Musashi Samurai Legend slices into stores

It has been almost seven years since Brave Fencer Musashi was released for the PlayStation. Square Enix has decided that it's never too late for a sequel and has released Musashi Samurai Legend on the more technologically advanced PlayStation 2.

The young samurai Musashi makes his debut on the PS2 in a new adventure that sees him summoned by Princess Mycella to save her people. Shortly after Musashi arrives, the princess is kidnapped by the Gandrake Corporation, and the sword-wielding hero must track her down and return her to safety.

The game introduces some new elements to the combat system. Musashi can "absorb" the maneuvers of his fallen foes and unleash the moves on other foes. He can carry friends and foes and even use them as weapons. The warrior can also learn 20 different ways to artfully fell his foes, by cutting them into various shapes.

The game's anime presentation is supplemented by what Square Enix dubs "manga-shading." The style is similar to cel-shading except that each shading effect is hand-drawn by artists, whereas cel-shading uses a computerized shading engine.

Musashi Samurai Legend is rated T for Teen and sells for $49.99. For more information on the game, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.