Game Mechanics: 6/10
The game mechanic which is made for Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled is very much comparable to the old school Super Nintendo RPG’s. The developers have included some of the popular concepts in those golden era. They have decided to go with random enemy encounter, combinations of skills very much like Chrono Cross, and active action time meter similar to the earlier Final Fantasy series as well as Chrono Trigger.
However, the balance of the game has not been done that well such that save points were not available at important locations such as before some boss battles. The dungeons are quite long. The random encounters in Black Sigil DS is a bit too frequent. And sometimes character gets stuck from each other as well as the decorations on the battle field.
Storyline: 7/10
The story line of Black Sigil: Blade of Exile for the DS is pretty good in its own merit. Black Sigil deals with many of the more serious world issues about prejudice and slavery. In my opinion, the storyline is comparable to many of the RPG’s games offer at current times. However, because of the more serious plot of the story, this game is truly for the olders generation of die hard RPG fans who liked the games such as Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger. Those audience would be older crowd now who would enjoy these topics much better than the first time rpg players.
Unique Feature: 4/10
Black Sigil did not really have unique features as its own. The only thing that it stood out to me is that it attempted to include a little twist in the Chrono Trigger battling system. You would be able to move your character around to get in other battle positions. However, this feature is really limited and flawed in design such that you lose a turn for moving and you do not really get that much of a benefit considering others and the terrain usually block yourself.
Puzzles: 7/10
The puzzle part is quite interesting because of the grand dungeons. Yet, the bad part that associate with the more complicated dungeon is the lack of save points. You would feel great for going through a dungeon but only to find all your hard work gone because of power or tripping accidents.
Graphic: 7/10
I am a lover of older Super Nintendo RPG’s. I have played the majority of the older games including all the Final Fantasy series and Chrono trigger. Although I do not believe that Black Sigil has used the full potential of the DS system, the graphic part itself is comparable to the SNES era. In many parts, this game almost made it believe that the same group of people created Chrono Trigger at the same time.
Music: 6/10
The music scores are not anything new. However, it is kind of in the middle of everything. The battle tones are not that blood pumping. Various towns share the same music so that may get a little tiring. Overal, the music and sound effects are not anything special.
Replay Value: 6/10
Because of the various bugs and glitches in game, you should only just play through the game once to experience the plots. For the majority part, this game is good enough just to go through once. The glitches and lengthy battles would drive you crazy.
Guide Requirement: 7/10
You do not really need a guide to play this game. However, it would be nice to have something that you follow. Yet, a guide on the various save points and boss encounters will be able to save you time and frustration from dying.
Overall: 7/10
Overall, I think this is a good game to play if you are a RPG classics lover. However, if you are a younger generation who prefers faster actions and lighter plots, Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled for the DS is not the game for you. But sinc I myself is a die hard fan of such series, I still give it a 7 that the game could still be quite enjoyable.
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