Muramasa: Revenant Blades hands-on: How the blade combos feel on PC

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents Muramasa: Revenant Blades hands-on: How the blade combos feel on PC.

An hour in Paris, a PC, a controller – and suddenly you're cutting through screens full of enemies, tearing them apart with flowing sword combos. That's exactly how Muramasa: Revenant Blades feels, the new work from Vanillaware. Here you can read what the hands-on session at publisher Marvelous revealed – and why the preview whets the appetite for more.

Muramasa: Revenant Blades is a revamped 2D action RPG from Japanese studio Vanillaware, loosely based on the legends of the Japanese master swordsmith Sengo Muramasa and his cursed blades. On February 4, 2027, the game releases for PC, PS5, and Nintendo Switch.

For you that means: if you're into stylish 2D action fireworks and feel like getting your hands on modern hack-and-slay fare, this date is worth a look.

How does Revenant Blades play in practice?

Fast and surprisingly fluid – that's the first impression after an hour on the PC build. After just a few minutes, the rhythm clicks: attack chains, dodge rolls, counters, everything flows into one another. Anyone who felt in recent years that the hack-and-slay genre had dozed off will get fresh wind here.

That said, the game isn't a blind Ninja Gaiden clone – it takes the style as inspiration and retains Vanillaware's signature 2D hand. At the center are Sengo Muramasa's cursed blades, which drive the story forward.

Story: Cursed Swords and Japanese Mythology

The plot revolves around the legendary master swordsmith Sengo Muramasa and his cursed blades. Vanillaware draws loosely on Japanese legends here and wraps them in a 2D action RPG package. Exactly how the story is told in the full version, the preview only showed in glimpses – the full picture only comes with the finished game.

Languages and Platforms at a Glance

In the preview, the English text version with Japanese voice acting was running. The full version launches with German texts and the option to choose the English dub. That means the game is fully playable even for German-speaking players without Japanese knowledge.

Release platforms are PC, PS5, and Nintendo Switch, the date is February 4, 2027.

First Verdict After an Hour

An hour isn't enough to deliver a final verdict on a game. But the feeling Revenant Blades leaves behind is clear: a worthy new addition to the 2D hack-and-slay genre is taking shape here. The blade combos land, the style is right – and the desire for more modern hack-and-slay games is sparked by the hands-on session from the very first swing.

Until the release in February 2027, we're keeping an eye on the game and will report back as soon as there's a final review or new info. The detailed original report from Paris can be found at Eurogamer Deutschland.