Musashi: Samurai Legend

"An action RPG with neither good action nor good role playing."

Years ago, I was browsing Gamestop and came across the title "Brave Fencer Musashi". I had recognized the name from the back booklet of my beloved "Xenogears", and would surely have bought the game if I had the money for it at them time. However, low on funds, I had to leave the game in hope that I could come back later and purchase it. To my horror, when I came back the game was gone. Years of searching went by, but I could never find the original Musashi game.

A few months ago I saw my second chance at enjoying a Musashi title with the release of "Samuri Legend Musashi". I thought that this game would hit close to the mark of "Megaman Legends", "Zelda", and the other great action RPGs, but I was horribly wrong. Much to my dismay, "Samuri Legend Musashi" was nothing but an "X" button mashing hack and slasher, and a repetitive one at that.

Briefly, I will comment on some of the things that the game did right. For one, the game is beautifully done in comic book style cell shading. There are some relatively fun mini games, such as a Final Fantasy 7-esque motorcycle level in the beginning. Sadly, the stylish graphics and little bits of squaresoft nostalgia do not make up from the horrid game below the surface.

There isn't too much to complain about the controls. You can attack, do a stronger attack, jump, and do a special technique. Fighting is fun for the first few hours. But then, you realize that dungeon after dungeon you are fighting the same exact enemies as in the last one. That's right- every dungeons uses slightly altered versions of the same old monster sets. This makes things real boring real quick

The story is pretty weak. Some elders summon Musashi, so he does whatever they tell him to if it pays for his room and meal. The story jumps around without every explaining anything, and as the game goes on it becomes progressively harder to differentiate the various characters from eachother, as you'll meet no one particularly memorable.

Of course, despite the repetitive gameplay and the nonexistant story, the game will probably make a good rental. Last week, I had the pleasure of playing the original Musashi, finally, and I can tell already that this new game is nothing like the old one. But there's a certain measure of fun to be had with "Samuri Legend", it's just not fun for very long.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 06/27/05