Developer: Jorudan Publisher: Seta USA Released: 1992 Genre: Action
Musya is the type of game that is easily forgotten by time. While it isn’t possible for every game to have an extensive marketing campaign Musya is obscure even by that metric. Sometimes you have to closely examine why. At first Musya should stand out; the SNES library could definitely have used more games with a darker tone. Musya has that combined with an interesting setting. But that isn’t enough to be good, and unfortunately the game is weighed down by a variety of issues that make it obvious why no one remembers it.
Imoto is the lone survivor of a great battle and flees to stay alive. During his travels he comes across Tengumura Village. The villagers inform him that they guard the gate to the abyss but their shrine maiden Shizuka has been kidnapped by demons. Unfortunately Shizuka is necessary to close the door to the abyss. Feeling as though he found the reason he survived Imoto agrees to enter the abyss to save Shizuka.
Imoto is a pike man which is rare in videogames. Despite his choice of weapon his reach isn’t as long as you expect. Imoto can thrust his spear in a straightforward attack or twirl it in a circle. Spinning your spear can deflect projectiles and inflicts minimal damage to all enemies around you. Curiously he can jump super high, a necessary skill the way levels are set up. You also have access to magic spells which perform a variety of effects, most of them screen clearing. I find it dubious that they did not translate the spell names. Good luck figuring out which is which. We aren’t all weaboos god damn it.
If I had to summarize Muysa in one word it would be stiff. The controls are stiff, the animation is lacking, and your move setis small. Playing Musya is like going back to the original Castlevania after Castlevania 4. Your lacking attacks make dealing with any enemy not in front of you a hassle. You have a useless downward stab that usually results in taking damage. Why not an arcing attack to deal with aerial enemies, which comprise a good number in the game? Between the lacking controls and your weak attacks you are better off avoiding as many enemies as possible.
The level design in Musya alternates between straight paths and more open environments. Both types have their share of issues. The open levels suffer from imprecise jumping controls that never feel comfortable. When it tries to be inventive it penalizes you. Stage three has an area that sends you back to the start if you choose the incorrect path. The problem is there is no way to tell which the right path is! You would think a straight line to the exit would be simple. But then infinitely respawning enemies and short respawn times ruin it. I’m struggling to remember if I enjoyed the game at any point.
Musya isn’t so much difficult as it is frustrating and downright unfair. Your spear is insanely weak. No matter which attack you use it is near impossible to kill anything without receiving damage. Some enemies respawn so aggressively fast you’ve scarcely killed one before another appears. Life restoring items are not plentiful and although you have a healing spell it is not good. The boss battles are the worst however. Every single boss is a damage sponge, with these battles dragging on well over five minutes. Since there is no visible life bar you wail away in hopes that it will eventually end. With just a little boost in attack power the game would have been tolerable.
This is not a particularly good looking game but I will give it credit for its art direction. Although Musya takes place in the Abyss the environments have a heavy Japanese influence. The enemies are a hit list of Japanese Yokai and pretty creative. This was before series like Inu Yasha and Yokai Watch made them popular and was unique for the time. The color palette is extremely dark which adds to the atmosphere. The backgrounds are the most inconsistent element. Some are flat and wouldn’t look out of place in a PC Engine title. Others are extremely detailed and beautiful. I wish it were more consistent as it showed promise. Oh well.
In Closing
Musya is sadly weighed down by its flaws and is one to easily avoid. It is not completely bad but there are better titles in its genre. Why bother with a game that is average at best?
