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Blade Dancer: Lineage of Light psp Game Reviews
Blade Dancer: Lineage of Light
Critic Score
Metascore: 60 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
7.0 out of 10
based on 33 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 12 votes
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Rate this game

In a world protected by the gentle Prismatic Moon, an ancient evil is stirring. The Dread Knight has reappeared to wreak havoc across the land, and the Dark Lord gathers his terrible strength. The world's only hope rests in the hands of a reluctant young adventurer named Lance. Discover your heritage and learn what it means to be the Protector of Light, Blade Dancer. [NIS America]

PUBLISHER: NIS America
DEVELOPER: SCEJ
GENRE(S): Role-Playing Game
PLAYERS: 4
ESRB RATING: E10+ (Everyone 10 and Older)
RELEASE DATE: July 18, 2006

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

85
Worth Playing
What I really enjoyed was the crafting system because we could craft the item whenever we wanted, even on the world map, thus reducing the need of going back to town to buy healing items or new equipment.
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80
RPG Fan
Given a little time to handle the learning curve, I found the greatest enjoyment in actually playing the game instead of pondering the prose, and isn’t that the point of a handheld title?
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78
eToychest
The voice acting is wooden, save points can be infrequent, and while load times themselves aren’t overly long, the game accesses the disc pretty frequently.
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78
Just RPG
The quality of the voice work ranges from good to poor, with the main character being one of the worst and most annoying.
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75
Into Liquid Sky
If you like an average RPG tale with some fun combat and great Crafting, Blade Dancer is worth your time. The RPG genre isn't overly deep on the PSP and this title certainly fills a hole for JRPG fans.
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75
PSM Magazine
While Blade Dancer is a very fun, solid title, if you're not a true fan of the genre, it's not going to change your mind. [Aug 2006, p.86]
74
Digital Entertainment News
The item-creation system and battle system are laudable, but Blade Dancer: Lineage of Light falls on its own sword when it comes to delivering interesting characters or an intriguing storyline; as a result, the game falls short of must-have status.
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70
ZTGameDomain
The crafting and battle system alone are worth the price of admission and the multi-player really seals the deal. While the storyline and character development are certainly below average Blade Dancer is still worth picking up if you are a huge fan of the genre.
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69
GameZone
Blade Dancer doesn’t stray from the tired formula of classic Japanese role-playing games when it comes to the storytelling and cast of characters.
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68
Cheat Code Central
There is no co-op mode but you will get a few good hours out of this mode, as well as few interesting goodies.
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68
GameSpot
Blade Dancer plays by the book as far as the narrative goes, but an interesting crafting mechanic and an adaptive battle system with real-time elements help set it apart.
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67
Games Master UK
Decent and entertaining, but you've seen it all before. [Oct 2006, p.84]
65
Deeko
The combat system is one of the finest I've seen in ages, but the rest of Blade Dancer is nothing shy of mediocre.
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65
IGN
Blade Dancer suffers from an odd mixture of first-rate and mediocre elements. Fans of the genre will definitely appreciate the combat system and weapon-crafting features, but newcomers won't have the patience to stick with the bland story and ho-hum characters.
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64
Game Chronicles
If you have played RPG's in the past then you will know exactly what to expect out of this game. The game will not captivate you like some RPG's.
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63
Gaming Horizon
The goal of the game seems to be that you level up to the point that you can walk through a new area without dying in the middle, and this isn’t enjoyable in the slightest.
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61
Gaming Nexus
NIS tried hard with this new game built specifically for the PSP, but design flaws and a weak story hold back what could have been a good game.
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60
GameSpy
A worthwhile romp for RPG lovers that don't mind the hackneyed story and characters. The backtracking and endless travel are a chore, but once you get all four characters on board, the combat and crafting systems make it almost worth it.
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60
AceGamez
If the rest of the game was half as well thought out and interesting as the crafting and combat systems, then Blade Dance: Linage of Light would easily be the best role-playing game for the PSP - but after a while it gets tedious, and neither the crafting nor the combat can save the experience from sinking into mediocrity.
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60
EuroGamer
That's really Blade Dancer in a nutshell: a decent combat system and an interesting crafting mechanic, but in terms of the rest of the game, Hitmaker doesn't really cut it.
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60
Official Playstation 2 Magazine UK
Great to look at and a thrill to explore, but its plodding, turn-based fights are enough to put off all but the most patient of RPGers. [Nov 2006, p.100]
60
RewiredMind
The ability to build your own weapons and suchlike with things that you’ve found is a nice inclusion which – while limited – works out to be cheaper than going to ye olde item shoppe to pick up a new blade every time your favourite one decides that it’s going to break.
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60
Yahoo! Games
It's not a game that hums with careful design or thoughtful implementation. Nevertheless, if you can cope with its many flaws it'll reward you with a lengthy and addictive experience.
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60
TotalPlayStation
For as decent as the battle system and item crafting parts of the game are, they simply can't hold up the entirely mediocre or cliche other bits. The game is solid, yes, but I was hoping the first console-level RPG would be a little more, well, engaging.
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55
Game Informer
At its best, Blade Dancer offers familiarity, along with a half-hearted attempt at multiplayer. [Aug 2006, p.93]
50
Game Revolution
The battle system whips along, only to have its toes stomped by the boring crafting system. In the end Blade Dancer: Lineage of Light has a fine sense of rhythm, but two left feet.
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50
Playstation Official Magazine UK
RPGs can be emotional, sadly this one is all about raging dispair. [Mar 2007, p.111]
50
VGPub
For all that it does right with its combat engine and Lunar system, Blade Dancer does something wrong. Playing the game frequently feels like you're taking two steps forward and one back and you'll get the sense that you're not really going anywhere.
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45
Play UK
A completely forgettable experience. [Issue 145, p.86]
40
Games Radar
Spend a couple of hours coping with the plodding narrative and oppressive gameplay and you'll swear off RPGs for life.
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40
Official U.S. Playstation Magazine
Cheesy plot, horrible dialogue and translation, bland graphics, and standard RPG cliches circa 1995 as far as the eye can see. [Aug 2006, p.81]
32
Electronic Gaming Monthly
With its forgettable characters, interminable load times, and mind-numbingly dull battles, Blade Dancer assaults players with such profound mediocrity that only the most tenacious questers will make it beyond the first few hours. [Aug 2006, p.93]
30
games(TM)
Blade Dancer is an RPG lacking in character, soul, and most importantly, entertainment. Not recommended. [Oct 2006, p.129]

