It’s been twenty years since Duke Avery defeated High General Vai the Magicless and his Curse-Bringers and sealed them away in a tower north of the capitol. As Black Sigil gets underway, the region is still at peace, although the natives are getting restless as trouble seems to be brewing. You’d think they’d have figured it out by now; seals in RPGs never last.
Kairu was taken in by the Duke after his father died when he was just a little boy, and he’s lived with the him and his daughter Aurora, a powerful magic user, ever since, training at Avery Manor where the Duke trains knights to serve the king of Bel Lenora. The call for worthy knights is on the rise in the region as the seal holding the evil Curse-Bringers is said to be weakening (see?). Kairu has grown into a worthy swordsman under the Duke’s tutelage but tragically is unable to wield magic, and in Bel Lenora, the inability to wield magic is looked upon as the gravest evil since the last man unable to wield, General Vai, turned into a wicked war monger. Kairu is mocked by the other knights and treated like an outcast, which doesn’t sit well with the Duke who looks upon him as a son. As the game begins the Duke gets word that Kairu has finally been granted an audience with the Priests at the Spirit Temple and so off we go, stopping over in the capitol to pick up supplies the Duke has secured for the journey on the way. Heading out into the mode-7-like wilderness—your typical SNES style over world—Bel Lenora is less than a foot away from a practical vantage point, so expect to be stopped every inch to 2-inches or so for a brief exchange utilizing the games active tactical battle system, inputting simple item/attack commands via the d-pad for Kairu to carry out as the battle gauge fills and depletes. Arriving at the Spirit Temple, Kairu is granted access to the scared crystal that “speaks” to anyone able to wield magic, but Kairu hears nothing and must return to the Duke with the bad news. With all hope for Kairu lost, Duke Avery sends him on a mission to clear an infested forest, however, as he departs Aurora insists on coming along to protect him (and she won’t take no for an answer) and so away they go, together…
Arriving at the first massive crab-like boss, after a clever bit of maneuvering over an ice lake and through a gorgeously shrouded forest, Aurora is suddenly pulled away and the creature, which can only be affected by magic, strikes Kairu down. It was the Duke who pulled Aurora away, and she’s furious. But Kairu knows—or thinks he knows—that the Duke was merely trying to draw the magic out of him, and all is forgiven. The following day the Duke asks Kairu to meet him at the cursed caves and it’s there that the adventure really begins, as the Duke draws his sword and explains to Kairu that he has no other choice than to banish him into the darkness. Removing the seal, the Duke presents Kairu with a powerful sword handed down through the ages and then seals him away into the mountain. Kairu, realizing the Duke had no other choice, gracefully accepts his fate and…what’s this? Aurora! She’s ba-ack, and she’s coming along—again!
As I’m playing Black Sigil I’m reminded of Lunar, Vay, Final Fantasy and every other RPG I adored during the 16-bit era, because that’s exactly what Black Sigil is; a superbly polished throwback RPG consisting of gorgeous top-down regions separated by over world maps. As the hours melt away you’ll encounter allies and enemies, bolster your party and equipment—and like in Lunar you can toggle party order and your lead character for different situations—sail away in airships and battle screen-filling monsters. All the while the SNES-era soundtrack pulls you in along with the amazingly detailed throbbing little spritelings that represent your characters. The hair flows, robes flap, eyes bug out… They’re full of expression for such tiny little things, and the level design within each labyrinth, kingdom, and town are spectacularly constructed relative to the era they represent. Forests are thick and canopied, meadows and brooks flow and glisten, mountain passes are layered over deep parallax, and faux beams of light cascade through windows. It takes a couple of hours for everything to gel—the battles especially get better as you meet and cycle new characters into your party—but once it does, if it’s old-school role playing you desire, you’ve come to the right place.
score 8.0 out of ten
verdict Playing an old-school RPG is great with dual screens and Archcraft have seen to every last detail. The dialogue is first rate (talk to everybody; the maids, farmers…), the systems easy to assimilate, and the visuals are vibrant and painstakingly detailed. Great BGM too.
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