (and I never noticed this problem) doesn't mean it's a bad game! Give it a chance!

Graphics (10/10): Wow! What an awesome cel-shaded game! The characters were designed by Tetsuya Nomura and they look really cool as with all of his designs. The cel shaded areas are crisp and smooth. This is probably the best cel shaded game I've seen! The anime cinema sequences are also nice.

Sound (10/10)- Junya Nakano did this. The music is really good and catchy. The sound quality is rather nice. The voice acting can be annoying, but I think it fits the style of the game actually. The voices can indeed be less realistic in a cel-shaded game so it's fine. It's not like Xenosaga or other games where the voice acting must be more serious.

Control (8/10)- The controls are responsive. I never had a problem switching abilities or changing levels. There is a world map where you can return to worlds or visit new ones. You can also use the shortcut buttons (I think R1 and 2) to switch between abilities as well as weapons which makes things easier. You have a variety of swords you can use throughout the game for different purposes, so switching between them easily is important. However, if I remember correctly there is some slow downs in the frame rate which makes things hard sometimes. However, I really don't think it hurt the game too much. People are too harsh with games with slow frame rates. The load times aren't that bad I think in general. I'm pretty sure Suikoden V has longer loading times, but a better frame rate. I'd take a slower frame rate any day than horrendously long load times!

Gameplay (10/10) – Wow! This game is extremely fun. You can keep attacking to perform more powerful chain attacks. If you attack an enemy consistently you will use your most powerful strike against them. Also, pressing the Triangle button allows you to use your special swords. The katana is used by pressing the attack button. I think it's so neat how Musashi can use two different weapons in this game simultaneously. The entire game focuses around the Antheum, the location where you will buy power ups, temper your katana, and buy items. This is the only town in the game. However, the layout is really cool in this place.

Story (8/10)- I'm not sure what the deal was with the story but it is rather plain. Basically we have a save the princess plot here. But should that really matter? This is an action game not a full-blown RPG. So I'm not going to grade too hard. However, being made in 2005 this game is pretty darn unoriginal. However, the fun factor of kicking the enemies butts with your cool 2 blade combo makes up for it.
The dialogue can be weird at times too but this may be a translation issue.

Replay (9/10)- Since the game is so fun you will want to revisit worlds again and again! Even though there aren't many sidequests it can be a challenge to get Musashi to LV 30 and to find all of his weapons/accessories. So replay is not bad.

Overall (10/10)- Give it a chance! This is one of the most underrated games I've ever seen on the PS2. It features the return of Game-Design Gods Junya Nakano and Tetsuya Nomura. This is a terrific game that I highly recommend that you play. If you like Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts you should love this game. But keep in mind this game is very different than the first Musashi game on the PSone.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/18/06