Xuan Yuan Sword 7 (Nintendo Switch) Review - gameblur (2024)

It was Xuan Yuan Sword 7’s release in 2021 that finally brought it and its sister series, Sword and Fairy, to my attention. Despite some issues, Xuan Yuan Sword 7 proved one of my favourite RPG’s of 2021, featuring a rich, beautiful world, great characters, a fantastic story, and really fun action-RPG gameplay. We scored the original release a 9 [here’s the video review] and, suffice to say, I’ve been hooked on the series since.

When a Nintendo Switch port of the game was announced, I was immediately intrigued and warily excited. Would the developers be able to successfully port this Unreal Engine title to the Switch, a machine notorious for not handling the engine well? And what, if anything, would be lost in the technical translation? Now, after a long wait, I finally had the chance to see if the Switch port did justice to this epic Chinese action-RPG.

Set during the late Western Han Dynasty, Xuan Yuan Sword 7 throws you into an epic tale focused on blending Chinese mythology with history. You take on the role of hunter Taishi Zhao, whose only concern is in looking after his sister while flying low beneath the radar of the powers that be. But when a monster attack puts his sister’s life in jeopardy, Taishi is forced to leave his home and seek the help of the gods to restore his sister’s soul to her body.

Now I’ve used the word “epic” to describe Xuan Yuan Sword 7 several times because it is. The game gives us a glimpse of a China mired in mythology, history, and the supernatural – with some grand locations that most Western audiences will only know from period pieces and Wuxia martial arts movies (albeit without all of the aerial combat).

The combat, next to the story, is one of the games major assets. It’s fast, fluid, and fun, making use of multiple fighting styles and companions who assist in combat. Taishi unlocks multiple martial arts styles through the campaign that are designed to complement his basic sword attacks. Regardless of whether you’re using empty-hand strikes or powered-up sword swings, the combat is fluid enough to switch between them with ease in the heat of battle. You can also block attacks and parry too – but be aware these actions root you in place when it’s often preferable to stay mobile.

Combat feels very hack-and slash orientated with multiple enemies to focus on at a time, so you have to pay attention to multiple incoming attacks while managing a stamina bar. Staggering enemies is a key feature, allowing you to can perform one-hit-kills on the smaller enemies and deal massive damage to the bosses. Your party members attack of their own accord but also have special attacks that you trigger.

The classic RPG mechanics are relatively traditional and streamlined. You equip accessories to buff stats, use workshops to craft new weapons and accessories, while monster souls are collected to further augment your abilities.

With that out of the way, the biggest question is how has this translated over to the Nintendo Switch?

In most ways, the Switch port manages to capture the spirit of its bigger console brothers perfectly. The story is still wonderful, the fully voiced dialogue and excellent music is accounted for, and, surprisingly, the combat remains fast and fluid most of the time.

But, and, unfortunately, there is a “but” – this comes with a price. The original version of the game came with some performance caveats that have translated over to the Switch, but the Switch version also brings its own issues to the table with one significant rendering technique that may make or break the game for you.

As with the original version, there are some wonky animations at times paired with strange mesh distortions. These are often seen with cloth animation, which seems to be resolve at a lower framerate. As a result, it looks stuttery during combat and movement, and cloth textures stretch during some of the games Uncharted-style platforming sequences.

As you might expect, there are lower resolution assets for models and textures – most notably in the environment and, specifically on the game’s foliage. The environments show off the low-res assets most prominently, especially in outdoor areas. Thankfully, character and monster models hold up quite well, looking great in close-ups and during the excellent cinematics.

The game doesn’t have a stable framerate either, but it rarely drops low enough to actually be a problem. There were a few stutters during exploration and one or two locations saw large drops but, for the most part, it seems to stay relatively stable. Kudos to the games developers for keeping the framerate in combat sequences mostly stable and fast, preserving the games fluidity and speed during key moments.

This brings me to the technique that will either make or break this for you: “DRS”. Yup, Dynamic Resolution Scaling is at play here and it is very aggressive in this port, leaving almost no frame untouched and resulting in a notably fluctuating resolution. At times, especially when exploring interiors, the game looks great. However, in more demanding and complex natural environments with enemies and NPC’s, there’s a massive resolution drop that can leave the image looking smeared and blurry. In some areas, the drop is low enough that you can have trouble distinguishing elements onscreen – most significantly enemies from the background.

I’d actually forgotten just how much I loved Xuan Yuan word 7 until I started replaying it on the Nintendo Switch. The combat, story, the setting, and exploration still kept me engaged, despite having gone through it on PS4 before. Does the Switch version have issues as we have come to expect from Unreal ports? Certainly, but they’re more disappointing than game breaking and yes, even the wildly fluctuating resolution couldn’t stop me from enjoying it. That said, it does make scoring the game harder because it is a hefty visual issue that might put off some players – especially those considering playing it on a big screen. At the end of the day, I’d argue this is a great RPG that fans of the genre should play – you just have to decide whether portability or presentation is more important to you.

Xuan Yuan word 7 was reviewed on Nintendo Switch using a code provided to gameblur by the publisher. It is also available on PC, Xbox One/Series S|X, and PS4/5.