I was poking around through some files I had received a while ago, compiled wav files for the MZ-1500, but some games were for the MZ-700. I loaded up an MZ-700 game at random and it was this - Broadsword.

The MZ-700 doesn't have any inbuilt graphics capabilities. Aside from letters, numbers, symbols, and katakana, there are a handful of glyphs that can be used, but many games just use a solid square or a generic face glyph. A PCG can really bolster the graphic capabilities of the system, but if you make a PCG-only game, you're alienating a big part of the MZ-700 consumer base. Games that offer both a PCG and non-PCG version are few and far between, I can only think of Pac-Man and Mappy off the top of my head.

So how do you add detail with such a limited range of implements? Well, one option is to use REALLY BIG objects in the game. A single square is 100% of a 1x1 player character, but if you make your player character 5x8, you can give it a fair amount of detail. Do the same for the enemies, and go all out on the bosses. Superimpose them all on an array of vibrant, varied backgrounds and you might have a winner. This led to the considerably unique aesthetic of Broadsword.

It's a fairly uncommon style of game for this platform, too. It's a real-time action-adventure game, even occasional elements of platformers. Between the aesthetic and the gameplay, this game seems sort of like the love-child of Dragon Buster and the semi-modern Digiloi for the Commodore 64.