That aside, I still consider Musashi one of the year's best PlayStation games. I actually found myself skipping it entirely after a few minutes. Some of the voices were passable, but Musashi's began to great on my nerves rather quickly. What I really didn't care for was the surprising amount of slowdown and the simply annoying (in my humble opinion) voice acting. In fact, I found myself enjoying the action scenes so much at points that I almost wished the game was without its more 'RPG-esque' town and exploration elements entirely. It's obvious that Square was going for a Zelda-style (the old 8-bit game, folks) with Musashi, but it ended up very action heavy. As good as I found the gameplay and visuals though, I've got to give special mention to its stellar soundtrack. Musashi drew me in via its solid control, clever puzzles, excellent visual design, and loads of personality. Dipping its hand into the action-adventure category for the first time on PlayStation, it's produced a game that may convey the epic scale of Xenogears, but is one heck of a blast while it lasts. Square has managed to impress me yet again. In traditional action game style, the game puts Musashi up against a variety of boss characters, starting with a giant steam-powered robot and only getting more fiendish from there. Ranging from potted plants to gun-toting warriors, they all have one thing in common: they answer to a boss. Daytime turns to night and certain objectives can only be met (meeting up with store keepers, for example) during the right hours. Some of the game's aforementioned puzzles involve paying keen attention to an ingenious 24 hour clock. You see, our hero can launch one of his two swords into enemies and use it two draw out a special power, be it a magical shield, rapid fire bullets, and many more. Don't let the simple description fool you though there's a lot more than simple swordplay involved.Īlong the way, Musahi not only has to talk to townspeople and solve various puzzles of the not too difficult, yet still noggin-scratch material variety, but utilize a number of 'assimilated' abilities as well. Not only does the little guy have to get his hands of five legendary scrolls before the bad guys do, but he's also got to (surprise-surprise) rescue a princess. Musashi's lengthy quest involves running, jumping, and slashing his way through six chapters, from one side of the land to the other. Japan's greatest warrior may have been a gruff grown up, but in this game he's a wise-cracking kid. Its ultimate weapon: a pint-sized facsimile of the legendary samurai Musashi. A combination of action and adventure elements that will no doubt conjure comparisons (like this one) to classics such as Zelda, it's the story of Allucaneet kingdom's fight against an evil intruder. It's latest is Brave Fencer Musashi, a game that's no doubt familiar to followers of the developer's work.

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