Welcome to another one of my Top 10 Lists! This time, I decided to tackle a slightly more…’Edgy’ topic…
…Ahem…I’ll see myself out.
This time, I’ll be going through what I believe to be the Top 10 Most Iconic Swords in Gaming! So, grab your belt-tied sheaths, get yourself ready to lift multiple tons of metal, and be prepared to deal with some of the most bizarre designs in all of videogaming…
10) High Frequency Blade / HF Murasama – Metal Gear Franchise
The High Frequency Blade, the main weapon of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance’s central protagonist Raiden is truely a force to be reckoned with, as is the only weapon of his polar opposite, Sam Rodrigues, HF Murasama – Being nearly identical in image and handling style, the two act as fast-vibrating chainsaw-esque blades that, in theory, are able to cut through a majority of materials, metals and varying thicknesses – I mean, for God’s sake, Raiden cut a Metal Gear Ray in two with one! Technically impossible, but badass nonetheless…
9) Daggers of Time – Prince of Persia
So…What’s better than a sword that can cut through anything..? A pair of daggers that can literally rip through the fabric of time itself. First introduced during the Prince of Persia’s Sands of Time trilogy, the titular protagonist, Prince, is able to use these swords to not only dish out an unhealthy amount of damage, but also to warp back to a previous point in time in the instance of a wrong action or death. Given this, it’s easy to see how the Prince often rises up the ranks of most powerful swordsmen in gaming..!
8) Dragonblade – Overwatch
The most recently released entry on this list, the Dragonblade has quickly become one of gaming’s most iconic blades through it’s bold colour palette, powerful abilities, signature user, and iconic quote, “Ryūjin no ken wo kurae!!!”, it’s easy to see why the Dragonblade has become the signature blade for the new generation of gamers – Whilst not as powerful as the Daggers of Time, it is on the same sort of level as a High Frequency Blade, being able to also cut through a large majority of materials, such as Omnic plating, Plasma shields, and much, much more.
7) Soul Edge – Soul Calibur
…When the main antagonist of a series is a gosh. DARN. SWORD…You know you’re in some serious trouble…The Soul Edge, wielded normally by Nightmare is a seriously powerful blade that causes an affliction known as Malfestation – A deadly virus that acts as a mutator and berserker agent, corrupting everything in nature from birds, to humans, to even creating new lifeforms like Lizardmen and Dragons…Once again, it may not transcend time, but being able to corrupt nearly everything in existence, summon a ridiculous, army-sized legion, and manipulate various forms of reality…However at this point…I don’t really think Time Reversing will be able to help…
6) Rebellion – Devil May Cry
Now for one of my personal favourites…The Rebellion is the iconic weapon of Dante, protagonist of the Devil May Cry franchise is known world-over as the one sword to have by your side when you’re ready to go and kick some ass – Sharing it’s gigantic size with other blades such as the Dragonslayer and Buster Blade, the Rebellion is one of those weapons where it just ‘works’. Sharing it’s place alongside other such weapons as Ebony & Ivory, the Rebeliion is one of those swords that I really, REALLY hope we see more of in the near future.
5) Monado – Xenoblade Chronicles
“I’m getting a vision!” – Whilst I keep going on about the Daggers of Time from Prince of Persia, there is no denying that, whilst being able to traverse back in time is always nice, there’s nothing better than actually being able to predict the future and change it – The Mondao does exactly that for our spunky protagonist Shulk; with the ability discovered early, Shulk is able to actually use this ability in battle to help his teammates, dodge stupidly powerful attacks, and to find the best way out of a sticky situation. Something that limited time jumps can do.
4) Keyblade – Kingdom Hearts
Now, these next 4 swords were arguably difficult to choose from…The Keyblade from Kingdom Hearts is, as the name suggests, a gigantic key that can slice & dice enemies apart; now with over 100-200 forms, the Keyblade is most definitely one of versatility, reliability and pure power, with the ability to open and close a World’s “Keyhole” to either open it or close it to the powers of darkness, alongside additional powers such as stopping and travelling time, predicting the future, summoning stupidly powerful magic attacks and summons…The Keyblade serves as the Swiss-Army Knife of gaming.
3) Energy Sword – Halo
If you’ve played any FPS over the last 20 years, there is always one sword that’ll pop up when asked the question “What blade best signifies an FPS game?”. The Energy Sword. Made of pure plasma and Covenant technology, the Energy Sword is one weapon that the UNSC REALLY don’t want to be on the receiving end of…However, when it falls in your hands, the increased mobility, lunging abilities and extreme power really make you see WHY the Covenant brought a sword to a gunfight. This thing is now my permanent go-to in a quick match of Slayer.
2) Master Sword – The Legend of Zelda
The Master Sword. Ohhhh the Master Sword. You’ve got such a special place in our hearts – The iconic blade of Link, and legendary symbol of Hyrule itself, this sword has seen through the Moon collapsing, travelling through time, hundreds of Ganondorf’s forces and, most worryingly…That Water Temple…
The Master Sword helped define a world of gamers, draw a legion of newcomers, and saved us many more times than we can even count within our journeys in Hyrule.
1) Buster Sword – Final Fantasy VIII
“That thing was too big to be called a sword. Too big, too thick, too heavy and too rough. It was more like a large hunk of Iron.”
…Oh wait, that’s the Dragonslayer…
…Regardless, I believe this quote is more than appropriate for the Buster Sword from Final Fantasy VII – I don’t even think it’s really fair to call this thing a sword, but rather a cleaver or…Just a massive plate of metal – How Cloud could even use this thing with one hand is beyond anyone, let alone his counterpart, Sephiroth, using the even larger Muramasa…
…I think it’s easy to see where Square Enix got their ‘fetish’ for ridiculous and silly swords…!