<s>
Severance	B-Application
:	I-Application
Blade	I-Application
of	I-Application
Darkness	I-Application
is	O
an	O
action-adventure	O
game	O
developed	O
by	O
Rebel	O
Act	O
Studios	O
and	O
originally	O
published	O
by	O
Codemasters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
North	O
America	O
and	O
Europe	O
for	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
in	O
February	O
2001	O
,	O
receiving	O
generally	O
favorable	O
reviews	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
remastered	O
version	O
was	O
released	O
on	O
Steam	B-Application
and	O
GOG	O
in	O
October	O
2021	O
,	O
and	O
one	O
year	O
later	O
on	O
Nintendo	B-Application
Switch	I-Application
through	O
the	O
Nintendo	B-Application
eShop	I-Application
,	O
marking	O
the	O
debut	O
of	O
this	O
game	O
on	O
any	O
home	O
console	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
"	O
Blade	B-Application
of	I-Application
Darkness	I-Application
"	O
in	O
the	O
game	O
title	O
is	O
in	O
fact	O
,	O
the	O
"	O
Sword	O
of	O
Ianna	O
"	O
when	O
it	O
is	O
possessed	O
by	O
the	O
forces	O
of	O
darkness	O
(	O
as	O
shown	O
in	O
the	O
intro	O
video	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Severance	B-Application
has	O
an	O
immediately	O
recognizable	O
fantasy	O
premise	O
with	O
swords	O
,	O
sorcery	O
and	O
the	O
like	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
the	O
player	O
progresses	O
through	O
the	O
game	O
,	O
experience	O
points	O
are	O
earned	O
,	O
which	O
enables	O
them	O
to	O
increase	O
in	O
level	O
and	O
gain	O
new	O
special	O
attacks	O
and	O
abilities	O
which	O
are	O
executed	O
via	O
combinations	O
of	O
buttons	O
and	O
direction	O
keys	O
,	O
much	O
like	O
a	O
beat'em-up	B-Application
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
lead	O
designer	O
Jose	O
Luis	O
Vaello	O
,	O
the	O
initial	O
concept	O
for	O
Severance	B-Application
was	O
to	O
make	O
a	O
game	O
that	O
borrowed	O
"	O
sword	O
and	O
sorcery	O
"	O
elements	O
found	O
in	O
movies	O
like	O
Conan	O
the	O
Barbarian	O
,	O
and	O
mythical	O
literature	O
as	O
The	O
Lord	O
of	O
the	O
Rings	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
Xbox	B-Application
enhanced	O
port	O
directly	O
by	O
Rebel	O
Act	O
was	O
in	O
development	O
,	O
with	O
working	O
title	O
Ultimate	O
Blade	B-Application
of	I-Application
Darkness	I-Application
,	O
but	O
the	O
project	O
was	O
scrapped	O
during	O
early	O
stages	O
due	O
to	O
poor	O
sales	O
of	O
the	O
original	O
Windows	O
version	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
received	O
"	O
generally	O
favorable	O
reviews	O
"	O
according	O
to	O
the	O
review	B-Application
aggregation	I-Application
website	O
Metacritic	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Character	O
animation	O
was	O
done	O
via	O
motion	B-Application
capture	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Overall	O
,	O
a	O
relatively	O
powerful	O
computer	O
for	O
its	O
time	O
(	O
the	O
minimum	O
requirements	O
were	O
a	O
P2	B-General_Concept
400MHz	O
and	O
64MB	O
of	O
RAM	B-Architecture
)	O
was	O
required	O
to	O
fully	O
experience	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
game	O
is	O
the	O
first	O
and	O
only	O
game	O
that	O
can	O
perform	O
water	O
reflection	O
wave	O
effects	O
only	O
using	O
DirectX	B-Application
7.0	I-Application
hardware	O
(	O
Geforce	O
2	O
or	O
Radeon	B-Device
7500	I-Device
;	O
perhaps	O
even	O
Nvidia	B-Device
RIVA	I-Device
TNT	I-Device
is	O
enough	O
to	O
perform	O
water	O
effects	O
at	O
the	O
same	O
quality	O
level	O
like	O
in	O
DirectX	B-Application
8	I-Application
or	O
higher	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Also	O
highlighted	O
is	O
the	O
fact	O
that	O
Blade	B-Application
of	I-Application
Darkness	I-Application
was	O
released	O
8	O
years	O
before	O
Demon	B-Application
's	I-Application
Souls	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
2021	O
,	O
a	O
small	O
publisher	O
called	O
SNEG	O
signed	O
it	O
with	O
the	O
original	O
Rebel	O
Act	O
founders	O
,	O
and	O
they	O
released	O
an	O
updated	O
version	O
on	O
Steam	B-Application
and	O
GOG	O
in	O
October	O
2021	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
Nintendo	B-Application
Switch	I-Application
port	O
of	O
this	O
remaster	O
was	O
released	O
digitally	O
through	O
the	O
eShop	B-Application
in	O
November	O
2022	O
,	O
published	O
by	O
Qubic	O
Games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
a	O
major	O
update	O
by	O
new	O
developers	O
,	O
Blade	B-Application
of	I-Application
Darkness	I-Application
gets	O
HD	O
graphics	O
and	O
other	O
improvements	O
,	O
and	O
it	O
's	O
also	O
now	O
available	O
for	O
PS5	O
,	O
Xbox	B-Application
Series	O
,	O
PS4	O
,	O
and	O
Xbox	B-Application
One	O
.	O
</s>
