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Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars – Reforged | Review Thread + Mini OT

Thick Thighs Save Lives

Thick Thighs Save Lives

NeoGAF's Physical Games Advocate Extraordinaire
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Developer: Revolution Software Ltd
Publisher: Revolution Software Ltd
Release Date: 19 September, 2024
Platforms: Steam | Xbox | PlayStation | Nintendo Switch
Genre: Story Rich, Adventure, Point & Click
Digital Standard Edition: $29.99 USD
Physical Standard Edition: $39.99 USD (Amazon, BestBuy) - Early 2025
Voice: English, French (France), German, Italian, Spanish
Screen Languages: Czech, English, French (France), German, Italian, Spanish

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Reviews:

Push Square - 90
As a remaster, Reforged is about as good as it gets. It hits that perfect sweet spot where the game looks kinda like you remember it looking all those years ago, but then you have the option to switch back to the original graphics and see just how improved the new version actually is. It's a massive leap. There's also a robust and quite granular hint system to help you with puzzles that can be completely tailored to your playstyle, including a story mode that drastically revises how much thinking is required to progress. It's one of many reasons this remaster is perfect for newcomers and returning fans alike.
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SECTOR.sk - 90
Even after all these years, Broken Sword 1 still feels like a good book that you want to read a chapter of before going to bed, but can't put down. Now, however, it's more beautiful than ever.
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The Gamer - 90
Reforged has raised the bar to breathe new life into the game, reworking the original assets to maintain authenticity, addressing small plot holes, and most importantly, it sets a new standard for how to make point-and-clicks more accessible in this modern day when players are less forgiving with their time and patience. Not to mention, all these years later, making George show everyone his dirty greasepaint tissue is still just as funny as ever. With that, I only have one thing left to say. Does this tissue mean anything to you?
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GameSpew - 90
Whether you're a long time fan or a newcomer, this remaster of the classic Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars is likely to have you enraptured from start to finish. Its visuals have been lovingly updated, and while there are some issues with the game's audio, this is undoubtedly the best way to experience George Stobbart's debut adventure. It's just a shame there aren't any extras.
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Gameliner - 80
Even after 28 years, Broken Sword - Shadow of the Templars: Reforged still feels like a timeless classic with a compelling story to tell, puzzles to tackle, and conspiracies to unravel. Now visually completely overhauled, Revolution Software's iconic point-and-click adventure sets off to cater to the modern audience, as well as the die-hard fan of the series. The latter may unfortunately consider it a tough sell since Broken Sword - Shadow of the Templars: Reforged doesn't bring any new material to the table, but if you're new to the franchise, this is the ultimate edition to get drawn into the mystery.
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God is a Geek - 80
Broken Sword - Shadow of the Templars: Reforged makes a classic point-and-click worth playing almost thirty years on, with stunning visuals and engaging gameplay.
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PC Games - 80
A good game will always be a good game and even better with a huge graphic update. Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars – Reforged is a great remake. Only the revised audio sounds a bit tinny and some content from the Director’s Cut is missing.
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SpazioGames - 80
Broken Sword - Shadow of the Templars: Reforged is a successful restoration operation that brings back a timeless classic of the genre and an unforgettable piece of video game history, now boasting 4K resolution and a number of useful enhancements for the best version of the game to date.
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Multiplayer.it - 80
Quotation forthcoming.
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Duchess

Duchess

Member
I've never played this one. I tried two of the others, and couldn't really get into them.

I think the first is the best, though?
 
Rivdoric

Rivdoric

Member
emivita said:
BS1 is the most universally praised, yes, but personally I think 2 was an improvement over 1. To each their own, I guess.
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Both of them are great. The first one has the best intrigue imho but I love the darker tone & music of the 2.
Broken Sword was actually my first video game, and as such it will always have a special place deep inside.
 
Chuck Berry

Chuck Berry

Gold Member
Played for a few minutes on the PS5 before I left for work and it's excellent so far. Gonna need a trophy guide though. Some of them Im completely clueless on how to obtain.

psnprofiles.com

Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars Trophies

1 Platinum • 6 Gold • 8 Silver • 12 Bronze
psnprofiles.com

Love being able to switch between the original and new look on the fly. The DOTT and Full Throttle remasters did this masterfully as well.
 
RAIDEN1

RAIDEN1

Member
This is a reminder of what gaming should be about, instead of the half-baked crap we've been getting for the past few years...you buy what you pay for 100% experience, no season pass required when wanting to experience Broken Sword from start to finish...
 
