Cardinal Syn

About Cardinal Syn

Cardinal Syn (1998) is Kronos Digital's dark-fantasy 3D weapons fighter with free-roaming arenas, in which clan champions fight in a tournament held by the sorceress Syn for the secrets of three swords.

Cardinal Syn in Depth

War had consumed the Clans of the Bloodlands for generations until a mysterious being, later called the Wanderer, gathered them and read from his Book of Knowledge of the harmony they could achieve. Years of peace followed, until, as the land began to fade, he divided the Book into scrolls, gave one to each clan and vanished, and the clans went back to war over them. In the middle of a brutal battle, the powerful sorceress Syn appeared bearing the Wanderer's icon, took the scrolls, turned them into three inscribed swords holding the Book's knowledge and declared a tournament: each clan would send its greatest warrior to fight to the death for rule of the Bloodlands and the swords' secrets. The first tournament had no winner, as Syn secretly killed the final warrior.

A 3D fighter with free-roaming movement, it lets players move around small interactive stages during fights, much like Ehrgeiz and Bushido Blade. Leaving behind the science fiction of Kronos's Criticom, it is set in a dark, bloody medieval world, its fighters, many non-human, resembling Dungeons & Dragons characters armed with fitting melee weapons. It features combos, juggles, stage hazards, finishing moves, projectiles and power-ups, and crates in each stage can be smashed for items.

Making Cardinal Syn

Kronos Digital Entertainment developed it and Sony Computer Entertainment published it for the PlayStation in 1998. It received "mixed or average" reviews according to GameRankings.