The Legend Returns



It's hard to believe that it's been six long years since the brave little samurai with the freaky haircut made his debut on the PlayStation One, never to be heard from again... Why it took Square Enix so long to create another chapter in this series is beyond me considering how many fans loved Brave Fencer Musashi, a PSOne game that was off everyone's radar screen at the time. Whatever the reason for the long wait, the tenacious swordsman is back with an all new adventure that fans of the original are just going to gobble up.



Musashi Samurai Legends isn't a sequel to the original in the sense that it doesn't feature the same character (even though they share almost all the same physical traits) but it does provide the same kind of gameplay and style that the original offered.



The new Musashi, much like his name-sake from videogame and literature, is a legendary swordsman that uses two swords to cut his adversaries to ribbons. In Samurai Legends Musashi uses one standard, upgradeable samurai sword and a handful of legendary elemental swords that provide extra powerful attack techniques. Beyond the similar cutlery, Musashi is also a pint sized kid hero complete with lightning-bolt like flowing hair that trails behind him as he moves. Samurai Legend features many of the same elements that made the first game so addictive, and adds some extra features that function pretty effectively on the PlayStation 2.

The Story So Far..



Samurai Legends is set in a world where technology and old world magic are at odds with each other. At first the people of the world welcomed the technology from Gandrake Corporation as a blessing that made life easier. But as that technology became more prevalent in the world and the corporation that mastered it gained more power, magic became a commodity that was used less and less. As the Gandrake Corporation's goals became loftier, they set their sites on using the power of the world's strongest magics to advance and enhance their technology.



It is at this point in the story where Musashi enters the fray. The token princess of the story, Princess Mycella, foreseeing an inevitable head-to-head with the Gandrake Corporation, uncovers a summoning ritual that will call a mighty hero to aid the fabled floating city where she resides and the entire world of Vespire. What they end up getting is a wisecracking, good-hearted hero who might have just enough fortitude to get the job done, if he can learn to master the power of the ancient swords. That job will prove to be quite difficult, as Musashi is charged with saving the Elemental Maidens that protect the ultra powerful Elemental Weapons and rescuing the Princess more times than I care to count..

Samurai Legends is a mish-mosh of gameplay genres including light role-playing, action, adventure and platformer. The key element of the game is a series of cutting techniques that the player uses to slice and dice mostly robotic corporate thugs and monsters. Much like the previous game, players learn most of these fighting techniques they can use from the baddies that populate the world using a game element called Duplication. This twitch-based method lets you focus on a bad guy - and at just the right moment - capture the move and instantly add it to your repertoire (cued by a visual prompt in the form of an !). There are lots of offensive and defensive techniques the player will learn during the course of the game that are handy - and in some cases - required to move ahead.

The other important sword techniques that players will learn come from the elemental swords that Musashi must collect. These swords, which are equipped as secondary weapons in the game, provide more robust attack techniques that players can use to devastate even the most formidable of foes. Most of these techniques use mystic energy, forming the bulk of what gamers would consider power moves.



There are other elements that players can use, some basic and some afforded by special gear that they will have to collect along the way; there's jumping, blocking, wall-crawling, double jumping and more that players will use to varying degrees to beat down enemies and solve puzzles. Samurai Legends does a good job of making all these functions necessary and fun to use, though many of them are used in specific, themed areas in the game (scaling walls, as an example).

The carrying system mentioned above, a brand new feature in this game, allows players to carry both NPCs and enemies on the battlefield and use them as weapons. Players can also throw friendly characters in the air, slash at enemies and catch them again for a quick kill. Similarly, players can toss enemies into the air from the holding position and give them a spinning slash with the katana for a quick and painful kill. Carrying is an integral part of gameplay for protecting NPCs and is slightly better than having to walk an NPC to safety – which most gamers will tell you is sometimes a very difficult task to accomplish. The enemy carrying aspect is a cute novelty, but not detrimental to the gameplay.

Stats



Many of the skills we've mentioned above will be governed by your stat make-up, and Samurai Legends lets you dole out points for these statistics any way you like. Hit points and mystic points make up the consumable energy forces in the game, while other attributes like Strength, Defense, Focus and Luck round out the rest of the statistics you be tinkering with. The level up system allows players to focus on one type of statistic, allotting slightly more points to a single choice, while still giving less points to other attributes. Players can also simply distribute the points evenly for a more direct approach to leveling. They system is easy to use, and very straight-forward so you won't be spending hours micro-managing your stats.

Exploring We Will Go



The world is an interesting blend of modern day elements, science fiction and fantasy all melded together with Square Enix's manga shading (a graphic technique that combines computer generated cel-shading with hand-drawn and heavily outlined art) graphical technique. This technique uses bright, sunny colors and emphasizes world objects (including, most notably, characters) by giving using dark outlines for contrast.



This world is made up of a variety of locations like jungles, industrial complexes, mines, grasslands, volcanic mountains and the like. It's a mixture of different contrasting styles that's thrown together in a way that is actually cohesive as you play out the main plotline. Likewise, the world is properly populated with various creatures that fit in with this melting pot of seeming unrelated areas like mining robots, spiders, fish, living plants and the more. Each area is also filled with its own set of themed challenges, puzzles, obstacles - and natural hazards (and makes up the bulk of the platformer elements in the game).

Extracurricular Activities



When not in the field taking on monsters, players will partake in lots of mini-games and side activities that flesh out the hollow areas in the gameplay. A few examples include a motorcycle mini-game where players take on bad guys on bikes and break barriers for cash, a flying ship mini-game where players fly through tubes and knock other flyers into the wall, and a battle where Musashi must take on bad guys from the back of a moving train. There are, of course, lots of other small things to do like battling in the arena for cash and prizes, collecting parts to make some odd and sometimes useful inventions, and a whole series of 3D cards that you can collect and view from your room. Players will also collect townsfolk that have been captured and scattered through out the world that can unlock a variety of shops that sell a variety of goods and services.

I'm Ready for My Close-up



When we previewed Musashi Samurai Legend February we loved it but, there were one or two problems with the camera that kind of cheapened the overall experience. That problem still remains in the final version of the game and proves to be the only real detractor we can think of at this point. The problem with the camera is that it's hard to manage in situations that involve platform jumping, adding an extra layer of difficulty that just shouldn't be there. Mind you, it doesn't make jumping to and from a world object like a moving platform impossible but it still remains a real pain in the backside. We had a sinking feeling that there wasn't going to be enough time to address this issue before release, and our suspicions were confirmed. Luckily the rest of the game still rocks.



Having played over 40 hours worth of Musashi Samurai Legend, I feel comfortable in saying that it is a solid game that is fun and safe for all ages. The overall presentation (save the camera problems) is nice, the action is engaging (though it does get repetitive after awhile) and the myriad of mini-games, collecting activities (including finding all the townsfolk) and character interactions fill in the gameplay out where there could have been serious holes. PS2 owners looking for an action focused, light role-playing game experience should probably give this game a try.