Chuck Berry

Chuck Berry

Gold Member
Magic Carpet said:
I very much do, Are each of the games in the series self contained or do they carry over with characters and such?
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Well they always involve George and Nico the mains. I have only played the first two and while they are separate adventures, they do make references to the first game in the sequel. Not sure about the others though.
 
emivita

emivita

Member
Shin-Ra said:
BS1&2 (Great)
BS3 Sleeping Dragon (Very good)
BS4 Angel of Death (Cack)
BS5 Serpents Curse (Ok/good)

There’s your quick guide to the Broken Sword series.
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I agree, though Broken Sword 4 was a decent adventure game for the time, but a bad Broken Sword game. And oh my god, one of the worst game ending I've ever seen. I was like... WTF were they thinking?
 
Shin-Ra

Shin-Ra

Junior Member
emivita said:
I agree, though Broken Sword 4 was a decent adventure game for the time, but a bad Broken Sword game. And oh my god, one of the worst game ending I've ever seen. I was like... WTF were they thinking?
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Thankfully I don’t remember much about Angel of Death except its ‘workmanlike’ environment art and ugly characters. Despite being fairly bland, low budget 3D, at least Sleeping Dragon wasn’t aggressively ugly.
 
TGO

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
9jxre0C.png
you missed the Deluxe Edition out, not that it matters as it sold out in seconds 😟
 
Chuck Berry

Chuck Berry

Gold Member
The team used the original as a basis to remaster the graphics and animations, adding finer detail and smoothing out little quirks, while restoring the backgrounds to the original concept art with beautiful details, and cleaning up the cutscenes. Plot holes have been plugged, with the bar stool after the explosion now clearly being blown to smithereens, or the drain pipe George contemplates as an escape route being long enough to actually escape from. The voice lines are the same lines, enhanced of course, and with some additional ones to boot. Not brand new recorded lines, but original lines that were recorded in the ‘90s and never used.
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Fuckin awesome right there
 
TGO

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
lockdown2222 said:
500?!?! That was it?!?! Omg…. Damn.
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What's worse is I was on the site before it went life and it just said coming soon.
I save the link to keep checking and it was sold out the same day when I checked later to see if there was any indication of when it went live.
Was so fucking annoyed by that.
On a positive note I love have this actually just looks like we remember it but clearly has been enhanced massively.
 
xrnzaaas

xrnzaaas

Member
Why isn't this available in PS Store yet? There's a page for this game, but you can't see the price or buy it.
 
J

Just_one

Member
xrnzaaas said:
Why isn't this available in PS Store yet? There's a page for this game, but you can't see the price or buy it.
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Its there. I brought it in the morning and played around 1 hour right now at night. Still an amazing game. Really hoping they upgrade the second game aswell
 
Rivdoric

Rivdoric

Member
I played the game for a few hours :
- Beautiful redrawn, really redrawn, of the whole sceneries/background. It's astonishingly beautiful on my 4K OLED. Only "IA Upscaled" part are the very rare cutscenes as the difference with the beautiful 4K draw is obvious.
- Some new dialogues or minor sentences that i'd never heard. Die hard fans like me will spot them, otherwise will go unnoticed lol.
- Sound quality improved on both English & French. Though it is minor, they cleaned the files as some scratches & other noises were removed. Seems to use a little higher quality file.
- Lots of options & tweaks in the menus. Can also play with the original graphics. You can also choose to play 16/9 zoomed or original redrawn board size of 16/10. Both are worth a playthrough !

I REALLY hope it will sell okay as the devs said they'll Reforge the Smoking Mirror as well if the sells are good.
These 2 remasters will also help fund Broken Sword 6.
 
Last edited:
emivita

emivita

Member
Rivdoric said:
- Some new dialogues or minor sentences that i'd never heard. Die hard fans like me will spot them, otherwise will go unnoticed lol.
Click to expand...

This is very cool. Even if it's minor content restored that was cut from the original game, I just love it. For example, I was ecstatic when they restored the jail cutscene in Tomb Raider 3 remastered and added music to the final boss.

I wonder how those lines sound in my native language, Italian. BS1&2 (especially 2) had a fantastic Italian dub. I'll find out when I get the PS5 physical edition next year.
 
