The simple action RPG Sword and Fairy: Together Forever is based on Chinese mythology. It's the latest game in Softstar's long-running Sword and Fairy series, and there's a lot to like about it in terms of how it looks and how it makes you feel overall. But after about 30 hours of playing this adventure game, fans of the genre may feel like they didn't get their money's worth.
The story moves quickly from one isolated place to the next, so the title is linear. Some larger environments can be explored, but there isn't much to find besides side quests and extra fights that are pretty much the same every time. It's a problem because most of your time in Together Forever will be spent watching cutscenes or listening to long conversations between characters. The number of non-interactive scenes is much higher than the number of interactive scenes, so much so that sometimes it feels like you're watching a movie.
Sword and Fairy 7 Game Review
As with other Final Fantasy games, this one has its own story and doesn't pick up where the last one left off. The main characters are Yue Quingshu, one of the last members of the Mingshu Sect, and Xiu Wu, a god who has lost a divine sword and must stay in the human world because of it. The two become friends against their will, so they have to stay together as they meet new friends and find hidden enemies.
Fair enough, some of the cutscenes are pretty amazing. Much time & effort went into making this movie-like story, which has excellent choreography and direction. It's just too bad that this flashiness seems to come at the cost of more extended game scenarios. One early part of the game is a good example. There, you fight a boss for about 30 seconds, and on either side of it are cutscenes that last more than five minutes each.
It's a problem with how the story moves because the combat system in Sword and Fairy is basic but fun. It is based on your usual light and heavy attacks, a large button to dodge, and special moves. The character animations are beautiful, the movement is smooth, and most enemy designs are great, but if you like action games, you might find it all a little too easy, even in the most challenging setting.
As was already said, the dodge button is very good at avoiding your opponent's attacks, and you'll be able to see them coming from a mile away. We only ran into trouble a few times during the whole game, and even then, we had so many healing items that any damage we took didn't matter. We're not saying that more accessible combat systems are inadequate, but we think more difficult fights would have helped a lot because the game isn't balanced.
Even so, the best part of the game is learning new moves for your heroes and seeing them destroy monsters. Each party member has a different way of fighting, which keeps things interesting, and figuring out how to use your skills best gives you something to think about when the enemies aren't doing much damage.
Since the most fun combat in Sword and Fairy has to take a backseat, you might think the game's story would go above and beyond, but it's annoyingly hit or miss. It's clear that the book's best parts come from its main characters and the relationships they build with each other. The interactions between the outgoing spirit maiden Yue and the quiet deity warrior Xiu Wu, which have a romantic feel, are charming from the beginning to the end. There's good chemistry between the characters, and it's often shown in a charmingly funny way.
Even though the story is based on exciting myths and legends, it is harder to care about the overall plot. Powerful demons are trying to make trouble in the human realm, and it's up to Yue and the others to put things back in order. The premise and the way it's done are easy to guess, but a few plot twists near the end surprised us and kept us interested.
The story of Together Forever does have one big flaw, though, and it's not always the game's fault. The English translation is not very good. The translated script is often written strangely. Broken English and strange phrases make it hard to read and understand the dialogue (the game is voiced in Chinese, by the way). Even the text on a menu can be poorly written, creating a strange situation where you're reading English but don't understand what it means. To be clear, a lot of the script is good enough, but a title with so much text and likable characters deserves a lot more.
You'll do one of three things when you're not in battle. Cutscenes, running to the next one or doing side quests. There are a lot of long cutscenes here, and I don't like how you can finish one, move forward for a few seconds, and then run into another one. The ones that go into more detail are well done, but there are also scenes with a lot of talking where the characters stand. Aside from how long and often they are, lousy translation is the main problem. All the voice-overs are in Chinese, so you'll have to read a lot. However, the text isn't very natural, so you'll have to try to understand it. You'll get the story's main idea, but some details may get lost in the chaos.
You'll be running around a map with set zones when you're not watching cutscenes. The next goal or optional task will be marked clearly. Most sub-quests require you to walk to another NPC, who might be in a different area and talk to them. You might get asked one or two questions, but this doesn't happen often. If you don't, you'll have to fight a monster or group of monsters. It's pretty simple, but they don't stay around long enough to be annoying.
You can make or improve weapons in towns or sometimes find them while adventuring. Other than that, you have to reach your next goal. It's a very linear game, which I don't mind, but other than choosing who to control in battle (and each character does play differently), there's not much choice for the player to make.
There are a few minigames that you can play to move forward or just for fun. The main two are a rock-paper-scissors card battler and a platform minigame that is doable but a little awkward because of the camera. The camera isn't perfect at all. During combat, keeping the action in the middle is challenging because the lock-on isn't very good, but you get used to it. It also gets stuck on walls in small areas.
Not everyone will like Sword and Fairy: Together Forever. Action fans will be disappointed by how little the combat system is used, and those who want a carefully made story will have to put up with a terrible English localization. But despite its apparent flaws, Together Forever has a charm that can't be denied. It has charming characters and a beautiful way of telling the story. It's a fun and easy-going RPG if you don't expect too much.
Action combat moves the series in a slightly different direction in Sword and Fairy: Together Forever, which mainly works. There are a lot of cutscenes, and they go on for a while, which will turn off some people. Also, the game's progression is linear, which isn't for everyone. Like the last game, it's still fun, but unlike the last one, this one runs well, with only the occasional problem. I want tighter translations in future titles because it makes getting into the characters and story harder, though not impossible.
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