Software:Genji: Days of the Blade

Short description: 2006 video game

Genji: Days of the Blade
North American cover art
Developer(s)	Game Republic
Publisher(s)	Sony Computer Entertainment
Director(s)	Yoshiki Okamoto Yūichi Ueda
Producer(s)	Kenji Kataoka Takashi Shono
Designer(s)	Akiteru Naka Toshihiko Kurata Shigeo Takai
Artist(s)	Keita Amemiya Kita Koiki Hisashi Kanie
Writer(s)	Hideyuki Ishizeki
Composer(s)	Yasuharu Takanashi
Platform(s)	PlayStation 3
Release	JP: November 11, 2006 NA: November 17, 2006 PAL: March 23, 2007
Genre(s)	Action-adventure, hack and slash
Mode(s)	Single-player

Genji: Days of the Blade, known in Japan as is a 2006 hack and slash video game developed by Game Republic and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. It is the sequel to Software:Genji: Dawn of the Samurai and the first game to be released under the newly rebranded Japan Studio.

Genji: Days of the Blade takes place three years after the end of Dawn of the Samurai. The Heishi clan, defeated at the end of the previous game, has returned, its military strength bolstered by the use of unholy magic that allows its legions of soldiers to turn into hulking demons. Yoshitsune and his stalwart friend Benkei must do battle with the newly restored Heishi army; this time, however, they gain two powerful allies in their war—the priestess Shizuka, and the spear wielder, Lord Buson. Like the previous Genji game, Days of the Blade is loosely based on the classic work The Tale of the Heike.

The game's presentation at E3 2006 went viral after the producer said that the game was "based on famous battles, which actually took place in ancient Japan" and later battled what he described as a "giant enemy crab".

Gameplay

As with the original Genji, the gameplay bears strong similarities to that of Capcom's Onimusha series. The player controls four characters—Minamoto no Yoshitsune, a samurai and the protagonist of the previous game; Musashibo Benkei, a giant club-wielding monk and Yoshitsune's old friend; Shizuka Gozen, a female priestess; and Lord Buson, a spear-wielding warrior who bears a striking resemblance to one of Yoshitsune's old foes. All four characters have separate lifebars, but should one die, the game ends regardless of the other characters' health at the time.

Unlike the previous game, all characters have access to a real-time weapon change feature that lets them switch between their main weapons quickly, without interrupting the flow of combat. Days of the Blade was one of the first games for the PlayStation 3 that utilize the built-in hard drive.

Plot

Three years after the events of the first game, the game begins with a prologue with an unknown female narrator explaining the events of the previous game. The scene then cuts to a reunion with Yoshitsune and his older brother Yoritomo. Suddenly, the Heishi return, attacking the main castle of the Genji clan. Yoshitsune and Benkei return, along with Shizuka, this time playing a fighting role. After much fighting and confrontation, a mysterious woman of the Heishi, Atsumori, along with an old lady, escape with an important item belonging to the Genji clan. The Heishi also are now powered by a new force, rivaling the Amahagane, known as Mashogane.

In pursuit of the Heishi, the Genji clan attacks the Heishi camp. Yoritomo seems to be accepting their imminent defeat but not before Yoshitsune and his comrades finish off the battle. The three eventually head up a mountain trail continuing their pursuit only to be interrupted by Kagekiyo from the previous game. After a short battle, it is revealed that this entity is not actually Kagekiyo, but the God of War known as Lord Buson, who came to the aid of the Genji clan in defeating the Heishi army, and needed a host body to be able to do anything of use in the human world. Lord Buson chose Kagekiyo's body because he needed the body of a strong warrior as his vessel and Kagekiyo's was apparently most suitable.

Another large scale battle ensues, with the party encountering Mashogane-powered Heishi and giant crabs. Continuing up the trail, the party encounters Atsumori. After the initial fight, she powers up to her stronger form but upon her defeat, her face was disfigured due to a blow from Yoshitsune and company and goes insane, dying shortly afterward. The four are then trapped in an enemy ambush and are sent to the Netherworld, where they encounter "Netherworld" versions of areas from the previous game, including Gojo Bridge, the same area where Yoshitsune and Benkei first battled and met.

Eventually, the party makes it deep into the Netherworld's chambers and locates the spirits of Master Kiichi and of the real Kagekiyo. After a short reunion, Kiichi is struck down by Kagekiyo once more, but Kiichi is not sent away, merely retreating. It is revealed that Kiichi was "left to roam this realm forever" due to Kagekiyo's influence (Kiichi was killed defending Yoshitsune and Benkei during their escape in the previous game). The party then winds up chasing and finally defeating Kagekiyo, thus freeing both Kagekiyo and Master Kiichi's souls.

After escaping the Netherworld, the party finds themselves at another battle which the Genji is losing, suffering heavy casualties since the absence of the four Genji warriors. As the battle rages on, Yoritomo is shown being persuaded by the old lady to use the power of Mashogane to gain power, as she knows he is tired of seeing their forces suffer heavy losses. After this battle is over, the party head to the Heishi forces.

It is here that Noritsune, the Heishi general who has been endlessly trying to seduce Shizuka since the beginning of the Heishi attack, was encountered. After his defeat, Yoritomo along with the rest of the Heishi forces, launch a full-scale attack on the Heishi, approaching their final base with a huge fleet of ships. Upon their arrival, they discover a giant Heishi battleship. The Genji charges directly into the Heishi fleet in order to avoid direct fire.