What Our Users Said

Vote Now! The average user rating for this game is 7.0 (out of 10) based on 12 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

John C. gave it a4:
The forging of weapons can be a disadvantage some times like when your fighting a boss or something. It was fun at first but ones you get in to the game you'll realize that your character doesn't even have a goal or a reason for fighting all this monsters and rescuing this girl.

Ghetto Azian gave it a10:
Man, people say this game sucks, etc. I don't know what they don't like. This game is interesting and got me hooked after a few hours of play.

Paul S. gave it an8:
Its hard to believe what some of the critics were playing,when I read comments like "interminable load times"and "mind numbingly dumb battles". In my oppinion that does not describe BD fairly or accurately. I do agree that the characters are for the most part forgetable, but so were the characters in other criticaly acclaimed RPGs such as the "Dark Cloud"series. The same critics that drooled over Dark Cloud suddenly have nothing good to say about a solid title with forgettable characters. The battle system is simple and lends itself to some strategy and tense moments since both you and your enemy basicaly feed off of the same Lunar pool (magic points) and since that Lunar pool only grows as you recieve and ditch out damage. The crafting system is very well implemented and is more than an after thought to keep you busy,its an important part of the game and can be quite addicting. Music is sparse unfortuanately but whats there is better than a lot of standard gaming fare. Finaly the load times are far from obscene if you havent the patience to wait 5 or 6 seconds for another part of the BD world to load, you shouldnt play anything on the PSP. Load times come part and parcel with it as one of its short comings and BD is far from having overly long load times. Amazing how critics will praise games with load times twice as long or with equaly forgettable characters and yet are so harsh on BD. Maybe they should take a break from gaming for a while.

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