Xuanyuan Sword VII
The latest work in Softstar's dual-sword series, an immortal cultivation RPG with Mohist mechanical arts as its background. Though it has highlights in voice acting and text, overall performance is mediocre with frequent technical issues and weak plot, failing to continue the series' glory.
Art Appreciation
Rating Breakdown
Deductions
The combat system is mediocre, and companions have practically no skills to speak of. The QTEs are pointless and poorly timed.
Driven by a mediocre script, you hack through mediocre monsters, with no depth to speak of. Several mechanism puzzles are badly timed and unoriginal, failing to bring out the Mohist mechanical-arts background.
The Tome system should have been the core system, but the final product is perfunctory. It attempts an action combat system, but the design is long outdated.
Because everything is mediocre, immersion naturally suffers badly.
The story has fundamental flaws, making it hard to bond emotionally with the characters.
Deductions
Many textures fail to load, and characters can walk in ahead of them, which leads to clipping.
Overall optimization is poor.
Texture loading issues, same as above.
Mediocre.
Deductions
The opening cinematic was actually decent, but the later game doesn't live up to it.
Clipping in many places.
Chinese games really do lag behind the major international studios technically; the textures are clearly subpar.
Character models are stiff, monster models are reskins, and there aren't many types.
The music in the mazes doesn't build any atmosphere.
Animations are very stiff.
It uses live-action motion capture, yet it's still stiff; the actors' professional skills need work.
Highlights
One of the few things in this game that wowed me: the Tome's voice lines carefully reconstruct Middle Chinese pronunciation, and as a linguistics enthusiast I fully endorse this; thanks to the developers for the care put into it. As for the everyday Chinese voice acting between characters, it's all well-known voice actors and very professional.
Deductions
The story as a whole is unremarkable and never conveys any central theme.
Several things don't add up; you think there's foreshadowing, but there isn't.
The sister clearly turns dark midway, but in the end nothing happens? Hong'er gets plenty of screen time from the start and a reunion after years apart, but she never becomes a vivid character. The supporting cast goes without saying. After searching all the way to the end for a way to save the sister, the only one is Sang Wenjin sacrificing herself to save her, and then the party just happily goes home? No emotional buildup whatsoever.
Missing something, go find it, then repeat like nesting dolls, with no real push to the main story.
There's hardly any side content.
A rushed, very sloppy conclusion that doesn't feel like a proper ending.
The whole script has fundamental flaws, and with obvious signs of crunch, the pacing is a mess too.
Completely flat; it leaves no impression after finishing. I'm a player who really loves the xianxia genre, often defend it, and strongly oppose the online refrain that Chinese games are nothing but xianxia. But if new xianxia titles all end up at the level of Xuanyuan Sword 7 or Sword and Fairy 7, even I can't hold the line.
Among all of DOMO's twin-sword series entries, this one has one of the shallowest worlds, with no sense of patriotic devotion left at all. It's set in the Xin dynasty, with the hero and Liu Xiu sworn brothers, and then that whole thread just disappears later on? It focuses entirely on saving the sister from beginning to end — staying true to its original purpose, I suppose.
Highlights
Anyway, save the sister — it starts from such a simple motive, so it can't really be called off-topic.
The writing holds up for the xianxia genre, especially voiced by professional actors; it's acceptable.
Deductions
A linear progression, too short, with a mediocre story; there's not much to say about the content overall. The chess minigame is a decent concept and I challenged every opponent, but the special effects of several late-game pieces are too strong, throwing it a bit off balance.
Rather monotonous, without much character.
Fairly short, leaving the sense that it just ends out of nowhere.
Nothing at all worth a second playthrough.
Aside from chess pieces, no particular collectibles. There are only two hidden levels, which reward underwhelming new skills.
After beating every opponent in the chess game, I assumed an achievement would pop, but none did.
Overwhelmingly negative reviews. My scoring doesn't normally consider price, but many players in the community felt the price was too high for such an unfinished game.