History YMMV / BrokenSword

* HePannedItNowHeSucks: Adventure Gamer's [[http://www.adventuregamers.com/articles/view/17443 review]] about ''The Smoking Mirror'' received backlash from some people who enjoyed the game.

* PolishedPort: ''The Serpent's Curse'' on the UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 and UsefulNotes/XboxONE versions comes with some new features like adding people in the streets of Paris, more character animations, built-in speaker in [=DualShock=] controller, and a Gallery Mode where it shows off the character's profiles.

** The UsefulNotes/{{Playstation}} version in the first two games were saddled from using PointAndClick interface and [[LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading frequent loading times.]] WordOfGod regretted that he should have thought of using direct controls.
** ''The Sleeping Dragon'' in UsefulNotes/{{PS2}} and UsefulNotes/XBox version suffered from [[LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading ridiculously long loading times]], slow framerates and some graphical glitches. It's a shame that the control scheme in those versions are more suited than in the PC version.
** The UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance version of ''The Shadow of the Templars'' has some bugs that forces players to restart the game. It also has no voice acting, the visuals and animations are heavily compressed, and due to the lack of buttons on the GBA, George is directly controlled.

* EvilIsSexy: Petra.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: The ''Shadow of the Templars'' introduced the mixture of UsefulNotes/TheKnightsTemplar, AncientConspiracy quests and globetrotting in Europe into the story. Nowadays, it has been overshadowed by ''Literature/TheDaVinciCode'' and ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' even both works were released nearly a decade later.
** WordOfGod and the fanbase speculated that the game is one of Dan Brown's influence in writing ''The Da Vinci Code''. The novel has a lot of similarities to the game.

** Many players, especially adventure game purists hate the [[StealthBasedMission stealth sections]] in ''The Sleeping Dragon'' and ''The Angel of Death''. You have no clue when you're going to move and hide, and the games don't have an option to [[CameraScrew control camera angles]].

** When George gives [[spoiler: an antidote]] to Nico in the second game:

*** FridgeLogic: [[spoiler: Anna-Maria and Brother Mark are familiar with the Vatican since they studied about it for their profession. The former being an ex-member of the Order while the latter was more likely studied the map of St. Peters before.]]

* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** Many fans complained that the Episode 1 of ''The Serpent's Curse'' have easy puzzles, some wooden animations and slow pacing of the plot. Episode 2 corrects this.
** Revolution released the enhancement edition of ''The Serpent's Curse'' on 2016. So far, it can be obtained by buying Revolution's [=25th=] Anniversary editon box set or download via Amazon [=AppStore=].
*** Averted when Revolution finally released it for PC on March 2017 to celebrate franchise's 20th anniversary.
* SugarWiki/AwesomeArt: The first, second and fifth games are praised for their fantastic backgrounds and animations. {{Averted|Trope}} in third and fourth games where they have 3D graphics.

** [[AvertedTrope Averted]] with the console versions in ''The Serpent's Curse'' (See the PolishedPort above for details).

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: Despite having chilling death sequences, plenty of sexual innuendos, and a scene where [[spoiler: Fitzgerald's blood is shown]], it was strange why the first game on the PC was given a KA rating then. The UsefullNotes/{{Playstation}} version, Game Boy Advance version and its sequels [[AvertedTrope avert]] this by having a "Teen" or "12+" rating.

* FandomRivalry: With ''VideoGame/GabrielKnight''. While most fans of the former like ''VideoGame/BrokenSword'' as well, and vice versa, some dislike the latter for its absurdity and similarities both games have.

*** An American man and a French woman met in the middle of murder investigation and then discovered a conspiracy involving the Knights Templar? [[Literature/TheDaVinciCode Why does that ring a bell?]] Not only that the series is often compared with that book these days, but also Cecil was the puzzle designer of the video game version of that novel.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: The ''Shadow of the Templars'' introduced the mixture of UsefulNotes/TheKnightsTemplar, AncientConspiracy quests and globetrotting in Europe into the story. Nowadays, it has been overshadowed by Literature/TheDaVinciCode even though the novel was released seven years later.
** WordOfGod and the fanbase speculated that the game is one of Dan Brown's influence in writing ''Literature/TheDaVinciCode''. The novel has a lot of similarities to the game.

* {{Sequelitis}}: User ratings drop from sequel to sequel.

