GAME: Inuyasha - Juso no Kamen (The Cursed Mask)
PLATFORM: Playstation 2
GENRE: RPG (Roleplaying)
PLAYERS: 1 player
DEVELOPER: Bandai

AVAILABILITY: Japan (Japanese language only), US (English language dubbed only)
RELEASED: 2004

ESRB RATING (US): T (Mild language, Violence, and Suggestive Themes)

November 4, 2004 - (Initial review written March, 2004) I'll start off by saying that I'm reviewing the Japanese version, and although I'm sure that the English version is going to remain pretty much the same as far as the story goes, there might be some differences. But either way, the general gameplay shouldn't change.

GAME NEWS: Juso no Kamen, (now titled "Secret of the Cursed Mask" in the US) has been out in Japan since March 2004 (which is when I got mine), and came out in November 2004 in the US. The version I have played and provided information for on this site is the Japanese version. The overseas version is dubbed into English (GOD I'm glad I can understand Japanese...), with the English voice actors.

THE JIST: Basically you play as either a boy or a girl who falls through a timeslip and ends up in the Sengoku Jidai. There you meet Inuyasha and freinds, and as you try to find a way back to your own time, you get tangled in a mysterious journey involving your own past. From there you become involved in a battle against well-known enemies like Kagura and Naraku, and you also find yourself meeting other people like Kouga, Kikyou, Sesshoumaru, and various characters known to the Inuyasha series.

THE FIGHT SYSTEM: Your character joins forces with Inuyasha's group, giving you a six-person team. Battles are fought in as a tag-team - you give commands to each character as his/her position comes up in battle. Character attacks range from things that are familiar to the series (yep, you'll be seeing Kaze no Kizu, Kazaana, and Kirara), as well as a few little attacks that are spiced-up versions created for the game.

Each person also has several abilities and attacks unique to him/her. For various portions of the game, your team may also be reduced to fewer than six members.

THE CHARACTERS: Being the big Inuyasha fan I am, this game was like the ultimate fangirl dream come true. Yeah, you're sort of a Mary Sue character, but for an RPG, I honestly would have rather had that than play as one of the characters. And for what it's worth, I thought the personalities and the development of each character (including your own) were pertty darn well thought out. This game also has the distinct feel of not taking itself too seriously, so you get some fun, heartwarming character moments, as well as some touching times between everyone.

One thing I especially enjoyed is that the story and gameplay are somewhat dynamic depending on your own character's relationships with the Inuyasha cast. There are points in the game where you choose to spend time with one member of the party (naturally my first round, I was all about stealing Inuyasha), and that in turn will develop a relationshp with the character that will allow you to learn combination attacks with characters, as well as unlock various scenes with members of the cast, and such.

THE MUSIC & VOICES: The music is a bit generic-sounding, but still appropriate for the environment. There are a few scenes that feature renditions of music from the Inuyasha anime as well, particularly "Hanyou Inuyasha," which is used in some battles.

Another thing I couldn't believe the game did such an outstanding job on was... THE VOICEWORK. Now this is just concerning the Japanese version, so I can't vouch for the English game. But I'm a fan of the voices in Inuyasha. Almost all of the main character interaction (and there was A LOT of it) was voiced-over. And that alone was just awesome; it's probably one of the things that made the game really worth playing for me.

THE ARTWORK: The artwork is also gorgeous. I'm a huge fan of background artwork, and this game did an awesome job creating wonderful settings for you to explore. Each town does have a unique feel, and the characters themselves are modeled in "chibi" 3D. When characters interact, it also uses full-sized anime-style artwork (with simple mouth movements) that was drawn from the artists involved in the anime itself (one being Nakajima-san, who did the art direction on some of my favorite Inuyasha anime epiosdes!), as well as several animated sequences developed "especially for the game."

The youkai and enemies are all pretty much standard design. There are probably a dozen different youkai models that are recycled throughout the game and just given different coloring or clothing throughout the game.

THE GOOD: For any Inuyasha fan, I'm sure this game will definitely be enjoyable.

THE BAD: If you just blast through the game, it's pretty short. I spent a little time unlocking sidequests and such, but even so I got through the game in about 45 hours. But I only ended up unlocking about a third (if that much) of all that could be unlocked in the game.... And naturally, if you're not an Inuyasha fan, this game will hold little to no value for you, so why are you even reading this?

THE UGLY: ...I guess if you don't like the Cartoon Network dubs and prefer the Japanese voicework, you're out of luck when it comes to the version that will ship in the States. There is no option for switching languages. Plus the look of the game is very stylized. But how shallow is it to hate a game because of how the characters appear??

BOTTOM LINE: I didn't regret forking out extra money for the Japanese version of this game at all. It has its moments of fun, drama, fighting, and even romance, but all in all, it's just pure Inuyasha.