Muramasa: Revenant Blades’ PC port was an idea proposed by Marvelous. We talk to the devs about how Vanillaware’s first Steam release came to be

Japanese publisher Marvelous will release Muramasa: Revenant Blades on February 4, 2027 for PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC (Steam). The title is a modern revamp of Vanillaware’s action RPG Muramasa: The Demon Blade, originally released in 2009 for the Wii and in 2013 for the PlayStation Vita.

Set during the Genroku era, the Japanese picture scroll-styled side-scrolling RPG follows the story of renegade ninja Kisuke and Momohime, the princess of the Narukami Clan in the Mino Province, as fate entangles them in a battle over a cursed sword.

While the base gameplay of Muramasa: Revenant Blades remains faithful to the original version, all graphics, including characters and backgrounds, have been upgraded to a higher resolution. Furthermore, developers have also made adjustments to the game system, revamped the map structure and added new elements, which places the game somewhere between an HD remaster and a remake.” Interestingly, this release will also mark the first time a Vanillaware game has been released for PC via Steam.

Recently, AUTOMATON conducted an email interview with development director Wataru Nakanishi (Vanillaware) and producer Makoto Shioda (Marvelous) to find out about how the PC version came to be, and what the challenges of bringing a Vanillaware game to Steam for the first time were.

According to Shioda, the decision to release the game on PC was made right at the start of the remaster project. “More than a decade has passed since the original, and since Vanillaware was seriously committed to revamping the game, we really wanted to bring Muramasa: Revenant Blades to as many people as possible. That’s why we at Marvelous proposed a PC release,” he explained.

Nakanishi, on the other hand, says the studio faced many different challenges throughout development, especially considering this will be Vanillaware’s first game for the PC. “Even when it comes to just controls, we had to ensure that the game is comfortable to play with a keyboard and mouse, and there were so many things to consider and address that we basically had to learn as we go. Ultimately, I think it was worth the effort, and it resulted in a game that plays quite smoothly.”

Interestingly, despite the generational gap, the new Muramasa runs on the same in-house engine as the original Wii and PS Vita versions. While getting it to work on modern hardware was another serious challenge for the developers, Nakanishi describes the original source core as something akin to a “secret sauce” that has been carefully preserved throughout the years.

Additionally, the developers mention working “incredibly hard and with great persistence” to ensure Muramasa: Revenant Blades runs at a smooth 60 fps, considering this to be crucial for a satisfying action game.

Muramasa: Revenant Blades is set to release on February 4, 2027 for PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC (Steam).