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Musashi: Samurai Legend is a title that received a
fairly sedate release in the UK. Although, for many of the hardcore SquareEnix fans, it couldn’t
have been any higher on the anticipation list. Having reportedly
come from what’s left of the Final Fantasy VII development
team, Musashi:  Samurai Legend is the sequel to the US
hit Brave Fencer Musashi which, although benefiting from an
eastern release, was not particularly well received. Therefore, Musashi:
Samurai Legend has been developed with the western audience in
mind, and is currently not scheduled for release in Japan.
It’s not uncommon for Japanese developers to take a
blind-eye to their home territory in favour of developing a title
more suited to the western audience – NAMCO being a prime example
of how to take western ideals and turn them into titles that will
receive a niche popularity in Japan also. However, it seems the
route the SquareEnix  have taken is a little different and, quite
frankly, a little absurd when you think about it from the
western gamers perspective.
Musashi: Samurai Legend hasn’t taken upon itself
western philosophies or culture inherently; instead choosing to
change the access of play from that traditionally associated with
the Japanese RPG powerhouse. Playing on a more free-form world with
a strictly linear story, with real-time combat, Musashi: Samurai
Legend feels like it’s dragging the boundaries of RPG and
Action games closer than they’ve been before and, often, it’s a
little too close for comfort. Using a HUB structure intrinsically
reminiscent of Phantasy Star Online, Musashi: Samurai
Legend propositions quests in a strict and straight-forward
manor before you descend onto the world’s surface in  order to
complete your objective. There’s a small group of Levels upon
which to descend – each offering two-to-three missions to be
completed in their set order – following the a-typical patterns of
forest, water, fire etc. With the action centred around enforced
routes to a point of extremity, re-playing these Levels is more
considered a chore than an exploration - and the game does force
you to replay these Levels time and again: each objective you are
given on a new terrain may only take you a small way into the Level,
with the following objective making you travel back through the
Level, and a little further…
Mid-Level Boss Challenges aren’t uncommon, but are
invariably easy, and with so-few Checkpoints mid-Level it quickly
becomes clear that Musashi: Samurai Legend is a title you
play when you have a few hours free, as opposed to twenty minutes.
There is very little on offer in the way of side-quests –
instantly referring Musashi: Samurai Legend to the likes of Harry
Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets as opposed to The Legend Of
Zelda series – and the HUB, or Anthedon, is limited to three
small Floors with a handful-population. More people appear in the
HUB as you rescue them throughout the game, but their impact on the
events in the game is minimal.
The
title’s Levelling-Up System has been of much discussion in
previews and isn’t without refinement; however it’s predictable
in its shallowness. When you should garner the correct  Experience by
downing enough foes, you will be able to access the Level-Up Menu
through the Status Menu where you will be given the option of
letting the software decide which area to increase for you, or to
concentrate on a specific statistic - concentrating on a specific
statistic will continue to increase others as well. A unique touch
the developers did feel the need to sneak in was the ability for
Musashi to learn opponents’ moves. The suggestion of such play
will either inspire acute glee or memories of the pink puffball,
Kirby; however the title’s suggestion should inspire neither. With
the majority of the identi-kit enemies featuring a rudimentary move
for you to steal upon first-encounter the technique feels more like
finding a Gold Skulltula in The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time
without the grand sense of achievement, than slowly exploring the
diverse nature of your avatars own persona.
Graphically,
the title fairly unique. Having been quoted in Press Releases as
featuring “Manga Shading” (instantly clarifying that the
Press Agency have no idea what Manga actually is), Musashi:
Samurai Legend is washed in cel-shaded, wide-eyed delight. The
Intro Scene depicts a vivid combat-fluid world of imagination that
is sorely missing for the progression of the story. Feeling as
though you are playing an anime is fine, but when the cut-scenes are
intrusive and rigid as in Musashi: Samurai Legend they only
help to distance the player from the action. The title’s music is
adequately forgettable and the score for Anthedon only helps in the
similarities with Phantasy Star Online.
Although
it sounds as though I may have been thoroughly critical of Musashi:
Samurai Legend I’d be a hard reviewer if I didn’t realise
exactly what the title was to be recognised for. Musashi: Samurai
Legend offers a fully-realised world and unique adventure-driven
story through an easily accessible RPG-guise. It’s quick and clean
and, above all else; it’s fun. There’s just nothing new here –
everything the title attempts it does achieve, albeit to a varying
degree of success – and as a title with such an encouraging
heritage, it should be so much more.
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