History Main / AllSwordsAreTheSame

* ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'' averted this to a surprising degree for a UsefulNotes/SuperFamicom game - Cress's weapons are rated on both thrusting and slashing damage, so while he performs all special attacks the same way no matter the weapon, the resulting damage was very different depending on the weapon's suitability. Some could only do one or the other damage type in any useful amount, while others were balanced. Cress also used more than just swords, so you have to worry about issues like reach - spears might be able to hit two enemies with a good thrust, but that up-close enemy might not even get touched because it's inside your reach.

** Definitely true with ''VideoGame/LordOfTheRingsOnline''. Although each weapon tends to have a fairly custom appearance, characters will still wildly slash with a dagger or stab with a mace or axe because all movesets are based upon the character doing a specific move with a sword.

There are lots of different types of swords. There's [[KatanasAreJustBetter katanas]], [[KukrisAreKool kukris]], [[SinisterScimitar scimitars]], [[RoyalRapier rapiers]], [[{{BFS}} swords that should be logistically impossible for any human to wield]], and many more. Yes, the sword is certainly a unique and varied specimen, and no two kinds have exact the same method of wielding, even two swords of the same type will have different lengths, weights and so on based on their owners preference

[[caption-width-right:862:It's a sword. Why should I care how I hold it?]]

* Averted in ''VideoGame/Warframe'', which has a variety of melee weapons and melee categories. These include standard swords, [[KatanasAreJustBetter nikanas]], daggers, machetes, rapiers, swords and shields, heavy blades and gunblades. Each has its own attacking animations and stance mods, being totally separate weapon types. As an example, Broken War, a sword, deals mostly Slash damage, while War, the very same sword but in its complete heavy blade form, deals mostly Impact damage.

* ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey'': ZigZagged. Sword-wielding classes can use both slashing and piercing swords (AKA rapiers) just fine, but katanas are considered an entirely separate class of weapon. ''VideoGame/EtrianOdysseyIVLegendsOfTheTitan'' also has Drive Blades, another type of sword that is very different from regular swords and only usable by one unlockable class.

* The ''LARP/OtakonLARP'' keeps the complexity of the game system down by having most weapons distinct in appearance, but having fundamentally similar mechanics. Characters use one of four skills to wield any weapons of the category. Commonly: Melee Weapons, Fire Gun, Thrown, and BFG (Big guns feat). Individual item cards for the weapons list a flat damage, and may include a modifier to the attack skill.

** TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasyRoleplay 2nd Edition plays it even straighter, with almost every single-handed melee weapon larger than a dagger being lumped together as "Hand Weapons". The supplements (and the [[HouseRules fans]]) have gone some way to avert this, however, so if you have ''Old World Armoury'' your axes and maces are no longer functionally interchangeable with swords.

* ZigZagged in ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey''. Sword-wielding classes can use both slashing and piercing swords (AKA rapiers) just fine, but katanas are considered an entirely separate class of weapon. ''Etrian Odyssey IV'' also has Drive Blades, another type of sword that is very different from regular swords and only usable by one unlockable class.

* Inverted in ''{{VideoGame/Kritika}}''. All the Warrior-type characters use a BFS as their WeaponOfChoice, but each sub-class have different combos and combat style.

** Partically averted by ''VideoGame/{{Mabinogi}}'', which not only has different animations for different sword classes; but also certain sub-classes as well. eg. A two-handed japanese style sword has a different animation than a two-handed broadsword.

* Blatant in ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry2'': you get a normal sword, a {{BFS}} and a fencing sword, but only the look and damage differs, the combos are exactly the same. That's one of the reasons this episode is considered the black sheep of the series. The [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry1 first game]] also had this, but all the other games took the criticism to heart and utterly averted this trope.

* ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'': an intriguing example, in that the weapon's appearance changes depending on which character equips them. For example, equipping an axe on Isaac gets a double-headed battle-axe, give it to Garett and it becomes a huge woodcutter's axe. A mace can be a simple ball-on-a-stick or a Sauron-esque flanged mace or the ever-popular big-black-ball-o'-spikes. Ivan's SimpleStaff looks like his OrphansPlotTrinket but Mia's has a crystal ball on top. And so on.

* TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} plays it pretty straight too. Weapons are represented as broad categories; "hand weapons", which every unit in the game has access to, basically encompass every one-handed melee weapon whether it be an arming sword, a shortsword, a rapier, a hand axe, a mace, a short spear, or what have you. Every hand weapon is presumed to have identical stats (unless it's magical, in which case it'll get buffs listed separately), the only differences in performance being down to the Strength and Weapon Skill ratings of the user. This also applies to other weapon categories; "halberds", for instance, represent pretty much every type of two-handed polearm with a cutting component, including actual halberds, pollaxes, Lochaber axes, bardiches, and glaives. Justified in this case; the difference between such weapons is minuscule to the commander of even a small army, and per the appendices of the 5e and 6e core rulebooks, each model un a unit is supposed to represent 10-20 guys in "reality." The exact weight and shape of your one-handed sword isn't really worth modeling at that point, as the battle will instead be decided by larger factors.

* TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} plays it pretty straight too. Weapons are represented as broad categories; "hand weapons", which every unit in the game has access to, basically encompass every one-handed melee weapon whether it be an arming sword, a shortsword, a rapier, a hand axe, a mace, a short spear, or what have you. Every hand weapon is presumed to have identical stats (unless it's magical, in which case it'll get buffs listed separately), the only differences in performance being down to the Strength and Weapon Skill ratings of the user. Justified in this case; the difference between such weapons is minuscule to the commander of even a small army, and per the appendices of the 5e and 6e core rulebooks, each model un a unit is supposed to represent 10-20 guys in "reality." The exact weight and shape of your one-handed sword isn't really worth modeling at that point, as the battle will instead be decided by larger factors.

* On that note, ''VideoGame/{{Nostalgia}}'' plays this straight with regards to every weapon class. Most notably with guns, which vary from match-lock pistols to 1930s-era submachine guns; gun-wielding party member Pad handles them all with the exact same animations.

* Blatant in ''[[VideoGame/DevilMayCry Devil May Cry 2]]'': you get a normal sword, a {{BFS}} and a fencing sword, but only the look and damage differs, the combos are exactly the same. That's one of the reasons this episode is considered the black sheep of the series. The first game also had this, but all the other games took the criticism to heart and utterly averted this trope.

* ''VideoGame/PathOfExile'' makes a distinction between regular one-handed swords and thrusting swords, and their default attack animations and implicit bonuses are different. In practice, though, skills that require swords don't discriminate between these types of swords, so they both end up being swung.

* ''VideoGame/PathOfExile'' makes a distinction between regular one-handed swords and thrusting swords, and their default attack animations are different. In practice, though, skills that require swords don't discriminate between these types of swords, so they both end up being swung.