7 Blades | |
---|---|
Developer(s) |
Konami Computer Entertainment Japan East Paradise Pictures |
Publisher(s) | Konami |
Director(s) | Kaizo Hayashi |
Producer(s) | Atsushi Horigami |
Platform(s) | PlayStation 2 |
Release | |
Genre(s) | Action-adventure |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
7 Blades (セブンブレイズ) is an action-adventure video game developed by Konami for the PlayStation 2 (PS2) home game console. It was released in Japan on December 21, 2000 and in PAL regions on September 28, 2001.
7 Blades is based on the 1990 film Zipang, directed by Japanese filmmaker Kaizo Hayashi. [1] The game takes place in mid-17th century Japan, during which the Tokugawa shogunate was gaining power. The game is set on the man-made island Dejima, which the Japanese government is using to house Western foreigners and where a Christian group is trying to separate from the rest of the country. [1] [2] The main character is Gokurakumaru, a violent mercenary and poor womanizer. He travels with his gun-wielding love interest (Oyuri) and sidekick (Togizo). The latter provides comic relief and holds the swords as Gokurakumaru collects them one by one.
7 Blades was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan East (KCEJ East) in association with Paradise Pictures. The game was in development for over two years with a staff of around 20 people. Konami was assisted by Hayashi, who served as the game's directing supervisor and was given creative control over its storyline, dialogue, and action. [1] [2] [3] Hayashi had not been involved in video games prior to 7 Blades, but began leaning towards production of such a game when visual advances in computer graphics were made in the medium, striving to make it "universally appealing". [3] Hayashi meant for 7 Blades to cover a wide range of genres, and that even with the player killing a large number of enemies, hoped that it could be enjoyed as a sophisticated sword-fighting game as well. Hayashi felt that meshing the story branches of the two playable characters was a feature "only possible in a game". [3] Hayashi chose to create a game rather than a film due to what he perceived as the limitless potential of games. [4]
Both Hayashi and producer Atsushi Horigami understood the importance of gameplay and insisted on making "a movie with some very deep action gameplay elements". [1] Project director and writer Shinsuke Mukai described the game as similar to both Tomb Raider and Tenchu while leaning towards more action and less stealth-focused gameplay. [4] The game was initially planned for the original PlayStation. [5] [6] However, the developer was only able to achieve three enemies alongside the player so more powerful technology was sought. The Dreamcast was a consideration but the PlayStation 2's hardware allowed for superior backgrounds and up to 20 simultaneous enemies. [7]
7 Blades was first announced by Konami in May 2000, just before the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). [8] Konami released the first screenshots of the game in July of that year and made the game available to play at the Tokyo Game Show in September. [9] [10] The game was released in Japan on December 21, 2000 alongside the 7 Blades Original Soundtrack produced by the Meyna Company and the single for the opening theme "Love Will See Us Though" by Sayaka Kubo. [11] [12] [13] A novelization of the game titled 7 Blades Jigoku Gokurakumaru to Teppou Oyuri (7BLADES—地獄極楽丸と鉄砲お百合) by Ryosuke Sakaki was published by Dengeki Media Works in February 2002. [14]
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
GameRankings | 64.5% [15] |
Publication | Score |
---|---|
Edge | 4/10 [16] |
Jeuxvideo.com | 14/20 [17] |
PlayStation Official Magazine – UK | 6/10 [18] |
Play | 46% [19] |
7 Blades was met with a lukewarm critical response from European and Australian publications, currently holding an aggregate score of 64.5% on GameRankings. [15]
The game was re-released under the "Konami the Best" range of budget titles in Japan, as well as its collection of European budget titles. [20] [21]
{{
cite magazine}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link)
7 Blades | |
---|---|
Developer(s) |
Konami Computer Entertainment Japan East Paradise Pictures |
Publisher(s) | Konami |
Director(s) | Kaizo Hayashi |
Producer(s) | Atsushi Horigami |
Platform(s) | PlayStation 2 |
Release | |
Genre(s) | Action-adventure |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
7 Blades (セブンブレイズ) is an action-adventure video game developed by Konami for the PlayStation 2 (PS2) home game console. It was released in Japan on December 21, 2000 and in PAL regions on September 28, 2001.
7 Blades is based on the 1990 film Zipang, directed by Japanese filmmaker Kaizo Hayashi. [1] The game takes place in mid-17th century Japan, during which the Tokugawa shogunate was gaining power. The game is set on the man-made island Dejima, which the Japanese government is using to house Western foreigners and where a Christian group is trying to separate from the rest of the country. [1] [2] The main character is Gokurakumaru, a violent mercenary and poor womanizer. He travels with his gun-wielding love interest (Oyuri) and sidekick (Togizo). The latter provides comic relief and holds the swords as Gokurakumaru collects them one by one.
7 Blades was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan East (KCEJ East) in association with Paradise Pictures. The game was in development for over two years with a staff of around 20 people. Konami was assisted by Hayashi, who served as the game's directing supervisor and was given creative control over its storyline, dialogue, and action. [1] [2] [3] Hayashi had not been involved in video games prior to 7 Blades, but began leaning towards production of such a game when visual advances in computer graphics were made in the medium, striving to make it "universally appealing". [3] Hayashi meant for 7 Blades to cover a wide range of genres, and that even with the player killing a large number of enemies, hoped that it could be enjoyed as a sophisticated sword-fighting game as well. Hayashi felt that meshing the story branches of the two playable characters was a feature "only possible in a game". [3] Hayashi chose to create a game rather than a film due to what he perceived as the limitless potential of games. [4]
Both Hayashi and producer Atsushi Horigami understood the importance of gameplay and insisted on making "a movie with some very deep action gameplay elements". [1] Project director and writer Shinsuke Mukai described the game as similar to both Tomb Raider and Tenchu while leaning towards more action and less stealth-focused gameplay. [4] The game was initially planned for the original PlayStation. [5] [6] However, the developer was only able to achieve three enemies alongside the player so more powerful technology was sought. The Dreamcast was a consideration but the PlayStation 2's hardware allowed for superior backgrounds and up to 20 simultaneous enemies. [7]
7 Blades was first announced by Konami in May 2000, just before the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). [8] Konami released the first screenshots of the game in July of that year and made the game available to play at the Tokyo Game Show in September. [9] [10] The game was released in Japan on December 21, 2000 alongside the 7 Blades Original Soundtrack produced by the Meyna Company and the single for the opening theme "Love Will See Us Though" by Sayaka Kubo. [11] [12] [13] A novelization of the game titled 7 Blades Jigoku Gokurakumaru to Teppou Oyuri (7BLADES—地獄極楽丸と鉄砲お百合) by Ryosuke Sakaki was published by Dengeki Media Works in February 2002. [14]
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
GameRankings | 64.5% [15] |
Publication | Score |
---|---|
Edge | 4/10 [16] |
Jeuxvideo.com | 14/20 [17] |
PlayStation Official Magazine – UK | 6/10 [18] |
Play | 46% [19] |
7 Blades was met with a lukewarm critical response from European and Australian publications, currently holding an aggregate score of 64.5% on GameRankings. [15]
The game was re-released under the "Konami the Best" range of budget titles in Japan, as well as its collection of European budget titles. [20] [21]
{{
cite magazine}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link)