Muramasa: The Demon Blade

Muramasa: The Demon Blade
Muramasa: The Demon Blade
	North American Wii cover art
Developer(s)	Vanillaware
Publisher(s)	JP: Marvelous Entertainment (Wii); Marvelous AQL (Vita); NA: Ignition Entertainment (Wii); Aksys Games (Vita); ; EU: Rising Star Games (Wii); Aksys Games (Vita); ;
Director(s)	George Kamitani
Producer(s)	Yoshifumi Hashimoto
Programmer(s)	Kentaro Ohnishi
Artist(s)	Yasuhiro Fujiwara Yasuo Shirai ; Takehiro Shiga ; Kouichi Maenou ; Ine Kawazu ;
Writer(s)	George Kamitani
Composer(s)	Hitoshi Sakimoto Yoshimi Kudo ; Noriyuki Kamikura ; Mitsuhiro Kaneda ; Kimihiro Abe ; Azusa Chiba ; Masaharu Iwata ;
Platform(s)	Wii, PlayStation Vita
Release	April 9, 2009 Wii JP: April 9, 2009; NA: September 8, 2009; EU: November 27, 2009; AU: December 3, 2009; PlayStation Vita JP: March 28, 2013; NA: June 25, 2013; EU: October 16, 2013; AU: October 16, 2013; ;
Genre(s)	Action role-playing
Mode(s)	Single-player

Muramasa: The Demon Blade^[a] is a 2009 action role-playing game developed by Vanillaware and published for the Wii by Marvelous Entertainment (Japan), Ignition Entertainment (North America), and Rising Star Games (Europe). An expanded PlayStation Vita version was published in 2013 by Marvelous AQL in Japan and Aksys Games in Western territories. Using a 2D side-scrolling perspective, the gameplay revolves around a beat 'em up fighting system, while incorporating role-playing elements such as leveling and questing.

Muramasa takes place during the Edo period on Japan's main island of Honshu during the reign of shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi. Conflicts have arisen over ownership of the Demon Blades, samurai swords forged by Muramasa Sengo that bring tragedy and madness upon their wielders. The story revolves around two protagonists related to this conflict: Momohime, a woman who is possessed by the spirit of vengeful rōnin Jinkuro Izuna; and Kisuke, an amnesiac ninja on the run for a forgotten crime who is tied up with the tragedy that destroyed Momohime's family. The Vita port includes four self-contained stories based on Japanese folklore released as downloadable content.

The concept work for Muramasa began during the middle of development on Odin Sphere. Along with improving on the action gameplay over Odin Sphere, a great deal of effort was put into making the game's setting authentic to the period. Director and writer George Kamitani created the story based on kabuki theatre, incorporating Japanese folklore and Buddhist theology. When the game was released in the West, it retained its Japanese voicetrack to preserve its atmosphere. It was released to moderate sales and positive reviews. The Vita port, released in the West as Muramasa Rebirth, had strong sales and similar reception to its original version.
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