Impressions: Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled
Aside from C.O.R.E., Graffiti Entertainment also showed their oft-delayed RPG, Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled. Black Sigil was originally slated for release on the GBA as Project Exile, but a multitude of delays compounded with the fact that the GBA was starting to wane as a viable platform forced Montreal-based developers Studio Archcraft to move the project to the Nintendo DS, where it’s finally slated for release June 9th. That’s tomorrow.
“Montreal?” Yes, Black Sigil is a Western-developed JRPG, as odd as that sounds. Apparently the gents over at Studio Archcraft are huge fans of SNES-era RPGs such as Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy and, most notably, Chrono Trigger. I say “notably,” because one can immediately see the similarities between Chrono and Black Sigil. Many have already pointed out that the game’s sprites and tile sets bear more than a passing resemblance to Square’s RPG masterpiece, but I for one don’t mind. Few developers are still willing to deal with sprite-based 2D, so I can respect Studio Archcraft’s decision not to shoehorn this game to 3D.
As I’ve stressed, Black Sigil is a decidedly old-school effort. The interface and fonts are chunky, a welcome change from Square’s streamlined assets for Final Fantasy IV: The After; towns, dungeons and characters look straight out of a late-1995 SNES RPG; and even the overworld map is presented in pseudo Mode 7 3D! Battles are presented kind of like Mana and Chrono Trigger, but not really. The menus are shaped into a cross — kind of like Lufia, and those menus can either be manipulated with the D-pad or the touch-screen. Holding L allows you to move your currently-selected character throughout the battle area, and the game even incorporates weapon range into the battles. You can’t slice enemies with your sword if someone’s blocking the way to an enemy, for instance. I thought how the game calculated turns between allies and enemies was kind of confusing though; I didn’t really understand whether or not the game incorporated some sort of Active Time Battle system to figure out who’s turn it is. One more minor complaint I had was with the encounter rate, which seemed to be quite on the high side. I was told that this was intentional, but I could see their point as battles are rather speedy anyways.
One more thing the game seems to have going for it is scope. I was told that Black Sigil will feature around 40-50 hours of gameplay for the main quest, several sidequests, and in an obvious nod to Chrono Trigger (as much as I hate these nagging comparisons): seven endings. I’ll have to see for myself if the game’s lore will be substantial enough to hold everyone’s interest to see all these endings through, of course.
We’ll have more impressions and perhaps a full review on future issues of GAME!, so stay tuned!
Fact Sheet:
- Vivid environments create a realistic yet imaginative landscape
- 40-50+ hours of game play with tons of side-quests
- Dark secrets and powerful plot twists create an original and intriguing story line
- Strategically customize your 3 person party from up to 8 unique characters
- 100+ different physical and magical skills/combos
- 100+ different weapons
- 200+ different pieces of armor
Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled Screenshot Gallery:
Possibly want!