BODY: For fans who have spent the better part of a decade hoping for more of Vanillaware's hand-painted samurai swordplay, the wait is finally ending. During the June 9 "Nintendo Direct 2026.6.9" broadcast, publisher Marvelous unveiled "Oboro Muramasa Kaikitan" (朧村正怪奇譚), a new "splendid picture-scroll Japanese-style action RPG" slated for early 2027.
The title is a clear successor to Muramasa: The Demon Blade, the 2009 Wii cult favorite later expanded on PS Vita. That game became a touchstone for its lush, painterly 2D art and fluid blade combat set against a folkloric Edo-period Japan. The new subtitle, Kaikitan—roughly "tale of the strange and supernatural"—signals a continued lean into yokai, ghosts, and the eerie corners of Japanese myth.
Crucially, Marvelous is going wide with platforms this time. Oboro Muramasa Kaikitan will release on Switch 2, the original Switch, PS5, and PC via Steam, a notably broad rollout that ensures the game reaches both Nintendo's installed base and the PC enthusiast crowd that has championed Vanillaware's catalog through Steam ports.
While full gameplay details remain thin, the announcement alone is significant: original developer Vanillaware has spent recent years on the acclaimed Unicorn Overlord and the 13 Sentinels series, leaving the Muramasa line dormant since 2013.
The insider take
From Tokyo, this reads as Marvelous betting on nostalgia at exactly the right moment. The Switch 2's early lifecycle is hungry for visually distinctive, mid-budget Japanese titles, and Vanillaware's art style is among the most recognizable in the industry—precisely the kind of "looks like nothing else" showcase that sells hardware. The "怪奇譚" framing also fits a broader domestic appetite for horror-tinged folklore right now. Expect this to be positioned as a premium artisanal release rather than a blockbuster, with pricing and a firm date likely teased at the Tokyo Game Show this autumn.
Originally reported by はてなブックマーク (Japanese).