* StarTrekMovieCurse: The odd numbered entries (''The Shadow of the Templars'', ''The Sleeping Dragon'' and ''The Serpent's Curse'') tend to be better received while the even numbered entries (''The Smoking Mirror'' and ''The Angel of Death'') are mixed.

** At the same game, George has to solve a hacking puzzle [[spoiler: in Anna-Maria's apartment to gather information about defusing a bomb. The puzzle only gives you ten minutes but most of its time is consumed from solving a puzzle. When you sucessfully hacked the military website, you have to read long instructions which is also time consuming.]]

** The UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance version of ''The Shadow of the Templars'' has some bugs that forces players to restart the game. It also has no voice acting and due to the lack of buttons on the GBA, George is directly controlled.

** The UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance version of ''The Shadow of the Templars'' has some bugs that forces players to restart the game.

* "Il 'akl kalb" [[labelnote:Explanation]]In the first game, Nejo requires George to make a distraction to take a Kebab salesman's brush. This distraction? For George to tell him "il 'akl kalb", which apparently means "Your food is made from dog's meat"[[/labelnote]]

* CriticalResearchFailure:
** In the second game, George lampshades it after he found out the movie's climax from the director:
--->'''George''': All the millions spent on a movie and nobody thinks to buy an atlas.
** The Turkish culture presented in ''The Angel of Death'' is different compare to real life. For example, Mevlut used to say "effendi" instead of "efhendi" as the former word is Arabic. Then, the Turkish characters are depicted as Arabs.
** The items with Russian labels like Medovsky's typewriter. Some of the Cyrillic letters went extinct centuries before the invention of typewriters. Also, Russians use Arabic numbers, too.

* EightPointEight:
** [[AvertedTrope Averted]]. Some gamers were not happy when Edge gave ''The Sleeping Dragon'' a score of 9 out of 10. Edge [[https://web.archive.org/web/20130127081149/http://www.edge-online.com/features/ten-controversial-edge-reviews/2 acknowledged their mistake]].
** Adventure Gamer's [[http://www.adventuregamers.com/articles/view/17443 review]] about ''The Smoking Mirror'' received backlash from some people who enjoyed the game.

* UncannyValley:
** The faces of the members of St. Stefan Chapter of the Knights Templar and Susarro's soldiers in Prague look similar.
** The in-game conversations with the [=NPCs=] in ''Angel of Death''. Notice that the characters stand perfectly still, their mouths are only moving and the lack of their facial expressions.

** A lot of fans despised ''The Sleeping Dragon'', mostly because of stuff like [[PolygonCeiling 3D graphics]], [[BlockPuzzle too much crate puzzles]], and clunky keyboard controls. Others find it pretty decent but not on par with the first two games. Still, there are some fans who enjoyed the game and found its story and characters more interesting than ''The Smoking Mirror'''s.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: One of the common complaints in ''The Sleeping Dragon'' and ''The Angel of Death'', mostly because of [[PolygonCeiling their graphics]].

** This also has HilariousInHindsight moment to the first game: [[spoiler: If George drinks too much beer, Maguire will tell George that he's drunk, but George claims that he's not and still capable to solve some puzzles.]]* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound: Happens when you solve puzzles, explore new areas or discover important clues.

** ''[[VideoGame/BrokenSwordTheShadowOfTheTemplars Shadow of the Templars]]'' & ''[[VideoGame/BrokenSwordTheSleepingDragon The Sleeping Dragon]]'': The [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Grand Master]] is a ruthless sociopath and the leader of the Neo-Templars who wanted to find the power of Baphomet and use it to [[TakeOverTheWorld rule the world]]. To this end, the Grand Master coaxed other powerful figures into his organization and used them to spread strife and discord among governments and powerful corporations to weaken them. The Grand Master is apathetic to his own loyal followers' deaths--himself having some killed for failure. When he meets George Stobbart at Baphomet's shrine, he tries to [[WeCanRuleTogether convince the latter to join him]] before deciding to kill when he refused. [[BackFromTheDead Returning after his supposed death]], the Grand Master tries to burn one of his old followers alive in a fire. Then using his newfound powers, he painfully kills several of Susarro's followers at an abandoned theater. When finally revealing himself to the heroes at the armillary, the Grand Master then kills Susarro before using the armillary to focus all the dragon energy on a focal point to [[ImmortalityImmorality obtain immortality]], despite knowing the destructive effect it will cause to civilization.