The "Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars - Director's Cut Original Soundtrack" was released on the iTunes Store on December 28 December, 2009. If you buy "The Director's Cut" on Good Old Games, you also get the original game, original manual, HD wallpapers, the soundtrack, 11 avatars, and the comic book.
The comic book of the same name was created by Charles Cecil and very well known artist Dave Gibbons for the DS release of "Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars - Director’s Cut" in March 2009. The short comic provides a further glimpse back into Nico’s past, leading readers right up to the events of her playable segments in the game.
The game was a commercial success. Charles Cecil said that it sold around a 1.000.000 copies in the mid 90's. He also said that the sales of Revolution's games are going slightly back up again.
"Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars" got very good reviews from critics. "Adventure Gamers" praised the game's story, puzzles, art, voice acting and interface, and called it a true masterpiece and adventure gaming at its absolute finest. However, the magazine stated that long conversations may put some players of. Joe Antol of "Adventure Classic Gaming" stated that it's one of the best adventures he has played in a number of years, and that it's a "must play and experience" adventure title for any adventure game lover. "Game Over Online" praised the GBA version, saying that Revolution did a great job redrawing the game's visuals, and that its patience, maturity and depth are some things that are rarely seen on the GBA. "RPGFan" stated that even if the GBA version can be buggy at times, it's still a worthy addition to any GBA library, and is one of the finest examples of how a well-crafted graphic adventure should be done. James Gordon of "HonestGamers" praised the games graphics, sound and story, and even called it one of the best GBA games to date, he stated that you may not want to play it more than once, even though he did. "PC Gamer" praised the game's story, puzzles and art. However, unlike most critics, the reviewer has criticized the voice acting, saying that it is not quite professional, and at times annoying. He also criticized the puzzles, stating that they were good, but some required to much pixel-hunting. "Mr. Bill and Lela" of "Mr. Bill's Adventureland" stated that it's a "winner" and a totally addictive game, which combines the very best aspects of traditional adventure games and mystery thrillers, with even a little romance thrown in for good measure, and a suspenseful and slowly evolving story that will keep you glued to your seat.
Like the original release, "Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars - Director's Cut" also got very good reviews from critics. "App Spy" praised the game's great looking visual presentation, excellent touch screen controles and challenging puzzle gameplay, and called it a must own games, even for newcomers to the genre, but stated that the hint system can make things too simple, and that the auto-save function is not the greatest. "Touch Arcade" said: "Whether you're an old fan of the original game, a newcomer to the series, or even someone who's never played a point-and-click adventure before, Broken Sword is a game with mass appeal that will draw you in" and called it "A Point-and-Click Classic Made Even Better". "Slide to Play" gave both, the iPhone and iPad a 4 out of 4 stars, and called it a real winner, even among other classic adventures. Nigel Wood of "Touchgen" praised the game's great visuals, sound, and well implemented interface, but called story the winner in the game, as it can "like a good book, keep you glued to your little screen". "LEVEL" stated that even 13 years after its first appearance, Broken Sword lost nothing of its powers, and called it a fantastic adventure game with lovely characters, strong story and DS-enhanced puzzle solving. "Just Adventure" stated that the game consists of a rich plot, fun characters and puzzles, and great art and soun. Francis Rizo III of "Video Game Talk" stated that Broken Sword with its engagingly deep storyline, gorgeous art, fun writing, entertaining puzzles and terrific vocal cast, just raised the bar to a level that will be incredibly hard to meet for any game, and that people should buy it, as it is fun and its success may spur developers to take another look at this somewhat dormant genre, supplementing the wave of Wii ports with something new and original.
"Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars - Director's Cut" was nominated for a "British Academy Video Games Award" 2010 for "Story", but lost to "Uncharted 2: Among Thieves". In 2010, "The Director's Cut" won the award for "Best European Adventure" at the "European Games Awards".
In 2004, "Adventure Gamers" ranked "Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars" at #4 on their list of "Top 20 Adventure Games of All-Time". "Adventure Classic Gaming" ranked it at #3 on their list of "Top 10 retro graphic adventure games of all time from PC to consoles", in 2006. "Metacritic" ranked it at #9 on their list of "25 Best iPhone and iPad Games of 2010". In 2011, "Adventure Gamers" ranked it at #4 again on their list of "Top 100 All-Time Adventures". In 2011, the first two Broken Sword games have been downloaded by over 4 million people.
"Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars" spawned three sequels. The first, "Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror" was released in 1997 and is the only game in the series that does not follow the Knights Templar story line. It uses the same engine as the first "Broken Sword" game. Six years later, Revolution released "Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon", which moved to 3D graphics, and is the only game in the series that uses a direct control mechanism. It uses the RenderWare engine. In 2006, the company "Broken Sword: The Angel of Death" (released as "Secrets of the Ark: A Broken Sword Game"' in North America), which returns to the point 'n' click system used in the first two games, and is the only game in the series not released on any console. The game uses Sumo Digital's engine. In 2009, Revolution released a director's cut of the first game, named "Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars - Director's Cut". The company released a remastered edition of the second, named "Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror - Remastered", in 2010. Revolution has confirmed that there will be a new "Broken Sword" game in the future, and in 2D, but did not confirm they are currently making one.
Iyo Province
Iyo had borders with Awa, Sanuki, and Tosa Provinces.
The ancient capital city of the province was near modern Imabari.
In the Meiji period, the provinces of Japan were converted into prefectures. The maps of Japan and Iyo Province were reformed in the 1870s.
"Ōyamazumi jinja" was the chief Shinto shrine ("ichinomiya") of Iyo.
Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado about Nothing is a comedy by William Shakespeare. It is set in Messina, Sicily (which is in Italy) and is a comedy/love story about two pairs of lovers, Hero and Claudio and Benedick and Beatrice. This story is one of William Shakespeare's more popular plays.
The villain in this story is called Don John and he convinces Claudio that Hero is cheating on him and then he refuses to marry her whilst Benedick and Beatrice are tricked into confessing their true love for each other. In the end the Constable accidentally sorts everything out and everyone celebrates both marriages.
Don John (the villain) can't bear anyone else to be happy. He is an illegitimate child meaning his upbringing has been rocky and he is insecure, leading to his selfish behaviour getting the better of him throughout the play.
Kii Province
, or , was an old province of Japan in the area of Wakayama Prefecture and Mie Prefecture on the island of Honshū.
Kii had borders with Ise, Izumi, Kawachi, Shima, and Yamato Provinces.
During the Edo period, the Kii branch of the Tokugawa clan held the castle at Wakayama.