Sword and Fairy: Together Forever Review

The Sword and Fairy franchise is not a well-known series in the West, with the majority of its titles never releasing on this side of the world. Sword and Fairy: Together Forever — originally titled The Legend of Sword and Fairy 7 upon its PC release last year — has come to PlayStation, and I was excited to dive into my first game created by developer Softstar. But is this a title I wanted to be together forever with, or was it a one-night stand I wanted to make a hasty retreat from?

Whilst the original title indicates that this is the seventh in a series of games, Together Forever is its own self-contained story and has been described as a good jumping-in point for the franchise (which is great considering it's been around for over 25 years). The game blends Chinese mythology with its own narrative, and whilst I only have a fleeting knowledge of the subject, I still found my experience an enjoyable one, although I spent a lot of time reading through the in-game lore.

We start out playing as Xiu Wu, who’s apparently stuck in the Demon Realm of Yanbo, evading a swarm of demonic forces as he seeks a way out. Initially, there is no rhyme or reason to what is happening, but I absolutely wanted to know more and was surprised that this wasn’t just going to be set on Earth.

Fast forward through this action-packed tutorial section, and you find yourself in the role of our main character: Yue Qingshu. The story takes a bit of a backseat as you get to freely explore a village and the large forest area surrounding it, taking on generic side quests and getting a feel for the combat. However, it isn’t long before Qingshu rescues a young boy, Ziqiu, who seems to be more than just a defenceless child. She then comes face to face with our earlier hero, Xiu Wu, kicking off an adventure that stretches across multiple worlds, with a consistent (although there are ample opportunities to stray away) narrative throughout.

There was a lot I didn’t understand during the opening hours of Together Forever, though thankfully, the game’s library in the menu certainly helped fill in the blanks of characters, locations, etc. What didn’t help was the large number of translation errors I found. As the game's audio isn’t localised, you’ll be spending a lot of time reading. Having grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and sentences that just make no sense in context really hurts the immersion. That being said, it does have an interesting story to follow, and despite a few pacing issues, I found myself wanting to know what was next for Qingshu and the gang.

Sword and Fairy: Together Forever won’t be blowing you away with any stunning current-gen graphics, but it definitely has a charming aesthetic. From the colourful cast of characters, unique monster design (seriously; a mutated ginseng root with an old man's face was creepily endearing), and the wide variety of environments, I was genuinely impressed. There was the odd low-resolution texture or jagged edge to hair textures, but this isn’t a AAA title, so I wasn’t expecting the world.

What I did expect more from was the sound. Without a doubt, the musical themes heard throughout the game are fantastic, sweeping orchestral pieces that are non-stop and rarely miss the mark. However, I often found the effects to be out of sync with whatever was happening on screen during cutscenes by at least five seconds, which killed any sort of immersion I otherwise would have had. It genuinely is a shame, as some of these scenes are impressive visual spectacles full of chaotic battles and over-the-top moments that add to the mystical wonder the game is packed with, but it was just so difficult to enjoy without the sound effects being in time.

Whilst you will be spending a lot of time talking to NPCs, exploring the world and taking on sidequests (of which there are many, although none offered interesting side-stories to explore), Sword and Fairy: Together Forever is very action-focused. You’ll control one character at a time when in combat, and at its very basic level, you use a combination of light and heavy attacks. Each character also has various abilities to pull off, from basic magic spells all the way to satisfyingly extravagant, particle effect-laden attacks. Swapping between characters is simple, and you’ll be effortlessly changing it up to utilise the most effective party member constantly, as each one has their own specific element assigned to them.

You could compare the combat to titles such as Tales of Arise; which, if you’ve played that game, is definitely a compliment. But Sword and Fairy: Together Forever isn’t just a rehash of other games, and I found myself enjoying fights as I gained more levels, improved my weapons, and unlocked new abilities.

Overall then, Together Forever is a satisfying to play — yet often frustrating to watch — action-RPG. Whilst the gameplay is solid and the world around you is engaging enough that you want to know more, the sound issues and translation errors dampened my immersion drastically. Hopefully, we’ll see a few patches after release to clean these issues up, but if you’re looking for a lengthy title to get stuck into, I’d still recommend giving this one a go.