I saw a random youtube gameplay clip of this game which initially caught my eye. It was gameplay of a boss battle that I thought looked pretty interesting. After finishing Xuan Yuan 7 I've come to realize that either the boss was omited from the game or I got the name of the game mixed up with something else.
Regardless XY7 is a pretty mediocre 3rd person action game that takes place in ancient China, where you play an adventureer on a quest to save his sister from death. A quick glance at the game and you might think "Oh man this looks like a low budget adventure game, that while graphicly looks better than the average low budget game and seems to have decent combat, at the right price point this could be harmless fun inbetween a bigger release" and while that is true to an extent, even with this mindset I ended feeling disapointed by this game. First it took two years to come to an acceptable price point IMO. Then after starting mid way through the real problems of the game start to sink in for me.
The biggest issue for me is pacing. There are lots of moments in XY7 where you are constantly being interupted for a cutscene that seems to go on forever where it's just straight character dialog about them talking really about nothing only to take a few steps and start another scene. It honestly felt more annoying than even MGS4. At least there I liked the actual scenes and felt like I actually gained something from them. About half way through the game I honestly just started skipping cutscenes, which is something I NEVER do on a first playthrough even in games I dislike because I hate the feeling of missing out on something but here I never really did. Added on top of the constant interuption there are long periods of running around empty maps for what seems like an eternity to go pick up something only to have to travel all the way back in empty corridors to return a quest item.
As for the gameplay it's as basic as it gets. One strong attack and one quick 4 hit combo. Mix and match ect. I'm okay with simplistic combat if the tools feel good and actually test you defensive and offensive abilities but every thing here is so stiff and easy. Enemies are either card board cut outs or damage sponges with no strategy. The block with the sword seems useless as you still take damage and it locks you in place. The dodge looks and sounds fast when you see it but in practice it's really clumsy and enemies seem to track it too well. So if it's not a perfect roll it doesn't help. Too many times it puts you in a more dangerous path or hits some background item and stops. There are some weapon upgrades for you and your auto attacking party members but weapons, armor and accessories cost a pretty penny and materials for just a minor stat upgrade. Never felt like it made a difference either way. Plus an annoying thing was the healing items cure so little health and they are on a cooldown timer. So if I need to stop and heal in a battle I have to stop attacking and just concentrate on healing a fraction of health and waiting for the cool down timer to use it again cause it gave me so little. Plus there are attack damage and defense buff that go on the same cooldown meter. So if I wanna buff myself up for a tough looking battle it takes forever before I can actually play use the damn things. Plus a lot of enemies on the story path deal poisen damage in the scripted battles. So now I have just healed waiting to heal again as my health ticks down pretty much negating my first potion useage. Great. You know what just fuck it and go all out, health be damned and ride or die and you will win most battles.
XY7 felt overly long and didn't have a whole lot to say. It's story was boring and uninteresting. Weird lore and background materials really don't help it at all either. Do they want a realistic backdrop or magic monster nonsense. Other games have done but much better. XY7 just seems like it does what it wants when it wants. Even with low expectations I still found my self disappointed in it. As for any positive comments for this game. Yea sure, for one it was an easy platinum and two the zhou lou chess mini game that you can play throughout was pretty damn good and was I think my favorite part of it unexpectedly. XY7 isn't the worst game I've played but it sure doesn't do anything to really meet the average baseline in similar games. Plus it really does feel it's budget at times with so many reused animations. Man just the amount of times you see that jump up a wall and hang with one arm on a ledge animation. The one time in the game where the character didn't do it I actually was legit shocked and jumped up for joy.
Platinum # 169
Regardless XY7 is a pretty mediocre 3rd person action game that takes place in ancient China, where you play an adventureer on a quest to save his sister from death. A quick glance at the game and you might think "Oh man this looks like a low budget adventure game, that while graphicly looks better than the average low budget game and seems to have decent combat, at the right price point this could be harmless fun inbetween a bigger release" and while that is true to an extent, even with this mindset I ended feeling disapointed by this game. First it took two years to come to an acceptable price point IMO. Then after starting mid way through the real problems of the game start to sink in for me.
The biggest issue for me is pacing. There are lots of moments in XY7 where you are constantly being interupted for a cutscene that seems to go on forever where it's just straight character dialog about them talking really about nothing only to take a few steps and start another scene. It honestly felt more annoying than even MGS4. At least there I liked the actual scenes and felt like I actually gained something from them. About half way through the game I honestly just started skipping cutscenes, which is something I NEVER do on a first playthrough even in games I dislike because I hate the feeling of missing out on something but here I never really did. Added on top of the constant interuption there are long periods of running around empty maps for what seems like an eternity to go pick up something only to have to travel all the way back in empty corridors to return a quest item.
As for the gameplay it's as basic as it gets. One strong attack and one quick 4 hit combo. Mix and match ect. I'm okay with simplistic combat if the tools feel good and actually test you defensive and offensive abilities but every thing here is so stiff and easy. Enemies are either card board cut outs or damage sponges with no strategy. The block with the sword seems useless as you still take damage and it locks you in place. The dodge looks and sounds fast when you see it but in practice it's really clumsy and enemies seem to track it too well. So if it's not a perfect roll it doesn't help. Too many times it puts you in a more dangerous path or hits some background item and stops. There are some weapon upgrades for you and your auto attacking party members but weapons, armor and accessories cost a pretty penny and materials for just a minor stat upgrade. Never felt like it made a difference either way. Plus an annoying thing was the healing items cure so little health and they are on a cooldown timer. So if I need to stop and heal in a battle I have to stop attacking and just concentrate on healing a fraction of health and waiting for the cool down timer to use it again cause it gave me so little. Plus there are attack damage and defense buff that go on the same cooldown meter. So if I wanna buff myself up for a tough looking battle it takes forever before I can actually play use the damn things. Plus a lot of enemies on the story path deal poisen damage in the scripted battles. So now I have just healed waiting to heal again as my health ticks down pretty much negating my first potion useage. Great. You know what just fuck it and go all out, health be damned and ride or die and you will win most battles.
XY7 felt overly long and didn't have a whole lot to say. It's story was boring and uninteresting. Weird lore and background materials really don't help it at all either. Do they want a realistic backdrop or magic monster nonsense. Other games have done but much better. XY7 just seems like it does what it wants when it wants. Even with low expectations I still found my self disappointed in it. As for any positive comments for this game. Yea sure, for one it was an easy platinum and two the zhou lou chess mini game that you can play throughout was pretty damn good and was I think my favorite part of it unexpectedly. XY7 isn't the worst game I've played but it sure doesn't do anything to really meet the average baseline in similar games. Plus it really does feel it's budget at times with so many reused animations. Man just the amount of times you see that jump up a wall and hang with one arm on a ledge animation. The one time in the game where the character didn't do it I actually was legit shocked and jumped up for joy.
Platinum # 169