Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae

OMG!!! This game is just way too glorious even up to this day; it is just what it was meant to be... ACTION! There are some rough comparisons out there, specially against big titles like DMC and Ninja Gaiden, it all comes down to budget in the end. If whoever out there is looking for some challenging fun, this is it. Even though the interface most of the time is not clear, specially when it comes to explain how to make combos and such, the game is delightful. To me, this is worth every cent, and to be honest, it is amazingly cheap. You just keep playing the story over and over in the toughest difficulties just to polish your dexterity. TO THE DEVELOPERS OF THIS GAME: please, please, if you're still out there, create a sequel or a more developed version of this game, a deeper story, there is just so much potential in this piece. THANKS FOR THE FUN!!!

I've played through game's easy mode and I'm not really encouraged to complete higher difficulties. This is because 'Mitsurugi' is extremely repetitive and doesn't offer much depth. On easy mode the game introduced new foes gradually, I didn't feel bored very much, but they weren't varied either. There are 3 types of enemies with few variations. There are also 3 bosses, 2 of which appear 2 times and the last one has a final form. There were also upgrades to protagonist's move set, which was fun. All the levels are about defeating waves of enemies in the arena. The only thing you have to do to defeat them is to mash buttons and use the hide-katana-in-its-sheath-move to finish them off faster, so you can focus all upgrades on the most basic attacks and health. You can't see enemies properly because the camera is always close to the heroine and it doesn't adjust its view automatically. It'll make dodging enemies' attack hard for you. And finally, the upgrades you've purchased don't transfer to the higher difficulty, so you have to unlock everything once again, which is ma main issue with this game. In similar games such as DMC you can feel growing stronger and beating every difficulty feels rewarding, but not in 'Mitsurugi'. The enemies don't change much, you don't have to use advanced moves and strategies, and you won't feel becoming more powerful and more experienced. Oh, and the graphics? They won't hurt your eyes, textures are sharp enough, but the animations are very lacking and lack any weight. And the story, well, it exists. Nothing special here. You can finish the game on an easy mode in about 1 hour. If you'd like to buy the game, do it on a sale.

I've played this game for a few hours and if I had to describe it in one word it'd be "unfinished". There is potential, yes but it's never fully realized. The comparison to the 3D Ninja Gaiden games is a poor one, this game lacks the diverse and fluid combos that made that one so brilliant. While Ninja Gaiden allowed you to mix different attacks to perform many different techniques, this one merely lets you button mash, stringing the same attacks over and over. Try to mix them up, and nothing happens, you simply change from one attack to the other. The upgrade system feels lacking, with the new moves unlocked very early, denying any sense of achievement,. Graphically, it's not very impressive either. While our heroine's model does have a fair bit of detail, everything else seems to have gotten far less attention. So far I've only encountered two different enemies, helmeted businessmen, and some big chrome robots. Neither are particularly interesting. With the basic mooks earning an award for most boring enemy of the decade. It doesn't help that they look more like plastic mannequins than a credible threat either. And then there's the bosses, exercises in frustration. Annoyingly unbalanced. I managed to beat the first one out of sheer stubborness and found the second one to be a brick wall. There is no learning curve. I simply found myself continuosly curb-stomped unable to see what I had done wrong to correct it on my next attempt. It's basically a pure score-attack brawler arcade game. If getting the high score is your crack, then this game is for you. Otherwise I'd recommend to avoid it. Overall the game feels empty, unpolished and unfinished. With one arena, and no enemy variety to replay over and over. It feels more like a tech demo than a complete game. However it's not bad game per se, just boring. I don't regret buying it. I'd advise to wait for a sale though, since I can't condone it's normal price.

There's a period when I am looking for a solid, exciting, fast-paced hack n' slash game, DRM free, on GOG, because DMC is a blast of fun to me. I desperately want to find a game that could bring similar fun. None of the games could do that, except for this one. If you want to fight through waves of enemies, with incredible techniques and fluent actions (maybe also with a cute anime girl), this is worth your money. (to be honest, that's what I want when I bought this game) However, if you have a high standard for something more ---- I mean, literally ANYTHING more than combat, like music, graphic, story...... Man, this probably isn't that suitable for you. I give a 4 because the game is pure fun to play, period. It's simple, perhaps a little repetitive, but is not broken, and is perfect if you want a game with good hack n' slash design. Plus, it's DRM free. Pretty hard to find another game that imitates DMC in such a decent way. Surprisingly, this game does.

Gave one star because of the art design, the rest is hella boring. The panty shot aspect does not cover for the fact that this game is basically spam one button multiple times till victory. The sword the girl wields is about as effective at killing as a paper towel roll. After like 20 hits kill generic enemies, then the same generic ones spawn again, spam the same button. Also the sound effects are pretty bland. The voices are ok. Cheesy but ok. This could have been so much better. The art style is dandy, and I like seeing pretty women, but there are more entertaining ways of seeing scantily clad women in videogames. Even at 3 dollars I was not all that happy with the purchase.