Vanillaware's president has claimed "there are problems" with porting the Wii action-RPG Muramasa: The Demon Blade to modern platforms. For years Vanillaware has been one of the most beloved Japanese studios, receiving industry-wide acclaim for its signature blend of gorgeous 2D animation with side-scrolling gameplay. As the studio prepares for the remaster of one of its first games, GrimGrimoire, to launch in the west with GrimGrimoire OnceMore, Vanillaware's president has revealed that the studio is currently unable to bring Muramasa: The Demon Blade to modern platforms.
Muramasa: The Demon Blade first released in Japan in 2009 for the Nintendo Wii. The game is a 2D action-RPG that blends side-scrolling exploration with beat-em-up combat, building off of Vanillaware's previous game, Odin Sphere. The game follows the story of two warriors, Momohime and Kisuke, in their own individual stories set in Japan's Edo period that eventually overlap. The game developed a cult status in both Japan and the west, and was eventually remastered and expanded upon for the PlayStation Vita under the title Muramasa Rebirth.
Since the PlayStation Vita release in 2013, Muramasa has yet to appear on any other platforms. At the time, Vanillaware claimed it only had plans to port the game to Vita due to the system's OLED screen, which it thought represented the game's art style the best. In a recent interview with Nintenderos, Vanillaware president George Kimitani was asked if the game was planned to come to modern consoles, to which Kimitami responded "I would also like to port Muramasa, although there are problems for it that I will not go into... I would say that our priority now is to start with the homework that has been piling up... that is, to get to work on the games that we have been planning to make."
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim achieved surprising success in the west, with publisher Atlus recently revealing that the game has sold over 800,000 units following the release of its Nintendo Switch port in April 2022. In one of the game's pre-release demos a teaser could be found hinting at Vanillaware's next project, however, Kimitami also states in this interview that he is leading a separate project at the studio that is apparently years away.
In the past few years, Vanillaware has remastered Odin Sphere, Dragon's Crown, and GrimGrimoire, while also releasing 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, its most ambitious and acclaimed project yet. Given this success, it's understandable that the studio wishes to keep riding this high by working on its current projects, especially after the lengthy and troubled development of 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. However, a remaster of Muramasa: The Demon Blade would be welcome, as the game is still every bit as fresh and unique as it was when it released in 2009.
Muramasa: The Demon Blade is available now for Wii and PlayStation Vita.
Source: Nintendoros (via Nintendo Life)
