VN - Others - Completed - Full Metal Daemon Muramasa [Final] [Nitro+]

Muramasa is one of the best VN's of all time, and the title that reminded me of the quality writing you can find in VNs. Many who heard about Muramasa, know it talks about good and evil, right and wrong, justice and injustice, but there's a lot more going on there, and what I want to convey is that this a real masterpiece.

Positive:
- MANY amazing characters (kageaki, Muramasa, chachamaru, sorimachi...) and "literary" depth, development, interactions (closer to a book, than a VN).
- The OST has many excellent tracks, that could go on a playlist, and voice acting is very good (protagonist is voiced too).
- Solid action scenes (fights with "mecha"), especially if you consider the release date. Supernatural that actually makes sense, improves them further.
- Great writing, setting and story, but heroine route quality can be uneven.
- A ton of subjective content for you to think about. Intellectual reward, if you will.
- It has a mature world and themes (starts with high school, but you will see).
- Production values were very good back in the day, and the art still holds (it's still an old VN).

Negative:
- You should use a guide. Choices in Muramasa are a bit different from other VN's (it's the outcome, not the choice itself), and the "airship" section, for instance, is just plain annoying. The pacing varies greatly too, and this is a very long VN.

Score: It's a 10/10 and my favorite VN. It's true that "mathematically", some recent releases have surpassed it (type-moon remasters), but you know how subjectivity works, and Muramasa was released in 2009. If you are already familiar with VN's, and haven't read Muramasa, I think you should try it, it's a true Kamige.

(This is a very long VN with few h-scenes)

Definitely the most amazing Japanese AVN I ever played! The plot is very atypical and extraordinary. I doubt that I can find any VN similar to Muramasa. (I don't want to spoil too much about the game, so I will leave my comment brief)

It feels weird to vote on this type of vn in this type of site. Either way, this is not here for the porn. The HCGs are few and far between and I dare say the vast majority are entirely irrelevant to the story and might even diminish the quality of the work overall.

But this is one of the best VNs out there, without doubt. If you're feeling like actually reading something and not just whacking your meat I implore you to give this a try. It's not a light upbeat read by any means, though.

One of the games that makes life worth living (just kidding). This is a type of experience that you'll fondly remember for years to come. The only grip I had with the game when I'd played it years ago in Japanese was the Hero route, or rather it's latter parts that contradict to my views on violence. The author goes full moralfag there, but thankfully things get better in the other routes.

Let's get right to the point - Full Metal Daemon Muramasa is a masterpiece and that is down to one single thing - the writing.
The world is fascinating the characters are interesting and the dialogues are *really* great.
This game made me like the obvious UB, making me think he was the only sensible person in the story and then BACKSTABBED ME SO HARD.
.

The philosophical question that is explored in this VN is actually pretty interesting and the answers are well thought out.

As a German some of the historical references are a tad weird (no, I have no need to see Josef Mengele portrayed as a cool dude) but it doesn't go overboard.

Just one warning: If you play this for H-Scenes: Don't. There is maybe 10min of H content in this whole game and even I (who really enjoyed Maggot Baits and Dead End Aegis) couldn't get off to half of them, not because they were brutal in the depiction but in the context of the story.

NO SPOILER

This was my first Nitro+ VN and It did not disappoint. The story is excellent, the artwork amazing, and its DARK. I managed to fool myself in chapter 1 that the game wasn't going to be as fucked up as it was claiming to be and was proven wrong in spectacular fashion. It doesn't sugarcoat the themes its trying to display and doesn't insult you by holding your hand through it. Muramasa has short and rather shallow H-scenes littered throughout, which if I'm being honest works in its favor. The characters are extremely likable and have distinct, well written, well acted personalities which makes them memorable and distinct from each other.
Now the game does have a few rough spots like the "combat". Its basically trial and error and I found it infuriating. When met with a game over for not knowing the intricacies of sword combat and the usage of Tsurugies (Your armor) or worse, kageakis' moral code, it eventually drove me up the wall and I used a guide when I wasn't 100% sure of my decision. Next is kageakis' morals, they are a center piece of the main story but will screw you over every chance it can. If your like me, that is to say a logical person, it will cause nonstop annoyance. There are sections of the game that are strange (to me at least) like the airship search or the cube puzzle (Why was that a thing) that completely defy expectations in a bad way.
Finally, the routes are simply amazing. they hold the themes of the story but also vary from each one. my favorite was the final route of the game. It completes Kageakis' character arc in the best way for a story like this. Keeping true to the tone and has the best ending of the bunch, as to be expected from the true ending. All in all, this was a amazing read from beginning to end and kept hold of the tone in which it portrays while being led by its amazing cast of characters. I highly recommend giving it a try if you like mecha, samurai, or just gritty stories in general.

Common Route: 8/10
Hero Route: 7/10
Nemesis Route: 7/10
True Route: 9.5/10
Overall: 9.5/10

This is an absolute masterpiece that everybody should experience. The first two routes are decent, but the true route propels the entire experience to one of the greatest VNs ever.

Every hint, worldbuilding element and plot thread in the common and first two routes is used to elevate the true route. Another masterstroke is how the true route heroine is handled. The way the story is structured and written makes her an amazingly well developed character that you love even before you actually get introduced to her in her route.

Read this.

Full Metal Daemon Muramasa
(Basic route guide at the end)
PS: You dont play this for the H-scene, seriously, so dont hope for it

One of the most famous classic Dark fantasy, heavy lore ridden, Visual Novel made by Nitro +.
A masterpiece from its time. From each character writing to the world building scenario, everything about this vn is very well written on top of amazing artwork on each scene especially in fighting scene make it that you want for more.

But enough of that, lets talk abit about how i, personally feel when i play this game, especially on how dark the scenario is. If you have play any dark fantasy from this developer, like Demonbane or even Saya no Uta for example, then you would know what u getting into.
From the Craziness in the world full of Madness, questioning your morality on what is good or evil, what is forgiven and what is not, and whether u want to be heroic or demon.
A mature and thought provoking, some will even say depressing content, seeing that it contain an act that shouldnt been done by a human, (and im not talking about rape, but something that much more repulsive). The emotion that each character going through of all that happen, is much more raw and alive than any other vn that i play so far. All of those thing, make it for me, one of the best vn i ever play. It just simply breathtaking.

All i have to say is, yes, while this vn may not for everyone, but if you dont have a problem in getting into dark fantasy genre, i suggest that you at least try to play this game once. For me, i give it a full 5 star.
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This vn has 2 route that u have to go through first before unlocking another 2 more route and 1 true ending

"Ayane Ichijou aka Hero end" and "Ootori Kanae aka Avenger end"

(after done these 2 route it will unlock)
"Ashikaga Chachamaru end" and "Muramasa end"

after u finish Muramasa end, it will automatically go into Evil Demon Lord and True Ending end base on your choice you choose. for more detail
Jp walkthrough, just google translate it