Greetings.

First, I'd like to speak on a treasures I have discovered this past week. Namely, a relatively recent (i.e., within a year) Wii game entitled Muramasa: The Demon Blade.

From the title, one may be apt to guess that this is a unusual game that deserves less than the typical share of spotlight. I would agree with the former, but not the latter. Rather, I would argue - and thus am arguing - that Muramasa: The Demon Blade is a title worthy of inspection and, indeed, commitment. In point of fact, I place this game slightly below the level of Okami; equal on style, higher on action, slightly lower on depth of play, though I shall consider each in its own context, independent of other titles.

I won't bother to discuss the plot in detail, as that is easily enough understood through the game itself. Simply put, you are a swordsman or swordswoman, one of two young people seeking a powerful sword (a Muramasa, surprise-surprise) for one reason or another. For context, the gameplay is action-platforming, with a good dose of hack-and-slash. Don't take that as a pejorative - the pacing and flow is very well suited to both those traits, and excessive plot would likely hinder rather than enhance.

The primary controls are an analog stick and a button, manipulated in various combinations of direction and presses. Despite this one-and-one setup, the actions possible are, for lack of better language, incredible. You can slash, you can jump and slash...and then you can also multislash, upslash, downslash, dashslash, or, my personal favorite, multislash-dashslash-upslash-dashslash-multislash-dashslash-downslash. Wash, rinse, bludgeon, vary it up, repeat.

Suffice to say, there are a good deal many combinations to string together, and provided you do not get hit during the maelstrom, you can keep racking up the combos. There are some nice bonus moves, too: you can block attacks; you can deflect projectiles back at the source; you can dodge-roll; each sword - and there are a lot - A LOT - of them - has a special technique; and each time you draw a different sword, you hit everything in view.

There are some RPG elements that give the gameplay flavor - you gain experience through battles; various player statistics, items, and equipment affect your battle effectiveness; you can forge new swords as you progress - with a rather intuitive weapon hierarchy and diagram; and, like in many other action-RPG hybrids, you are rewarded for exploring. Another neat bonus is that enemies keep pace as you level up - they get harder, faster, more numerous, and give you more experience.

The art and graphical style is an excellent highlight. The animations are fluid, and you get a definite sense that the game was well-tested for continuity and variation throughout. The audio matches almost perfectly from serene farmland to raging swordfights, and the background music and ambiance don't hurt, either. You'll spend a lot of time running through the scenery, so having it pleasant to look at while being fresh and new every so often is a great plus. All the dialogue is narrated in authentic-sounding Japanese, with subtitles for those less-than-fluent in the language. The all-around atmosphere is stellar and highly integrated, even if you're not big on Eastern mythology.

If you are a numbers person, a decent run-through of one half of the game, for a person of average experience, adaptability, and ferocity, will take about 15 hours of playtime. For the average completionist, I would wager...40 to 45 hours. Your mileage will vary. Replay value? Perhaps: on besting the higher difficulty level, another level is presented - I have yet to attempt it myself.

My words do little justice to the game, however. Pick up Muramasa: The Demon Blade, if you can. I will throw out a standard disclaimer: not everyone will like or be good at action platforming - it is a fast-paced game that can be unforgiving if you get sloppy or lazy. A possible remedy is the lower difficulty level, which I have not tried myself, but based on the description would be a good match for newbies.

Now, then...

I completed a workable interface for adding and editing article this past week. A few bugs are proving more troublesome than anticipated, but they shall be squashed soon enough. The upcoming week will be spent on refinements to the interface, both functional and aesthetic. Sorry there's not more info to relay, but most of it is simply technical details that would either bore or confuse.

This Friday is also the final INFINITY mission for the semester. Afterwards, shows will drop off for a month or so, to return in early February.

Mr. Bond, signing off.