Software:7 Blades

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Short description: 2000 video game
7 Blades
PAL version cover art
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
  • JP: December 21, 2000
  • PAL: September 28, 2001
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

7 Blades[lower-alpha 1] is an action-adventure video game developed by Konami for the PlayStation 2 home game console. It was released in Japan on December 21, 2000 and in PAL regions on September 28, 2001.

Plot

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.

Development and release

7 Blades was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan 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 wanted 7 Blades to cover a wide range of genres, and even with the player killing a large number of enemies, he hoped that it could also be enjoyed as a sophisticated sword-fighting game. 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 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 it 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]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
GameRankings64.5%[15]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Edge4/10[16]
Jeuxvideo.com14/20[17]
OPM (UK)6/10[18]
Play46%[19]

7 Blades was met with an indifferent 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]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 IGN staff (October 31, 2000). "7 Blades". IGN. http://ps2.ign.com/articles/135/135185p1.html. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Provo, Frank. "7 Blades Preview". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. http://www.gamespot.com/7-blades/previews/7-blades-preview-2623248/. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Konami (September 28, 2001). 7 Blades Instruction Manual. Konami. p. 32. SLES-50109. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Fischer, Blake (August 2000). "Alphas: 7 Blades". Imagine Media. pp. 48–9. https://archive.org/details/NextGen68Aug2000/page/n49/mode/2up. 
  5. ↑ P2 staff (October 2000). "Preview: 7 Blades". P2 (Paragon Publishing) (1): 62–3. ISSN 1471-1192. https://archive.org/details/p2-01/page/n61/mode/2up. 
  6. ↑ Lawrence, Ben (September 2009). "Seven Blades". Play (Paragon Publishing) (66): 26. ISSN 2754-0421. https://archive.org/details/play-066/page/2000/mode/1up. 
  7. ↑ Edge staff (July 2000). "Prescreen Focus: Seven Blades". Edge (Future plc) (86): 36–40. ISSN 1350-1593. https://archive.org/details/Edge_Gaming/Edge%20Gaming%20Magazine%20086/page/n29/mode/2up. 
  8. ↑ Zdyrko, Dave (May 5, 2000). "Off the Record, Vol. 48". IGN. http://ps2.ign.com/articles/078/078988p1.html. 
  9. ↑ Strohm, Axel (July 17, 2000). "Update: 7 Blades". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. http://www.gamespot.com/news/update-7-blades-2604640. 
  10. ↑ Zdyrko, Dave (September 25, 2000). "TGS 2000: Hands-on Impressions of 7 Blades". IGN. http://ps2.ign.com/articles/085/085383p1.html. 
  11. ↑ Konami staff. "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in ja). Konami. http://www.konamijpn.com/products/7blades/kanren.html. 
  12. ↑ "7Blades". CDJapan. http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=KMCA-85. 
  13. ↑ "Love Will See Us Through". CDJapan. http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=RCCA-8001. 
  14. ↑ (in ja) 7BLADES—地獄極楽丸と鉄砲お百合. ASIN 4840217637. 
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "7 Blades for PlayStation 2". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. http://www.gamerankings.com/ps2/370568-7-blades/index.html. 
  16. ↑ "7 Blades". Edge (95): 80. March 2001. 
  17. ↑ "Test: 7 Blades" (in fr). October 5, 2001. https://www.jeuxvideo.com/articles/0000/00001616_test.htm. 
  18. ↑ Merrett, Steve (March 2001). "7 Blades". Official UK PlayStation 2 Magazine (5): 112–113. 
  19. ↑ "7 Blades". Play (73): 48–50. February 2001. 
  20. ↑ "7Blades(コナミ ザ ベスト)" (in ja). Sony Computer Entertainment. http://www.jp.playstation.com/software/title/slpm65057.html. 
  21. ↑ Gestalt (August 19, 2002). "Konami Collects itself". Eurogamer. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/article_46515. 

Notes

  1. ↑ 7 Blades (セブンブレイズ)



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