I came across Black Sigil: Blade of The Exiled when on holiday in Canada, and found from the game screenshots on the back of it's box seemed very similar to the old 2D retro, RPG's that were on the older Nintendo systems. I originally thought this was port of an old, Nintendo classic but soon found that it was a newly released game for the Nintendo DS, but had chosen to use the retro, 2D style for the game.
As far as story and plots go, Black Sigil is quite simplistic as you're a young man in a world where everyone has the ability of magic, and you yourself have no magic of your own making you both unique, and feared. You must journey across the land to vanquish an old evil, that your father defeated many years before. Now this isn't the most original story or plot, as this is very similar to the plots found in most Japanese RPG games, both old and new.
As you journey on your quest to beat this old evil, you meet your friends, companions who help you on your quest. Basically like most RPG games, you must complete quests in order to reach your main quest by fighting monsters, and crossing the large world to your final destination. For me personally this isn't off-putting, as this was what I originally bought the game for, the tried and tested mechanics found in the older, Nintendo RPG gems.
As for it's graphics, I would place them on par with the age-old Nintendo gems on the SNES, or handheld Gameboy games. Very simple, 2D designs and environments are reused like the older games back in the 1980's and 1990's did on the Nintendo systems, If you're not a fan of this design style, I would advise you avoid it as even in battle sequences it stays true to the general design of the game.
For game-play, the mechanics are what you would expect in a Nintendo style RPG, you cross the main world map and enter smaller areas to explore and fight enemies. In order to level up in experience, you must grind quite often in fighting low and high level enemies to rise in levels. This is what you spend quite a lot of your time doing, or completing side quests to level up or gain new abilities. If you're not a fan of this, as found in Pokemon or Final Fantasy titles then avoid Black Sigil as it's one of the game's main points.
Regarding it's musical score, It's quite simple in terms of fantasy-themed music and soundtrack, it's nothing to write home about but it does carry the game and it's combat system.
The Good:
- A strong 2D, retro feel and design to the game that brings back memories of SNES and Gameboy RPG classics that we experienced in the 1990's and early 2000s.
- Stable, solid game-play similar to the mechanics found in Nintendo classics; that require grinding to gain experience and leveling up. For fans of this mechanic it is a main point of Black Sigil.
- A simple story and plot to follow, there is not much expansion on characters and their personalities or backgrounds.
- A good, simple musical score of what you would expect from a fantasy-themed RPG.
The Bad:
- For gamers who expect more than the nostalgic 2D, retro graphics and style found in Black Sigil there is not much to enjoy in terms of new content.
- Game-play is designed to be too safe, and doesn't require much concentration if you simply grind for hours on end, before taking on a difficult boss or quest.
- An unoriginal story and plot, with no interesting lore or background to it's characters or events refereed to in the game.
- It's musical score is nothing new, and can feel light compared to the music found in the Zelda or Final Fantasy games on the DS.
All in all, Black Sigil sadly fails to draw me in as much as I had hoped upon buying it. It's not a bad game, but certainly not worth buying when it was released for it's full retail price, but rather buying it now a few years after it's release for a knocked down price. It's more of a companion to your more classic Final Fantasy, or Dragon Quest ports on the DS system, one you can pick up and knock out an hour or more in completing minimal quests, and grinding without feeling you have to know the game's lore or background.