History VideoGame / MuramasaTheDemonBlade

* VariableMix: Area music seamlessly switches instrumentation during battles.

** Also the number of children that Lord Enma has with Rajyaki being the youngest.

** The Oboro Muramasa, which can only be acquired after forging and finding all of the 107 other swords, is so sharp that it [[spoiler:cuts fate. Or, in practical terms, it allows for MentalTimeTravel]]. Just because the sword is really, really sharp.

* AntiVillain: [[spoiler:Yukinojo is TheDragon to the Shogun, but expresses deep regret over his role in Torahime and Momohime's deaths, especially the latter once he learns [[DemonicPossession what that has lead to]].]]

** [[spoiler:Momohime's third ending, though it arguably counts as a DownerEnding as well. While Jinkuro avoids stabbing Momohime and possessing her, it's highly implied that instead her fiance (Jinkuro's intended target) was possessed instead...giving Jinkuro lots of power that Momohime couldn't give and allowing him to cause lots of chaos. Of course, Momohime tends to bring out the best in Jinkuro, and it's not like Yukinojo didn't have it coming, so it's not as bad as it could be.]]

* {{Bowdlerization}}: Not as bad as the games the 80s and 90s were infamous for, but it's gotten a lot of flack for being overly concise and cutting poetic language (and sometimes whole lines that don't matter to the plot) out in favor of getting straight to the point. This seems to be an unfortunate habit of producer Ignition -- when they don't simply go for a full-blown BlindIdiotTranslation.

** With the addition of Arashimaru's DLC, it's possible(for the DLC characters) to skip the entirety of Momohime and Kisuke's dungeons, warping straight to the boss gate at the end.

* SmokeOut: The some of the aforementioned Mook ninja do this, although they usually use it to reappear back to their original spawning location on the screen. Those same ones also tend to carry regular bombs. Can be done by yourself to escape battles you don't feel like fighting.

* BonusBoss

* [[spoiler:{{Reincarnation}}: In Kisuke's first ending, Kisuke and Torahime are reincarnated after Torahime pleads Amitabha to allow her to reincarnate with Kisuke until he achieves Nirvana.]]

* TheUnfought: [[spoiler:Fudo-Myou and Amitabha. For the first, you only get to tear up a statue of him, and when the real one shows up he immediately overpowers Jinkuro in a cutscene. For the second, Kisuke targets him at the end of the game, but gives up the idea once he realizes just what he's up against.]]

* CombatTentacles: The optional boss, Oodako the giant octopus, with his attack style being WhipItGood.

* {{BFS}}: The Long Blade weapons are actually larger than the characters.

%%please, no more Walkthrough Mode edits, and read "Repair Don't Respond"%%

* GrandTheftMe: Happens to Momohime; Jinkuro, her possessor, accidentally possesses Momohime while trying to possess Yukinojo, another powerful samurai and Momohime's betrothed.
** Also happens to [[spoiler: Arashimaru in his second ending]].

* RageAgainstTheHeavens: After failing to find the Kuromitsu Blade in Hell, Jinkuro assaults Heaven in order to obtain immortality. [[spoiler: Kisuke impulsively plans to cut Amitabha (the reigning Buddhist deity, basically) in his normal ending, but quickly abandons the idea as futile once he actually meets him in person.]] Likewise, Momohime's path consists mostly of Jinkuro hacking his way through the Japanese pantheon [[spoiler:until Heaven gets annoyed enough to send down one of the Thirteen Buddhas to tell him to cut that shit out.]]

* ActionGirl: Sayo the [[{{Onmyodo}} Onmyoji]] and Raijin the thunder goddess, as well as Okoi and Rajyaki in Rebirth. Torahime is one according to the narrative, and Momohime is one according to promotional materials, but they each have quirks like {{Informed Abilit|y}}ies, [[DamselInDistress being taken as a hostage]], or [[GrandTheftMe being body jacked]], that muddle their Action Girl qualifications. See their respective FauxActionGirl entries on the Character page.

''Muramasa: The Demon Blade'' (or just ''Oboro Muramasa'' in Japan) is a 2009 action-RPG game, made by Creator/{{Vanillaware}} and released for the {{Wii}}, that tells the stories of Kisuke, a fugitive Iga {{ninja}} determined to recover his lost memories, and Momohime, a Narukami princess who is possessed by the spirit of an evil swordsman, Izuna Jinkuro, and is helping him to return them both to functional bodies. Armed with Muramasa's earthbound spirit and his demonic blades, the pair battle through Feudal Japan, searching for their destinies on battlefields soaked in blood.

* The second story is ''A Cause to Daikon For'' (released in February 2014), starring [[UnlikelyHero a farmer named Gonbe]] (whose concept was inspired by HarvestMoon). With all the farmlands of Oone dying and unable to yield much crop, and their Governor Mamedayu Hatono taxing them to death, Gonbe sets out on a quest to save his village from starvation, one way or another. In addition to fighting with a Hoe, a Bamboo Spear and throwing Sickles, Gonbe is [[AssistCharacter aided by his fellow farmers]], Tagosaku and Moheiji, whom he can call in to fight alongside him; he's also assisted by the spirit of his deceased wife [[CuteGhostGirl Otae]], who hoists and tosses him around for most of his attacks and can also [[WingedSoulFliesOffAtDeath force Gonbe's soul back into his body on death]] during battle, reviving him.

