Vanillaware claims that porting Muramasa: The Demon Blade to modern consoles has problems

The head of Vanillaware has said that there are “issues” with transferring the Wii action RPG Muramasa: The Demon Blade to contemporary platforms. Vanillaware has long been regarded as one of the most popular Japanese firms, gaining widespread recognition for its characteristic combination of exquisite 2D animation and side-scrolling action. Vanillaware’s president has said that the company is now unable to deliver Muramasa: The Demon Blade to contemporary platforms as it prepares for the remake of one of its earliest games, GrimGrimoire, to premiere in the west with GrimGrimoire OnceMore.

Muramasa: The Demon Blade was initially published in Japan for the Nintendo Wii in 2009. The game is a 2D action RPG that combines side-scrolling exploration with beat-em-up combat, following in the footsteps of Vanilla ware’s previous game, Odin Sphere. The game recounts the adventures of two warriors, Momohime and Kisuke, who each have their own narrative set in Japan’s Edo era, which ultimately cross. The game became a cult classic in both Japan and the West, and it was subsequently remade and extended on the PlayStation Vita as Muramasa Rebirth.

Muramasa has yet to debut on any other platforms after the PlayStation Vita’s release in 2013. Vanillaware said at the time that it only planned to translate the game to Vita because of the system’s OLED screen, which it considered best reflected the game’s graphic style. In a recent interview with Nintendo, Vanillaware CEO George Kimitani was asked whether the game was going to be released on current consoles, to which Kimitami said, “No, not at all.” “I’d also want to port Muramasa, but there are complications that I won’t get into… Our focus right now, I believe, is to get started on the homework that has been building up… that is, to get started on the games that we have been intending to produce.”

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim was an unexpected success in the west, with publisher Atlus recently announcing that the game sold over 800,000 sales after the Nintendo Switch version was released in April 2022. A teaser for Vanilla ware’s future project was discovered in one of the game’s pre-release demonstrations, but Kimitami also reveals in this interview that he is heading a distinct project at the firm that is presumably years away.

Vanillaware has restored Odin Sphere, Dragon’s Crown, and GrimGrimoire in recent years, while simultaneously producing 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, its most ambitious and lauded project to date. Given this success, it’s logical that the studio wants to keep the momentum going by focusing on its current projects, particularly following the long and difficult production of 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. A remake of Muramasa: The Demon Blade, on the other hand, would be appreciated, since the game is still as fresh and distinctive as it was when it was published in 2009.