Quality in 16 bits.

User Rating: 7 | Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled DS
By marcusnjunk | Review Date:
When I first powered on Black Sigil, I was greeted to a beautiful intro. It wasn't tranquil like Chrono's Millennial Fair or action-packed like the imperial entrance into Narshe in FFVI, but the game clearly had a foreboding atmosphere. You begin the adventure as Kairu, who is an orphan born into a magical kingdom called, Bel Lenora. Even though he was raised by a powerful duke who was commander of the army, Kairu lived a lonely existence due to people's prejudice and fear of those who lacked the ability to use magic. A powerful swordsman named Vai who also lacked magic had previously threatened the kingdom, so their fear wasn't completely unfounded, even though it was fairly irrational. Kairu isn't a silent hero like Crono, but is fairly likeable due to his mostly serious and sometimes humorous nature. Early on, he is accompanied by the spunky Aurora who is the duke's daughter. I know. You're probably thinking she sounds like Marle, right? Well, even with her appearance out of the picture, she's quite different due to her use of sarcasm, and her being somewhat of a romantic instead of being a rebellious tomboy with a case of the giggles.

Kairu and Aurora were quite likeable, but I also grew attached to the game's many other characters. There's a mysterious character who wields powerful dark magic that is somewhat of a ladies' man, a nomadic, but kind-hearted character that will remind you of Gau, a female scout who has the ability to use magic, but has a tragic past, and an adventurer that feels like a hybrid of Setzer and FFIV's Cid. These six blokes are all great characters with a variety of abilities, but they're also accompanied by two secret characters, who I won't reveal. They're fairly difficult to find, as you have to accomplish quite a few tasks outside of the main storyline, but they're both valuable assets to your party, like Magus was in Chrono.

So, Black Sigil has excellent character artwork and a crew full of wonderful personalities, but how is the storyline? It isn't as groundbreaking as Chrono Trigger's, but it's an epic tale that holds its own against many games of today. In the previous paragraph, I mentioned the magical land of Bel Lenora, and the extreme prejudice Kairu faced, but I failed to mention the aftermath. I don't want to spoil much of the story, but as the title implies, one of your characters is exiled, and you eventually find yourself in a new land that is seemingly devoid of magic. This land, called Artania, is home to several continents that appear to have no relation to Bel Lenora. There are several kingdoms throughout Artania that are clearly inspired by historical kingdoms in Asia and Byzantium, and they seem to have co-existed peacefully for the most part. The empire of Sammarkand was on the ascendance however, and had begun conquering various kingdoms through military force and the use of airships. People who've played FFIV and FFVI have seen some of these themes before, but there is quite a bit underneath the surface that I'd rather not spoil. Slavery and issues of prejudice are prevalent themes throughout the game--which makes Black Sigil much more serious than most games of the 16-bit era.

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