After much battling and ship jumping, the crew get inside of the battleship. It is here that the party encounters Tomomori, the head honcho of the Heishi thus far. After seemingly being defeated, the rest head onward. Returning to the Heart of the Battleship, Tomomori has possessed the giant Mashogane crystal which powers the ship. After finally defeating him once and for all, the crystal begins to explode, triggering the ship itself to sink, and Benkei jumps on top of Tomomori to finish him off. The floor expectantly falls, with Benkei falling as well.

The scene cuts to Yoshitsune, Shizuka, and Buson on the outer area of the ship, waiting for Benkei's return. Yoritomo appears, along with the old lady, who is revealed to be Kuyo, a Heishi priestess who opposed Yoshitsune and Benkei on Myogyoji Temple (during the events of the first game). Yoritomo is holding Benkei's Amahagane, and it is revealed that Yoritomo has given in to the old lady and the Heishi, in return for his gift of Mashogane. As Yoshitsune lay stunned and speechless on the floor, a few Heishi charge him, with Benkei appearing in a heartbeat, taking the blows for Yoshitsune. Benkei tells the rest to go. Reluctantly, Yoshitsune and Shizuka respect Benkei's wishes and a final shot of Benkei is shown, taking a last stand against the Heishi.

On the escape ship, the twin sisters who arrived with Lord Buson, tell Yoshitsune it is not the time for sadness. They resolve that they must put an end to the war once and for all. The warriors then travel to Hiraizumi castle, where Hidehira requests help once more to quell the Heishi attack on the fortress. After defending the castle, a large Mashogane monster appears and grabs Hidehira, killing him after he refuses to cooperate. In revenge, Yoshitsune and the others slay the beast.

The warriors go to Takadachi, the site of the summoning of the Overworld. Kuyo's plan is to attack the Overworld and become the new ruler of the universe. Following the path, Yoshitsune encounters Yoritomo, under the influence of Mashogane. Yoshitsune tells Lord Buson and Lady Shizuka to step aside, as the two brothers must battle alone. Yoritomo becomes injured, and afterward reveals why he chose the path of Mashogane; as he watched his brother battle, he came to the realization that the Genji needed a strong leader, and eventually, the day would come where Yoshitsune would replace Yoritomo as the leader. Not wanting this, he succumbed to the power of Mashogane. Next, he fully transforms with the Mashogane in order to survive, and Yoshitsune defeats him once more. Accepting his defeat and realizing how foolish he was, Yoritomo gives his brother his swords, to which Yoshitsune reluctantly accepts. As Yoshitsune leaves for the final confrontation with Kuyo, Yoritomo quietly apologizes for his actions and remains alone.

Arriving at the final site, Kuyo opens the portal to the Overworld, and Lord Benkei appears. The warriors were baffled by the sight of Benkei, believing him to have died during previous battle, speak their final words to Kuyo. Benkei tells them that he'll explain his return later. Kuyo is injured and retreats into the Overworld. There, the final battle is waged with Kuyo, defeated twice, attempts to pull Yoshitsune into the Netherworld's portal with her. She fails when Shizuka hits her in the face with her blade, and Benkei reaches out and pulls Yoshitsune to safety.

The warriors and the twin girls have a final reunion. Benkei explains that while it is true that he died, he was only able to remain on Earth due to the power of the gods (Lord Buson and the twin girls). Shizuka asks if she will ever see them again, to which the others reply yes, as they will all meet again in the Overworld eventually. Accepting this, Buson, the girls, and Benkei step into the portal. Benkei, before being fully absorbed into the portal, shouts that he enjoyed his time with Shizuka and Yoshitsune, and peacefully departs.

The unknown female narrator returns and delivers the epilogue. It is revealed that Yoritomo survived the effects of the Mashogane and is now peacefully leading the Genji clan now that the war is truly over. All of the Mashogane were destroyed with the collapse of the Heishi army, and as a result, all Genji soldiers affected by the Mashogane were healed. Shizuka destroyed the Amahagane crystals as well, turning them into small fragments so that they will never be used for war again. The narrator then explains that no one knows where Shizuka left off to afterward. Yoshitsune is then shown, with Shizuka behind him, on horseback, staring into a large grassland, preparing to take off, and start a new life.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score Aggregator Score Metacritic 55/100 Review scores Publication Score Edge 5/10 EGM 5.17/10 Eurogamer 6/10 Famitsu 29/40 Game Informer 6/10 GamePro 3.25/5 GameRevolution C− GameSpot 6.4/10 GameSpy GameTrailers 5.9/10 GameZone 6/10 IGN (US) 6/10 (UK) 5.5/10 OPM (US) 4.5/10

Meme

"Massive Damage" redirects here. For general damage, see Damage.

The "Giant Enemy Crab" meme originated during the demonstration of Genji: Days of the Blade at the Sony E3 2006 press conference. The producer Bill Ritch claimed that Genji 2's epic battles were based on "famous battles which actually took place in ancient Japan". Approximately two minutes after this was spoken, the gameplay footage showed a boss battle against, in his own words, a "giant enemy crab". Popular memes originating from the Genji demonstration included the game features described such as "you attack its weak point for massive damage" and "real-time... weapon change", despite neither of these being at all new to video gaming. In IGN's E3 2006 wrap-up, they listed a number of Genji 2 quotes.

External links

• Game Republic page
• Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. page
• MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms. Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers". This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months. The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing. A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school. Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information. In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount. This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign. A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art). Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel, and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million. The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager. Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface. This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue. Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.

See also

• IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions