Having finished Resident Evil 4 (and wanting something else to play before starting up its bonus content), I decided to start playing Muramasa Rebirth on Vita. It's made by Vanillaware (13 Sentinels, Dragon's Crown, Odin Sphere developer) and I first heard of this game when it came out on Wii as it was described as a hidden gem for the system. So when I saw that the game had been re-released on Vita, I had to get it (which was apparently six years ago now).
I've been playing it for about an hour now and it's a very fun game thus far. It's basically a 2D hack 'n' slash game mixed with Metroidvania elements. It's quite challenging but as a result, it feels very satisfying once you get hang of the controls and the combat. This is definitely a hidden gem on Vita as well since I haven't heard many people talk about it. The pros of playing it on Vita compared to on Wii is obviously the portability but also that the Vita version got four DLC packs with dozen of hours of extra content, so I'm very glad that I got this version instead.
I also had another reason for playing this game now. I've had Odin Sphere Leifthrasir on my watchlist for numerous years now but never gotten it since physical copies have rarely received a discount. Now I'm seeing the game sold out but luckily, one store is getting more copies later this week and I wanted to know if it's worth getting or not. After having played Muramasa for a short while, and considering the gameplay is very similar to Odin Sphere, I definitely want to get Odin Sphere now.
@LtSarge Aren't Vita physical copies of that game quite rare these days? I recall buying it on the Wii a while back and it being quite expensive even then!
@LN78 I'm not sure Muramasa even came out physically on Vita, at least not in Europe. I got it digitally during a sale years ago and was happy with that.
But yeah, it's hard to find physical Vita copies of anything these days. The version that I'll be getting of Odin Sphere will be the PS4 one. I sadly waited too long for a Vita copy and it sold out some time ago. Hopefully I can play it on my Vita through PS4 Remote Play given it has a fitting control scheme.
@LtSarge I tried Muramasa Rebirth way back and found it a nice game and beautiful, but I got stuck and frustrated so I just quit about 3-4 hours into it. Back then I had little tolerance or experience with Metroidvania styled games and have only recently come to understand the approach. It’s too bad, because the same thing happened when I played Guacamelee and other 2D Metroidvania games and I just got frustrated really quickly.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@LN78 Yeah I didn't care much for Remote Play either until some time ago. I set up a wired internet connection to my PS4, changed the settings on the Remote Play app on the Vita so that the stream would output in higher quality, and put my router closer to me which resulted in stronger signal to my Vita. Now I get pretty much a flawless stream between my PS4 and Vita all the time. I played through Steins;Gate 0 on Vita through PS4 Remote Play from beginning to end without any issues and I played bits and pieces of Judgment on Vita as well, which fits perfectly thanks to the controls being mapped to mostly the face buttons. It's just such a great feature and it works great as an alternative if I don't have a native Vita version of a game. Why pay for a Vita version that costs so much more money when I can just get the cheaper PS4 version and stream the game to my Vita.
@Th3solution I do have to say that Muramasa does feel a bit confusing considering a lot of the areas look the same and apparently you'll be doing a lot of back-tracking in this game. The level design doesn't seem that great so far so I can see why you'd get frustrated. Perhaps you'd be willing to give it another try now that you have more experience with the genre?
@LtSarge I had a quick look and you were right about "Muramasa" not having a European release. There is a US version (as far as I'm aware Vita games aren't region coded) but it costs a packet. I like the idea of having a physical Vita collection, I just wish I'd bought one 5 years ago!
@LtSarge I doubt I’ll try it again, but I might. The Vita well is pretty dry now, so if I play my Vita in years to come then I’ll have to start recycling some games. Nothing new will ever release again.
I still have a small Vita backlog though, which I need to get to at some point.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution I get it. The thing is that I was also having issues with the game in the beginning due to its steep difficulty, but after a couple of hours it finally clicked with me. Even though the game seems very difficult, it's mitigated by the amount of gameplay options. It's actually very addicting to play now and I think I've found my next Vita must-play.
Finished London now in Tomb Raider 3. It very much earned its reputation. Both Aldwych and Lud’s Gate are two of the hardest levels in any game I’ve ever played. Just full of traps, a layout like a maze, difficult parkour and tons of enemies. Lud’s Gate also had an underwater section at the end with a minuscule margin for error. Couldn’t imagine playing it without save states. I’m a couple levels into Antarctica now too, which isn’t as hard so far.
@RogerRoger I’ve already caved and started Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation! I was going to play Persona 3 Portable next on the Vita but with it being ported to PS5 then there wasn’t much point. Couldn’t really find anything else I had which I wanted to play, I tried SimCity 2000 but the PS1 port is incredibly unintuitive. So far, it’s been an interesting step up in many ways. The graphics are noticeably better, especially Lara’s facial animations. The rope swinging can do one though, it doesn’t feel natural at all. Cambodia was alright other than the rope swinging, a fairly slow tutorial but the race against the old German guy was cool. I’ve just gone inside the Sphinx so only finished the one level of Egypt, but that was really great and probably the best individual level since at least Tomb Raider 2, if not the first game. The traps were fair and there wasn’t a reliance on collecting random keys about the level to progress.
@JohnnyShoulder 5 minutes into FIFA 2002 and I work out that the transfer system literally only takes money into account. If you have the money then you can sign anyone for any team. So Roberto Carlos is now Celtic’s new left back for the bargain price of £15 million! Also, the ratings are interesting as it looks like Luis Figo is the highest rated player in the game as a 97, while Henrik Larsson is the 5th best player in the game as a 92! While I love Larsson, it’s probably a bit hard to say whether he was really better than Rivaldo, Beckham, Ronaldo etc as he was obviously playing in an easier league back then. Still, he did prove himself at Barcelona later in his career basically winning them the Champions League with two assists.
Although, after seeing this GIF, I think I forgot just how insanely good he was 😂
@nessisonett I remember having those players in my PES Master League, along with Zidane! Then you could get the classic players like Dalglish and Keegan (even with the perm).
Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
I’ve made a bit more progress with Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation. I did a couple of Jeep levels which were pretty fun actually. Back to on foot now though. Kinda wish there was a bit more variety in level themes, it’s all very much sand and pyramids.
Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising via PC Game Pass. Hopefully it gets better, because so far it's a right snoozer. The pacing reminds me of some of the newer Pokemon games, where completely needless cutscenes keep interrupting the flow of the gameplay, and the level design itself leaves one feeling a bit wanting.
But I'm also not very far in.
Currently Playing: Fields of Mistria (PC); Cookie Clicker (PC); Metaphor: ReFantazio (PC); Overboard! (PC)
I've been trying out poinpy on the Netflix games subscription ahead of checking out into the breach when it arrives. Its quite fun, in a angry birds plus movement kind of mechanic. I'll probably check out more of it
Picked up Crazy Taxi for the Dreamcast from CEX, which I’ve somehow never played. It’s incredibly fun and the soundtrack only makes it better. Can’t believe it took me so long to play.
Playing through Sonic Origins on Switch. Finished Sonic 1, doesn't take too long with muscle memory. Feels strange playing the likes of Green Hill & Scrap Brain as Knuckles.
Finished Sonic CD for the first time as well, I have owned it on other platforms but never really bothered with it. Not bad, bosses are definitely easier. Music's pretty good too
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