Sword and Fairy is a franchise that may not be well known outside the eastern part, but it’s a long-loved and remarkable series that has finally moved west in the last few years. Many of them are reputable and technically playable, but most are in Chinese only and require fan translations for Western gamers to experience them. Sword and Fairy: Together Forever (aka Sword and Fairy 7) is jumping to become a more recognized Eastern action RPG series. After playing for the first two hours on the PlayStation 5, Sword and Fairy caught my interest as a game I wanted to watch to the end, despite its obvious drawbacks.
The first thing worth mentioning is that this is western localization, but the whole game is spoken in Chinese. I have subtitles for dialogue, but I still had problems from time to time. As the dialogue progressed naturally, I sometimes couldn’t finish reading in time. I also occasionally noticed grammatical mistakes. To some extent, the credibility presented is commendable, but this can cause really fundamental problems for some players.
Although it’s an ongoing series, Sword and Fairy: Together Forever acts as a unique, self-contained story, so if you want to try it out, you don’t need the knowledge you need to fully enjoy what’s offered. The story revolves around a young woman named Qingzhou, a sword practitioner who helps protect a local village from monsters. Until she rescues the mysterious boy, she gets involved in an ongoing war between God and the devil … of course.
“”
This may be a rather stereotyped concept for those familiar with the JRPG genre, but it’s this story that ultimately attracted me. Western viewers rarely get action RPGs with JRPG elements focused on Chinese culture. So, in other examples, even when the sword and fairy are struggling, it makes it feel like a fresh experience.
Graphically, swords and fairies are visually a big step from the previous entry. When run on Unreal Engine 4, it fills with PS5’s gorgeous character models, creatures, environments, and architectures. However, it is inconsistent except in cutscenes. Still, during playtime, there was more than one moment when I paused to appreciate the area around me.
Gameplay, on the other hand, is a bit short of Sword and Fairy in the first two hours. Swords and Fairies, which are mainly held in mountainous areas, are divided into various areas. Side quests are available for certain sections of the story. Unfortunately, what I’ve tried is just your typical fetch quest.
Similarly, combat cannot reach the potential it has, at least so far. It’s the first real-time hack and slash method in the series, so there are some combos here and there, but using the lock-on feature didn’t feel tight. Part of this is due to the lack of flow in combat, but another source of frustration inside and outside combat was the camera. I found it constantly lost to me, and even after reducing its sensitivity in the settings menu, I still found problems on a regular basis.
“”
Characters have their own abilities, such as shooting spectrum swords, shooting down enemies with lightning, or just general healing, all of which could be better integrated. I have. The ability cannot be activated until the character’s current move is complete. That is, it cannot be canceled for another move. As for boss battles, we’ve found it a bit more fun not only to use the environment as a strategic tool to gain an advantage, but also to use the split mechanism, which is a quick-time event, but in general, it’s actually real. It’s more flashover than.
Sword and Fairy: After spending time with Together Forever, despite its flaws, I got a deeper dive from me. It’s most comparable to a JRPG, and even if the gameplay is half-hearted, its story and presentation impressed me with an instant, some unexpected twist in such a short amount of time. All the characters I have introduced have promises and there is a question asking the game to know the answer. After playing for the first two hours, I suspect that swords and fairies may not be good for everyone. But for those who give it a chance, you may be amazed at the intimacy and charm that the plot and the world bring when the full game is released on the PlayStation platform in August.