Markio128

Markio128

Gold Member
I’ll be buying this in the next few days. I’m currently finishing off my FF7R playthrough and don’t want the distraction of another game at the mo. I want to be prepped to start FF7R in hard mode on the PS5 Pro.
 
xrnzaaas

xrnzaaas

Member
Just_one said:
Its there. I brought it in the morning and played around 1 hour right now at night. Still an amazing game. Really hoping they upgrade the second game aswell
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Chuck Berry said:
It’s there. It’s been there all day.
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Nvm, it finally showed up in my local PS store, must've been some delay. Thanks.

I missed out on retail (shouldn't be so limited), but I'll pick up this one. Hopefully the sales will be good enough to refresh BS2.
 
Last edited:
Rivdoric

Rivdoric

Member
xrnzaaas said:
Nvm, it finally showed up in my local PS store, must've been some delay. Thanks.

I missed out on retail (shouldn't be so limited), but I'll pick up this one. Hopefully the sales will be good enough to refresh BS2.
Click to expand...

If they keep launching 1000 limited boxed editions that go sold out in seconds that should be okay lmao.
I really hope as well.
 
RAIDEN1

RAIDEN1

Member
I mean look at the contrast in fortune though, while there is hope that we may get a Broken Sword 6, the same can't be said for other great point and click adventures, namely Full Throttle, it is unbelievable that we are denied a spin-off or even a sequel to that game, even if the original voice actor of Ben has passed away many many years ago, it shouldn't mean that the story can't continue on....
 
Judge Magister

Judge Magister

Member
Shin-Ra said:
...
BS3 Sleeping Dragon (Very good)
...
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Glad to see some love for The Sleeping Dragon, i had fun back in the day on PC. Uncharted 2's opening always reminded me of BS3's plane crash intro.

As for this redesign i think it looks great, fresh but truthful to the original.
 
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Chuck Berry

Chuck Berry

Gold Member
RAIDEN1 said:
I mean look at the contrast in fortune though, while there is hope that we may get a Broken Sword 6, the same can't be said for other great point and click adventures, namely Full Throttle, it is unbelievable that we are denied a spin-off or even a sequel to that game, even if the original voice actor of Ben has passed away many many years ago, it shouldn't mean that the story can't continue on....
Click to expand...

No fucking thanks. Schafer hasn't made a good game in years and we all know it would be made safe and sound for modern audiences. Help the Polecats sell cookies for the local girl scouts so Mo can get a sex change.

Terrible idea. The game ended fine. It's done. Let it be.
 
RAIDEN1

RAIDEN1

Member
Chuck Berry said:
No fucking thanks. Schafer hasn't made a good game in years and we all know it would be made safe and sound for modern audiences. Help the Polecats sell cookies for the local girl scouts so Mo can get a sex change.

Terrible idea. The game ended fine. It's done. Let it be.
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Well they were going to go via the action adventure route with the sequel but then that ended up getting shelved...but to me there is a rich universe out there ie the Polecats, rival gangs, stories that could be explored, untapped potential right there...
 
ShadowNate

ShadowNate

Member
It's a shame that we didn't get more voice acting from Roy Conrad, but that cancelled Full Throttle sequel looked like a smelly pile of garbage ideas and visuals.
 
Porcile

Porcile

Member
I do love this game and its atmosphere is second to none but let's see, I have played this game on: PC back in the day, Playstation on some weird charity collection disc, GBA with no voice acting, Wii Director's Cut, and PC (non director's cut) again a couple years back. I'm not sure I can really justify playing/paying for it again since I know the puzzles and story. Unfortunately that's the main problem with this genre. The games just aren't very replayable unless someone invents a memory erasing machine or something. I would have absolutely love to go back and experience Broken Sword or Grim Fandango for the first time again.
 
RPCGamer

RPCGamer

Neophyte
I've played this series more times then I can remember. So, I don't suffer from that I guess. It's like re-watching, re-hearing or re-reading a good book.
 
BbMajor7th

BbMajor7th

Member
Loved this as a kid back on the PlayStation and it's a pleasure to be reliving it now. The writing is such a breath of fresh air next to most modern games - George and Nico and all the NPCs along the way are so much more thoughtfully written than what you get in modern games and have much more distinctive personalities. Still a belter all these years later.
 
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Rivdoric

Rivdoric

Member
If you're playing with mouse go to AppData/Roaming/Revolution Software, open vt7.ini and add :

interface_cursor_snap=0
interface_cursor_flash=0

For a better cursor experience with no (very very) annoying magnet effect on all objects. Been driving me crazy.
 
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