Xuan-Yuan Sword: The Gate of Firmament Reviews
Xuan-Yuan Sword is gaming's homage to a "so good it's bad" B-movie.
An opportunity to explore Chinese mythology, unfortunately wasted due to poor execution.
Basically, Xuan-Yuan Sword: The Gate of Firmament, is an older game and suffers from a poor localisation, but there’s a heart and soul in it that is so earnest and honest that it’s very easy to forgive the game its transgressions. Whether it’s the mixing of fantasy, spiritual philosophy and some of the most ancient recorded history, or the engaging combat system and stunning art direction it’s easy to get lost in this adventure, and full credit to EastAsiaSoft for giving us a second chance to play it.
Xuan Yuan Sword: The Gate of Firmament is unfortunately a very poor experience, regardless of having the fundamentals of what should be a good game. From horrible presentation to constant mini-map glitches, there is almost nothing to like here. Combat is bland, environments are incredibly lacking, and the voicing acting and direction of this game is atrocious. Xuan Yuan is meant to be a treasured series in China, but nothing here is convincing me of it. Xuan Yuan Sword 7 was a very impressive game, but The Gate of Firmament is simply awful.
Tedious dialogue, bland visuals and confusing combat make Xuan-Yuan Sword: The Gate of Firmament a joyless experience.