REVIEW: Xuan-Yuan Sword VII on PC (Steam)

Review by Jon Donnis
Xuan-Yuan Sword VII is the latest Action role-playing game from Yooreka Studio, a game plot that is set firmly in Chinese history and mythology set in the Western Han Dynasty.

Your character is called Taishi Zhao. Let's take a look at the official synopsis

In the last of Western Han Dynasty, the powerful prime minister of China superseded his emperor and build a new dynasty called Xin. In this year, words appeared on the boulders, stone cattles appeared in fields, and ancient tombs cracked, tremendous signs appeared, told a time of peace and prosperity will come. A peculiar bamboo slip in the crypt of Marquis of Liu was delivered to Court Astrologer's hand.

Unexpectedly, Taishi Mansion was badly damaged by a bizarre fire that night, and all his family was killed in the fire and the bamboo slip disappeared.

Ten years later, the prosperity mentioned in the prophecy has never come. A decade of war and famine, the people were miserable, and the chaos had spread among the country.

Ok, so Xuan-Yuan Sword VII is an Action RPG, using my preferred third-person perspective to play, this game is story heavy, and that is good if you like to feel emersed in the history of the story that is being told.

Combat seems a bit basic, but for what it is, it is perfectly fine, but you will just find yourself using heavy attack over and over and will win every fight pretty easily. You can also cast some magic spells, but you only really get two spells, so it's pretty basic in that respect. But let us be honest, swinging a sword is always more satisfying. You are also accompanied by your little sister, who has her own powers which you can call upon in times of need, but mostly you will just leave her to do her own thing.

You will come across various puzzles in the game, some easier than others, although once you try for long enough you can just skip them if they are too hard, and it doesn't affect the game as far as I can see. You can upgrade your character as you would expect, better weapons, amulets, the usual stuff. You also have access to the Elysium, a magical plane of existence whereby you can craft things which will really help upgrade your character.

The graphics are stunning and the music is beautiful, and the voice acting, although not in English, just sounded right to me.

The Good

Easy to play, great graphics and music.

The Bad

The combat at times can be a bit unbalanced on a difficulty level, and some of the translation as I read the subtitles is a tad off, but nothing that will really cause more than an eye roll on your behalf.

Overall

A fun game that you will fly through, if you like ARPG and you like Chinese history and mythology, then give this game a look. I am enjoying it so far.

Review by Jon Donnis