Any Singleplayer Games with Good Swordplay?

[Jolly Co-operator]

I'm a sucker for good sword combat in games.I love games where it takes finesse to successfully dodge, block, and parry. In the past, I've enjoyed games like Dark Souls, Infinity Blade, Mount and Blade, The Witcher 2, and Chivalry: Medieval Warfare. I'm currently giving Blade Symphony a try, but I'd like something to scratch that itch in singleplayer (even better if its an RPG). Any suggestions?

As an added bonus topic, what's your favorite sword in videogame history? Off the top of my head, I like the Ultima Weapon from Final Fantasy 7. Yeah, it's gaudy and over-the-top, but its ludicrous awesomeness is what I love about it.

 

[TehCookie]

Have you played DMC or Metal Gear Rising? It's not attempting to be realistic sword fighting, but you need finesse to pull off the right timings for everything.

Which my favorite sword is Red Queen from DMC4 (Nero's sword). First having a motorcycle handle that revs is cool to begin with, but being able to do it in gameplay is even better. Especially hitting a max-act in the middle of a combo.

 

[The Madman]

Dark Messiah of Might & Magic has an entertaining melee combat system, definitely worth checking out if that's what you're after. The previous game by Arkane; Arx Fatalis, also had pretty good melee as I recall as does their latest game Dishonored. Dark Messiah is the best of theirs in that regard however.

As for best sword, Carsomyr from Baldur's Gate 2 comes to mind, pity only Paladins can wield it.

 

[Benpasko]

I don't recommend MGR like the poster above, but I second Devil May Cry. DMC3 is the best in the series, but if you care about the storyline you should start at 1. Skip 2, it's not necessary story-wise, and legendarily terrible gameplay-wise.

Shadow Warrior has pretty good swordplay, it's an FPS where your melee weapon is your primary tool for every situation. Well-written storyline and good humor as a bonus.

Dead Island has some of the most satisfying melee combat I've ever seen (You can break bones and sever limbs mid-fight), but there's only so much skill required to own all over zombies.

Bushido Blade is a fantastic couple of games for the PS1, you can get them pretty easily, look around. They're samurai fighting games, where one good hit to the chest or head is instant death and defense is automatic depending on your stance. Give them a shot, they're incredibly fun and unique.

My favorite sword from fiction? I'd say various fantasy magical katanas. The Muramasas and the Nobitsura Kages. Named fantasy katanas with backstories are radical.

 

[Bad Jim]

I've heard the old classic Die by the Sword is pretty good. Actually I think I have that in my GOG folder somewhere. I should probably get around to playing it.

It is a game from 1998 I should warn you.

 

[exxxed]

Here's a few tips:

- Severance - Blade of Darkness [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Egad_InYl6I](this thing came first, then Demon's/Dark Souls, in my honest opinion the gameplay holds up wonderfully)

- Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sr62hh6-Pk] and Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkE0yhke_tM] (best goddamned lightsaber combat ever, I mostly prefer Jedi Academy's one since it's basically the same as Jedi Outcast's but upgraded, and multiplayer is hella' fun)

- Warframe [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFMYlUjZxwk] (totally not singleplayer, but it's free and the multiplayer is mission structured, based on four player co-op, amazingly fun for what I have played, even if the sword is a ''secondary'' weapon I mainly use that and it's great)

- Knights of the Temple [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBQmud56r0M] (wonderfully motion captured animations for it's time, very entertaining, not to mention it's outstanding soundtrack)


I'd also recommend Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, simply the best first person sword combat (couldn't find a better example on a short notice, so here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR1XdvRGwDw).

Have fun!

P.S.

Forgot about this, had quite a bit of fun with it:

- The First Templar [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yi3N5ywLx50] (it was initially gifted to me for a co-op get-together, but that never happened so I ventured through it on my own, it's a good little game, yea it's on the low-budget side, yeah some of the animations are wonky, I actually prefered to use the sneak one instead of that Pinocchio running, but in the end it's fun)

 

[Ironshroom]

Well, from my understanding, Mount and Blade 2 is coming out soonish, and if you haven't tried all the other M&B games, try those too. Also, War of the Roses, basically a much better looking M&B. I like it, but I think Chiv is probably better

 

[daveman247]

The first ninja gaiden has pretty good sword combat, bloody hard though.

I third DMC3 great sword/ gun combat combo even though the controls are simple to learn. Also bloody hard.

I suck at hack and slash games XD Can only keep up with dark souls since it is fairly slow.

 

[Oroboros]

The Jedi Knight/Jedi Academy games were pretty fun for swordplay. Blade of Darkness and Enclave are also pretty fun swordplay games that support a variety of playstyles through various playable characters.

 

[Soundwave]

Dishonored had some good swashbuckling elements to it. It's from the same guys who did Dark Messiah of Might and Magic. It's down to 30-40 bucks on steam. It's definitely worth picking up on the next steam sale.

 

[gamer_parent]

Are you talking specifically about just hack n' slash or are you speaking specifically about having an intricate system of sword fighting? One would include just about every hack n' slash game like say, Hundred Years of War while the other would actually be a pretty short list. (Especially if fighting games are off the table)

 

[Hero of Lime]

I'll sound crazy to many people, but Zelda: Skyward Sword. Even though I prefer the traditional 3D Zelda sword play, there is something great about the Skyward Sword swordplay. It really engages you as you must be sure to attack, defend and counter enemy strikes. I know the controls don't work for some people, but since I've had little trouble with the motion controls myself, I find them incredibly engaging.

Edit: Favorite video game sword would definitely be the Master Sword from the Zelda series. It's got a lot of history to it, looks beautiful, and you always have to work for it, there is a sense of a pay off once you get it.

 

[PuppetMaster]

way of the samurai 3
instant kill mode
that is all

 

[Syntax Error]

The Witcher 2 has the best swordplay in most games I've played. Combat is very unforgiving. Getting crowded is a death sentence even in the Normal difficulty. You have to pay attention to your position relative to your enemies, poke the least defensible one, know when to unleash a combo and when to use the heavy attack, on top of using all the resources available to you in order to survive (bombs, throwing knives, potions and traps).

 

[DarkhoIlow]

Witcher 2 has very good sword play and it's a bonus if you enjoy a mature and deep RPG story.

If you are looking only for sword play I recommend you try the remake of Shadow Warrior. The sword play of that game is the icing and the cake. I finished the game only with my sword and using weapons only when needed (like bosses).

 

[Drummodino]

The Devil May Cry franchise if you don't care that it's really wacky. Otherwise... Maybe Skyrim? I know it gets a lot of hate for it's combat, but I find using a sword and shield pretty satisfying.

EDIT: oh right favorite sword. Gotta go with the Keyblade from Kingdom Hearts.

 

[JagermanXcell]

Sorry I'm late guys....I was taking my dog out.... now then, good swordplay, oh looks like someone mentioned the DMC games already.... and Rising.... oh and Dark Souls...
Uuuuuuuuh Demons? Yeah! Demons Souls.
Think of it as a faster paced Dark Souls, pve is also much tougher imo, so theres that.
And Ninja Gaiden 2, just be ready to step your game up if you plan on treading through that monstrosity.

Favorite sword? Tough one.
I'm tied between Virgil's good ol Yamato, and Samuel Rodriguez's HF "Muramasa" blade.
I'll just go with both, seeing as both have a lot of crunch behind their style of attack, shoot blades, and are wielded by suave as hell supporting characters.

 

[LAGG]

Ninja Gaiden 2
Soul Calibur 2
The Witcher 2
Devil May Cry 3