7 Blades

"You have to like this kind of stuff...."

I was with my parents about 2 weeks after purchasing a PS2 when i saw this game at the local EB. Konami in my books stood for ''great'', ''fantastic'' or even ''masterful'' for some of their other fantastic games. This game is good, but you have to enjoy Japanese history to really get something out of it.

At the time of playing it, i was also playing through Ring of Red. In History class at school, Japan was the topic. After playing these games, i got a better understanding of Japan and must commend Konami on their efforts to spread Japanese history.

On with the review!

Story: Start off as 1 of 2 characters. There is a rumour of a ghost island somewhere off the coast of Japan that has the 7 blades. Its really exciting and its got some excellent suspense.
Story: 8/10

Graphics: Clear, smooth and beautiful. The way it should be. Frame rate drops a bit when alot of enemys are on screen. It is also sometimes way too dark and can get confusing. Ive got lost numerous times by not knowing the way out. Wonderful CG animated movies set the scene though...
Graphics: 8/10

Sound: Ehh, annoying music at times. Sword noises are good and the background noises are amazing too. The music just kills the entire mood though. Yes, it's really that bad.
Sound: 6/10

Control: This too is an ehh. They feel alot like resident evils but can also get a bit disorientating at times. They are very responsive though, which can be a bad thing when fighting huge hordes of enemys.
Control: 6/10

Gameplay: Like above, it feels like Resident Evil but not. Shooting, jumping are the main features of the game. Good to see you can select between 2 people who have their own strengths and weakness's. Maybe a change from the old RE gameplay to a fast and furious one would be better for this type of game. When we think about the Samurai we stereotypically think of someone fast and strong. Number 2 should be like this (we could only hope...)
Gameplay: 6/10

Despite its flaws, 7 Blades has potential. As a Buy/Rent situation, i would say buy. Maybe not very much replay value, but theres 2 quests and both are very long.

If you are looking for a game like this one i would recommend: Resident Evil:CV, Evergrace and maybe Terranigma for the Super Nintendo. Pretty much any Action RPG will feel like this game.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/24/02, Updated 09/24/02