REVIEW: Full Metal Daemon Muramasa


Title	Full Metal Daemon Muramasa
Developer	Nitroplus
Publisher	JAST USA
Release Date	August 28th, 2021
Genre	Visual Novel
Platform	PC
Age Rating	18+
Official Website

To say I was excited when JAST announced they would be bringing Full Metal Daemon Muramasa to the West would be an understatement. I’ve always loved Nitroplus releases, and this is supposed to be one of the greatest visual novels of all time. It’s taken me a while to get through all of the routes here, about 80 hours in fact, and it’s time to see if it met the high expectations I had for it.

Full Metal Daemon Muramasa takes place in a world where man has created powerful weapons named Tsurugi. These metallic suits give their pilots, the Musha, amazing powers. This has led to many wars taking place, and Japan is now ruled by an army called the Rokuhara. This army cares little for the people of the land and would rather let the Western forces of GHQ deal with these matters. This is a union of convenience, rather than one built on trust.

A man named Minato Kageaki is the center of our tale. This man has a connection with the Silver Tsurugi that has been laying waste to village after village. They call this Tsurugi the Silver Star, Ginseigo, and it is said her song drives all who hear it to madness! Minato’s sole goal in life is to defeat her and put an end to this madness! You may be thinking he clearly sounds like a hero. However, there are some unfortunate circumstances that make him far from a knight in shining armor. In fact, this entire story is about how, sometimes, good things will lead to unforeseen consequences down the road and so forth.

Minato may have started this quest alone, but, he will soon be joined by two very unusual characters. One being a GHQ officer named Otori Kanae. This woman seems very sweet when you first meet her, but looks can be very deceiving. She is a very crafty woman that would never let someone get the upper hand on her easily. The other girl is named Ayame Ichijo, and though the game tells you several times, “This is not a story of heroes,” if there was one to be found here it’s her. She is very headstrong and will do whatever it takes to bring her justice to this world. Minato will run into a few other main characters along the way, and you will see how each of these characters show a different side of humanity.

I don’t want to dig too deeply into the story since I feel like the more blind you go into this, the better the experience will be. Though I do have to say, this is one of the best written stories I have ever read. Every character is fleshed out in great detail. You will know all of their backstories, struggles and choices that have led them to where they are now as you explore the three main routes. The overarching views of what is good and evil, or how the law of balance applies in nature will really make you think about the world around you. I have to give credit to the localization team here. This game was a huge undertaking, but they have done a wonderful job. I am very thankful for all the hard work they put in to really bring this story to life for us here in the West.

While the story here is amazing, Full Metal Daemon Muramasa features a ton of high octane mecha battles as well. The battles are played out with a series of videos and fantastic anime style cut-ins. These battles are explained in great detail in text and even have illustrations to show off some of the various sword stances, and more. I was actually amazed at how well the production values were here. I’ve seen some anime that cannot show off a fight nearly as well as they are presented here, it’s just a pure treat for the eyes.

As impressive as the game is in the visual department, the amazing soundtrack doesn’t disappoint here either. There are a wide range of tracks that really drive home the emotion of each scene. The combat theme really helps build the tension of each battle as you watch them play out. This is topped out by the amazing vocal tracks found throughout the story. The ending tracks, such as “The Urge” and “Falling Leaves,” are very fitting and just outright great. JAST has even included translated song lyrics in the manual, which I thought was an amazing touch.

I can say without a doubt, Full Metal Daemon Muramasa is one of the best visual novels I’ve ever played. The amazing storytelling, characters, presentation and music just make for one of the best experiences I’ve had in the genre. The little touches JAST did like translating the song lyrics, the appendix and liner notes, when you clear the main game, were just icing on an already delicious cake. This is one of the best deals you will find in gaming at its $39.99 asking price. There is a reason people said this was one of the best visual novels ever made, because that is exactly what it is!