Eponymous Blades

Xenoblade, Skyward Sword... I'm detecting a pattern in my recent gaming history here. It's no surprise when a game chooses to name itself after its signature weapon, since everyone thinks swords are neat. Though, as the recent MBMBaM (91) podcast explains, they're not quite so helpful in a world with SMGs and sniper rifles, unless you're being home-invaded by The Kurgan or something.

So far this is just a smattering of notable games with this naming convention. There are TONS of these things.

List items

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  1. Xenoblade Chronicles

  Another Mento list, another Xenoblade mention. They're going to dry up after the game's US April release and it becomes less fun to talk about it at length. At which point I'll just keep talking about the Last Story. That's right, I plan how I'm going to be annoying months in advance. The Xenoblade is actually the Monado, which turns out to be a bit more than simply a laser sword that looks like a vehicle from WipeOut.

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  2. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

  So named because Link has a tendency to point his sword straight up before he starts flailing it around like an uncoordinated moron (I can only really speak for the Link I was watching though), Skyward Sword is all about the fencing and also tangentially about riding giant pelicans.

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  3. Heavenly Sword

  An early PS3 "classic" exclusive, Ninja Theory's (perhaps the most controversial of modern scientific theories that doesn't involve stupid people not understanding fossils) kinetic slash-em-up is notable for its ponytail physics. I guess there's also slashing a billion things with the titular magical shape-shifting sword too.

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  4. Soul Edge

  Before Link, before Yoda, before (all right, concurrent) with giant boobs, there was Soul Blade. Or Soul Edge. This is back when the antagonist was more Pirates of the Caribbean and less G-Virus.

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  5. Soulcalibur

  There's five of these damn things now. They'd be naming them by year if they weren't based in the 16th century, which would make the titles super confusing. "SoulCalibur 1593? Huh?" Anyway, the titular weapon in this case is Soul Edge's antithesis and is also a giant sword, but more blue instead of red? I guess that's the whole mythology in a nutshell. Blue = Good, Red = Bad, Green = Guest character.

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  6. Muramasa: The Demon Blade

  The Wii knows what's up with the graphics race: Stop trying to be the most resolution-y (technically speaking), focus instead on memorable, visually striking art styles. Muramasa is filled with bewilderingly manic fights throughout ancient Japan, most of which involve swords demonic or otherwise.

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  7. The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures

  I haven't played this yet, in part because I'm a reclusive misanthrope, but I'd have to imagine its called Four Swords Adventures because it involves four swords. Research, my droogs.

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  8. Sword of Mana

  A remake of GB classic "Final Fantasy Adventure" (or Mystic Quest (but not that Mystic Quest)), Sword of Mana is all about the legendary Sword of Mana (I mean, that's probably a given, right?) which pops up in almost every Seiken Densetsu game as a vital tool of the hero's quest. This game's no Secret of Mana, but what is?

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  9. Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos

  Generally, Ryu Hayabusa only bothers putting on his hood to fight annoying birds because someone either stole his girlfriend or his magical ninja sword. I think it's both with this one. You'd think a ninja would want a blade a little less conspicuous, but when you can summon dragons perhaps hiding isn't all that necessary. That said, I believe this game's Dark Sword of Chaos probably belongs to Jackie O, his eternal nemesis, whom he finally defeats in Ninja Gaiden IV: The Pernicious Pillbox Hat.

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  10. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver

  So okay. The Soul Reaver is this big important vampire blade that does vampire things to people when you hit them with it. Feels sort of redundant when the people using them are also vampires, but I guess biting necks is for suckers. While Raziel (the wraithlike "hero" of the Soul Reaver games) has his own spectral version of the blade, to match the whole "ethereal" thing he has going on, there's also the actual physical Soul Reaver that head vampire "hero" Kain still has. Honestly, any game series worth its salt has a layered, almost-incomprehensible mythology. It's practically a badge of honor.

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  11. Gladius

  This is kind of a cheat, but I really like Gladius. So does ahoodedfigure, and he's like the site's Obi Wan. Well, Claude is more Giant Bomb's Obi Wan. Actually he's more like Qui-Gon Jinn, because of all the drinking. Where the hell was I going with all this? Oh right, a gladius is an Ancient Roman sword, notable for its thick flat blade and also for how often you see it going through someone's neck on that Spartacus TV show. This game also has gladiators in it. And yetis.