Developer: Softstar technology
Publisher: Eastasiasoft
Platform: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 (reviewed)
Publication date: now available
Price: $39.99 – Available Here

Overview

For many RPG fans in the West, the name of Sword and Fairy would mean absolutely nothing to them, despite the fact that the franchise, developed by Taiwan-based Softstar, is arguably one of the greatest RPGs of all time in China. There’s a relatively good reason for that though, as this series, despite starting in 1995, has almost never seen an English release outside of a PC release of the sixth installment and now finally a console release of the seventh. part in the series in the series. kind of Sword and Fairy: Together Forever. Will a uniquely developed RPG bring something new to the table for RPG fans or is Sword and Fairy: Together Forever still too rough around the edges for a world stage?

Story

There’s a pretty solid reason that Sword and Fairy: Together Forever has dropped the song from the title, in addition to making it a bit more appealing for newcomers to try the game out, and that just happens to be the fact that for the most part, players can enjoy most of what the storyline has to offer without any prior knowledge to the series. There are certain elements that might be a little rough around the edges and never feel really fleshed out, but those who are worried about just getting lost shouldn’t worry too much here.

Qingshu has trained all her life to protect her village from various monsters lurking outside the forests and as a member of the Mingshu sect blessed with a spiritual beast, she is quite adept at it. That is until one day she encounters a boy who is attacked by a monster she cannot hope to defeat, only for the mysterious but wounded Xiu Wu to intervene and help her. Xiu Wu, a deity in humanoid form, was knocked down by a demon lord and forced into the human realm during a chaotic battle and now players soon find themselves embroiled in a conflict that threatens to tear the entire world apart and doom all three forces. , people, gods and demons, to destruction.

Without going any further, players should already be getting a bit of a glimpse of how profound Sword and Fairy: Together Forever‘s storyline and it just gets closer from then on. This is partly due to an incredibly slow start and the game’s heavy use of lengthy cutscenes and dialogue sections that often dwarfs the actual gameplay moments that take place in between. Almost every aspect of the narration of the story is explained, be it through a random textbook or the aforementioned cutscene, but don’t expect an incredibly interesting story anyway. Despite the depth of the game, the actual core storyline is very predictable once the plot points start to fall into place, although it’s saved a bit by how deep the Chinese mythology goes and the actual characters that make up the player’s party.

The four main characters players will eventually get into their party play off each other so well that it’s a real pleasure when the story spends time focusing on their interactions. This includes growth and development as the story progresses, keeping things fresh even as the core story continues. That said, it’s worth noting that, as impressive as the original writing may have been, the English translation is incredibly rough in places and almost unintelligible in others. While the core storyline is usually translated well, perhaps a little too literally in some cases, there are numerous instances where character dialogues, menu descriptions, and even instructions have been translated so poorly that they go from minor distractions to frustrations that affect almost every written word in this Chinese voice game.

Gameplay

For the first time in the series’ history, Sword and Fairy: Together Forever uses an action-based combat system rather than a turn-based one and while this may not mean much to those unfamiliar with the franchise, it does mean that the developers aren’t as skilled at it as you’d hope, but luckily they pulled it off very well. While exploring and traveling through the game, players will roam freely in areas with their company of up to four characters and freely use their various attacks, abilities and magic attacks to take out enemies. This is done through a fairly simple yet entertaining combination of light and heavy attacks that can be strung together to award different special combos that change depending on the character being controlled and each character’s special abilities.

While stringing combo attacks will make up most of the game’s combat, players can also utilize up to eight skills that can be assigned to R2 + the four face buttons. These skills are quite flashy and can do tons of damage, although unfortunately they are not organized and labeled the best when it comes to healing, buffing or just dealing damage and even then a few of these skills are also incredibly similar to each other. It’s also nice to note that magical attacks that deal massive amounts of damage can also be unleashed on enemies and can be vital to use in boss fights, but otherwise players will find that, for the most part, many fights don’t even matter. extensive knowledge of the combat system.

This is due to the fact that while the combat is fun and hectic at the same time, it’s also incredibly easy to the point of disappointment outside of a few challenging boss battles that require unique elements to take out. As a result, players can’t make the most of what the game’s combat system has to offer, nor does it help that more often than not, ally AI is incredibly stupid, as they rarely use their special moves well and, in more than one few cases, you just deal basic damage unless players trade to them and use their skills.

Outside of the game’s combat, players will find that the game tries to vary things up from time to time by having different stealth sections, as well as a variety of mini-games and few distractions, but doesn’t really offer too much fun compared to the actual combat. . On the other hand, exploring the world can be quite fun, especially since there are a wide variety of areas to travel through and despite the game’s linear nature, there is plenty to discover in most locations as well as ingredients to be used. collected and cooked together for some temporary stat boosts. Unfortunately the same can’t be said about the game’s incredibly generic side quests that are arguably the worst in the game with a few that are almost incomprehensible if not for the objective markings and even then they just come down to defeat certain demons, pick up quests, or talk to another character.

Sound and Vision

Play on the PlayStation 5 Sword and Fairy: Together Forever can look quite amazing at times, especially in lush, more detailed environments. On the other hand, there are areas that are designed so simply and muted in nature that they look like they were taken from a completely different game. The same can be said with regard to the character designs as their models are well treated but lack actual facial animations. As for the monsters and battles, thankfully the game offers a ton of monster variety, especially when it comes to boss design, and the frenetic battles are always a highlight and never experience any lag on the console.

As mentioned, this game only uses the original Chinese voice track, which is a bit unique for an oriental RPG, but unfortunately the development team chose to accompany it with an incredibly small and non-customizable subtitle font which makes it easy. is to miss the dialogue. The soundtrack that comes with the game features a nice variety of songs, as well as some really excellent instrumental pieces that feel quite unique.

General

Sword and Fairy: Together Forever is in a bit of an odd place, as not only does it have to do with being almost the first entry into a long-running series for most players, but it also doesn’t take advantage of most of its strongest elements. Players will find that the characters in the storyline are quite well written, but the story itself, despite an impressively deep knowledge, is rather predictable and suffers from terrible localization, just as the fun battles are easy to learn but lack any real challenge either. to pit players against. This makes this Chinese RPG one that has a lot of charm at times, but also many flaws that hinder the experience.

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