For those individuals that have not had much an idea about the history behind Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled, it has been in development since at least 2006. The game had a serious possibility of being left out to dry, as it was originally developed for the Game Boy Advance. Luckily, both Studio Archcraft (the title’s developer) and Graffiti Entertainment (the publisher) decided to change up gears and design the game for the Nintendo DS. The title brings players to the land of Bel Lenora, a land in which all can use magic. When someone enters the land that is not able to use magic – such as Vai – unspeakably bad things happen. It is not surprising then that players will receive a negative reaction upon entering Bel Lenora, as they are magic deficient.
Other characters, such as Kairu’s sister Aurora, join up to create a party that will encounter countless enemies and cities over the course of the game. The battle system that is present here looks to both keep things similar to what players have entered into before, but comes forth with some new changes. This means that players will have to keep some idea to where enemies are at on the combat map, instead of merely assigning attacks to stationary targets. The title’s story line gradually lays itself out to players, all while players gain different ways to content with a similarly-changing type of enemies and encounters.
The title is great, and really goes beyond in terms of quality the average RPG crafted by a non-exclusive RPG house (like Square Enix). I have a feeling that the quantities made for the title will not be enough for the demand, ensuring that the title will keep its value for years to come. Furthermore, this value will increase if and when a sequel to the title is released. If you like your RPGs to be challenging while still having some semblance of an interesting story, pick up a copy of Black Sigil today.
Rating: 8.3/10
Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled (Nintendo DS) / 2009 Graffiti / http://www.graffitientertainment.com