* SpiritualSuccessor: As said above, ''Muramasa'' is one to ''Odin Sphere'', which in turn makes this game one to ''Princess Crown''[[labelnote:*]]a 1997 UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn game made by members of Creator/{{Atlus}} who went on to become Creator/{{Vanillaware}}[[/labelnote]] by proxy. ''Muramasa'' was even referred to as ''Princess Crown 3'' during development.

* CuteMonsterGirl: We're talking a game set in [[JidaiGeki Feudal Japan]]. [[{{Kitsune}} Kongiku and Yuzuruha]] are standouts here. Raijin ([[{{Beastess}} who resembles an oni]]) is quite attractive, but her beauty is mostly overshadowed by her brash and aggresive nature (almost to [[TheLadette Ladette]] levels, [[{{Tsundere}} go figure]]). The only times it surfaces is when she's knocked out of the sky (she lands on her rump and takes a moment to tend to her rear in a typical {{Dojikko}} fashion; notably, her voice raises from sultrily deep and tough to innocuously cute) and briefly after the BossBattle with her when Fujin calms her down. And once you beat her, she is just adorable. More are added for ''Rebirth''; the first main character is Miike, a female [[CatGirl Nekomata]] in the form of her human master Okoi, and the second is Rajyaki, a small Oni girl. Meanwhile, Gonbe is assisted by his wife's still-attractive ghost, while Arashimaru's snake familiar is actually a shapeshifting minor deity out for his blood.

** Kisuke and Momohime can fight Oodako, a giant octopus-like sea monster, in the middle of a hurricane. In ''Rebirth'' defeating it earns the trophy "[[CthulhuMythos From the Depths of R'lyeh]]".

* KudzuPlot: The story lines and multiple endings are [[HyperlinkStory all connected to one another in interesting ways]].
* TinyGuyHugeGirl: Fujin and Raijin. Raijin is a hulking, muscular woman while Fujin is tiny (and green). To a lesser extent, Kisuke and Torahime as well.

* KimonoFanservice: Particularly seen with the [[{{Kitsune}} demonic fox babes]] Kongiku and Yuzuruha.

** [[spoiler:Jinkuro and Rankai appear in Miike's first ending; Jinkuro is one of the people hired to try and take care of her when she haunts the Wakamiya clan in her rampage of DisproportionateRetribution. Being [[{{Badass}} Jinkuro]], he Curbstomps her with ease and winds up cutting her tails off, rendering her powerless... But not before she curses him with illness and inevitable death, which is what lead to Momohime's storyline. Rankai, WalkingTheEarth after Monohime's first ending, shows up in the scene afterwards. Kongiku also appears in the hot spring.]]

'''''Muramasa: The Demon Blade''''' (or just ''Oboro Muramasa'' in Japan) is a 2009 action-RPG game, made by Creator/{{Vanillaware}} and released for the {{Wii}}, that tells the stories of Kisuke, a fugitive Iga {{ninja}} determined to recover his lost memories, and Momohime, a Narukami princess who is possessed by the spirit of an evil swordsman, Izuna Jinkuro, and is helping him to return them both to functional bodies. Armed with Muramasa's earthbound spirit and his demonic blades, the pair battle through Feudal Japan, searching for their destinies on battlefields soaked in blood.

* AntiVillain: [[spoiler:Yukinojyo is TheDragon to the Shogun, but expresses deep regret over his role in Torahime and Momohime's deaths, especially the latter once he learns [[DemonicPossession what that has lead to]].]]

** In particular, Momohime's final boss. [[spoiler:The story goes from storming main adversary Rankai's base (thought process: the final fight might be against Rankai, and perhaps he'll even pull a OneWingedAngel), to Yukinojyo showing up with the blade that Jinkuro's been searching for the whole game (thought process: a rematch for the blade), to two random Gods appearing due to your RageAgainstTheHeavens, taking the blade, and forcing you to fight them and a giant statue.]]

* GrandTheftMe: Happens to Momohime; Jinkuro, her possessor, accidentally possesses Momohime while trying to possess Yukinojyo, another powerful samurai and Momohime's betrothed.

* MultipleEndings: Three each for Kisuke and Momohime. The second ending for both characters involves [[spoiler:fighting the other character to more or less a stalemate instead of their usual final boss]], while the third [[spoiler:uses the ultimate sword's ability to "cut even fate itself" to return both characters back to the moment in time when their story would've normally begun, but with all their memories up until that point intact as well as carrying the eponymous Oboro Muramasa. For Jinkuro, this isn't a particulary good deal, since the reason he used the body possession skill to begin with was because his own body was close to dying anyway... which he does soon afterwards. However, it is heavily implied that he took over Yukinojyo's body before he died to be married to Momohime. Between him acting differently, all of a sudden disagreeing with his father, and naming his "new" fighting style (which is actually just Oboro style) Izuna style, Izuna being Jinkuro's last name. In the end he fooled EVERYONE, even most gamers. Not bad for an old guy.]] DLC characters get two each.

** The way Jinkuro treats Momohime occasionally seems like this as well. [[spoiler:Particularly given that he sacrifices his soul for her in two of her endings... and ends up marrying her in Yukinojyo's body in the third.]]

* AndTheAdventureContinues: [[spoiler:Kisuke's second and third endings. The narrator even lampshades it one of them by mentioning that the events of the game are the first story of 20. Momohime's second ending is also like this, with her leaving her new adopted home to unravel the secrets behind her IdentityAmnesia. Arashimaru's second ending ''looks'' like it will be this, with Jiraya and Tsunade setting out together to thwart the schemes of So Xian, but the narrator decides to skip ahead to the end and give the audience a "sneak peek" of the final battle.]]

* ArmyOfTheDead: Torahime's undead bushi.