10 Most Iconic Swords In Gaming History

Fantastic as the best of the best video games that put a gun in your hand, spin you around, and point you at an enemy may be, it’s rarely as viscerally satisfying as melee combat.

Of course, often shooters do have melee options, but by and large when we’re looking for the greatest swords in gaming history, we’re often trading sci-fi and gritty realism for fantasy and mythology. Not completely, mind you, but for the most part. Let me quickly head this off at the pass by saying we are talking swords here. For our purposes keyblades, lightsabers, daggers, and other things that aren’t swords aren’t permissible, but you can still tell me about them in the comments.

Also, before anybody says it first I haven’t included it but will be saying Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker. Do the thing, comment section.

If I bummed you out by not putting lightsabers or any of Sora’s key-shaped stabbies on this list then I’m hoping to make it up to you with a sword that drains the life force and souls right out of people so hopefully that softens the blow.

The blow of the swords I couldn’t include, not the blow of being on the wrong end of this fearsome flamberge with curves in all the right places. I actually have only read the word ‘flamberge’ so I’ve decided not to look up how to say it and instead pronounce it the same as ‘faberge’ so I hope that was either correct or funny.

The Legacy of Kain series not only includes the Soul Reaver sword, it’s central to the game’s narrative. Putting its raw stopping power aside for a moment, this thing has the ability to fracture the fabric of time, allowing its wielder to alter reality or drop into a paradoxical timeline to gain the upper hand on their enemies. Much of your time spent in this series revolves around using the power of the sword for your own benefit, keeping it out of the hands of baddies, and unveiling its mysteries and origins. It was forged by Kain’s pseudo-mentor and intended to fulfil a prophecy by slaying the Hylden Champion. And that’s really just the tip of the iceberg. 

Soul Reaver would be an easy one to leave off this list since the franchise has lain dormant for so long but it deserves to be among the upper echelon of gaming’s most iconic swords. 

The sword also has a spectral form unveiled in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver called the Wraith Blade which bore enormous power and a deep connection to protagonist Razael but I’d need a whole lot more of your time to explain that one. As with many of the legendary swords on this list, Soul Reaver is not just the most powerful sword across its series, it’s also deeply important to the narrative and comes packed with a stack of rich lore attached.

For what it’s worth I did look up how to say flame burger and it is not at all how I said it.