InuYasha: The Secret of the Cursed Mask

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Inuyasha: The Cursed Mask

Developer(s)	Bandai
Publisher(s)	Bandai
Picture format	480i (SDTV)
Release date(s)	March 18, 2004 (Japan) November 2, 2004 (N.America)
Genre(s)	Role-playing game
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	ESRB: Teen
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2
Media	1 DVD-ROM
Input	DualShock 2

InuYasha: The Cursed Mask (犬夜叉呪詛の仮面, Inuyasha: Juso no Kamen^?) (the North American version of this game is called InuYasha: The Secret of the Cursed Mask) is a role-playing game for the PlayStation 2 based on the manga/anime series InuYasha. The player is able to choose from a girl character (Kaname Kururugi) and a boy character (Michiru Kururugi), collectively known as Kururugi.

1 Plot
2 Character Selection
3 Interval Events
4 External links

[edit] Plot

InuYasha: The Secret of the Cursed Mask North American game cover

The game begins when the player character (referred to as "Kururugi" regardless of the gender or name chosen) enters the family storage shed in modern-day Japan to retrieve something for their father. After stepping on and falling through a pentagram mysteriously etched into the floorboards, the player is transported to Feudal Japan, where he/she is promptly mistaken for a demon and attacked by villagers. After several close calls, the player finds him/herself face to face with InuYasha, who notices Kururugi's clothes "look like Kagome's."

After introducing him/herself to the rest of the cast, the player begins to search for answers as to why he/she has been brought back to the feudal era, and more importantly, how he/she might be able to get home. The game progresses as any normal InuYasha storyline, with the InuYasha group travelling from village to village in pursuit of Naraku (and Kururugi's answers), sometimes helping out with a local problem or two. Occasionally traces to Naraku himself are revealed, as well as leads to Kururugi's mystery and the title's "cursed mask," which holds secrets to returning the character to the present. Along the way, Kururugi learns to harness the power of shikigami from a mysterious old villager called Kakuju, a force he/she will need in order to help InuYasha and the others overcome the dangerous obstacles they face while unraveling the plot of the mystic Utsugi.

Several beloved characters from the anime appear to help (or hinder) the group's progress, including Kikyo, Kagura, Koga and Sesshomaru.

[edit] Character Selection

The chosen gender of the main character has several subtle but interesting changes on the overall flow of the game. While the core plot remains the same regardless of Kururugi being a boy or girl, the later character responses, interval events, and battle abilities can change dramatically depending upon whether Kururgi is male or female. For example, when the female Kururugi first encounters Miroku in the game, the lecherous monk greets her with his typical, "Would you bear my child?" The male Kururugi, naturally, gets no such offer.

What choices are made on the part of the player to interact with the InuYasha universe will also influence the strength of partnerships in battle and result in different character-centric anime sequences at the end of the game.

[edit] Interval Events

Every so often, players will receive an opportunity to "rest up" the InuYasha gang before setting off for a new location. If the player opts to take these breaks, short interval scenes will occur in which the main character can interact one-on-one with a member of the group. Choosing between InuYasha, Miroku, Sango, Kagome or Shippo will result in several different scenes, which vary in tone; the episodes begin as playful incidents and develop into deep and dramatic scenes later in the game. The more often a specific character is chosen, the stronger the player's friendship will become with that character, thus increasing the effectiveness of pairing with that character in Co-Op Technique battle. (Note that if the player opts to skip these interval events, the only penalty is a slower acquisition of Co-Op techniques.)

An interesting fan service aspect of this relationship-building is that Kururugi will become "strong friends" with whichever of the InuYasha group he or she has spent the most time with. When paired with the opposite sex, love triangles begin to form between the canon pairings and the player character. For example, if the male Kururugi spends a majority of his interval events bonding with Kagome, InuYasha will grow increasingly jealous.