Kisai's Review of Adventures of Musashi

Setting

You are the son of Miyamoto Musashi. Actually, because there's no sign of your parents, and your name is also Musashi, it's more like you are Musashi Sr. transformed into a baby, like in Dragon Ball GT. The nemesis of your father, Sasaki Kojiro has risen from the grave with a legion of monsters and you are the ten year old who has to stop him, but first you have to collect the Book of the Five Rings and three legendary swords.

Gameplay

Musashi no Bouken is basically Dragon Warrior with a tweak here and there. Occasionally both you and the monsters can attack twice and inflict critical hits. You play solo, except you have a quasi-NPC tanuki. The tanuki has no stats, but will randomly help out -- when it feels like it -- by kicking the enemy or casting a spell.

Your inventory is tight, 16 items. 5 of these will be filled up with your armaments, then there's quest items that you can't get rid of and your sailing ship itself counts as an item!

Theme

It's feudal Japan, with monsters and magic. I swear, if Japanese RPGs were made in America, then you'd have games like Alexander Hamilton's son trying to avenge his father's death against the Lich-King Aaron Burr, fighting undead legions of Redcoats and rescuing 14 year old female senators from dragons.

Character Generation

You're that sort of that primary fighter with secondary magic spells that one primarily plays in typical solo Japanese RPGs. There isn't any personal tweaking of the character here. Every "Happa" leaf that you find upgrades the spell use of your tanuki adding a useful if a bit of a wildcard element to combat. The tanuki can be upgraded six times, but unfortunately, only the first power (causing enemies to miss turns) and last power (a free cure spell) are of any use. The other powers are feeble buffs or running away from combat.

Villainy

Most of the monsters are from Japanese mythology, but a few at the beginning are kind of offbeat. As soon as I left my starting village, I was attacked by corn and pinecones... There's a few subbosses who mostly guard treasure chests and a subplot involving a monstrous princess-spider-ghost whose dastardly plot consists of...stealing chickens.

Sasaki Kojiro burns with a vengance to prove himself the best swordsman against you Much like the Dragonlord, he's raised an army of monsters, has two forms, and gotten himself a stronghold on a distant island which is inaccessible to everyone who can't get an array of quest items and waits patiently for you to come. He even has the gall to call you late when you finally arrive.