Shuyan Saga Review (aruvin)
Shuyan Saga (SS in short) developed and published by Lofty Sky Entertainment Inc. The PC version was released on: Aug 8, 2017 and is also available On: Iphone/Ipad. On Metacritic (https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/shuyan-saga) it does not have any rating - as of this writing.
For me Shuyan Saga reminds me of Bioware's Jade Empire. It's not 100% similar but it's closest product which I can relate & make comparison with. SS is a single player, bash em up, Kung Fu@martial art theme, with some mystical element, using a combination of top-down 2D view and 3D in a 1-on-1 fighting scene, is a Visual Novel driven story (like Telltale/Life is strange), featuring a female protagonist and it also has great music soundtrack. I know that a whole lot of take in@sounds very strange but that's the product utilizing various mechanics & elements from different movies and games - which some of you may be familiar with. So is it a great product? I'am going to say Yes.
What is SS about?
You play as Shuyan, a princess of Nan Feng, who has lost her friends, family and kingdom to a very bad man. She goes on a quest to "unlock" her mystical kung fu powers and makes some new friends along the way to save her kingdom/the people of Nan Feng from evil. For some, that kinda sounds like a quest for revenge.
Controls, Audio, Visuals, Writing:
Controls: keyboard button: Q and W and mouse. Nothing more.
I'll start off with visual. It's like a visual novel@comic and it's been drawn beautifully. All characters are drawn so well, distinct clothing styles and colors. That includes the Mystic creatures, to the kingdom and mountain temples. +1
All characters voice has been done properly. Each has their own persona. (I assure you its better than andromeda. Ahem!) +1
The writing/story may be simple but so much emphasis has been put into the character development mainly Shuyan, Jade, Dongmei, Jian and Ganbaatar. I wished that they had explained more about:
Shuyan's family - why was she closer to her dad than her mom. Why did she picked up martial arts.
Lily - ohh this is an underused character. As Shuyan's best friend, so much more could have been done on her character.
Master Long - we didn't know a single thing about his background until Ganbaatar mentioned something shocking in the final confrontation.
Lore - I wished they could have added/expanded on the kingdom's background/allies/etc apart from the mountain temple/mystic creatures only.
I wanted more story >_< but having said that, this was a good start@standard. +1
Mechanics:
I am not sure why there is a leveling system - which is not apparent on the UI and serves little to no purpose. The main thing that drives the player is the story and mouse clicking@bashing. xD
Fighting mechanics:
Imagine WB's Batman combat merge with Xcom (2D + 3D) It's truely unique and clunky. It doesn't feel sharp like Batman, Shadow of Mordor or Assasin creed. If feels very basic and frustrating at certain levels when the map is filled with 6-7 enemies coming at you (The 2D view). So that's one major area of improvement.
In a 1-on-1 fighting (The 3D view), this feels much better however it is so limited. All that wondrous combo move that we've acquired seems like a waste. Rarely did I manage to execute some fancy moves. Most of the time I just evade + counter + 3 leg kick/3 head punch and repeat. T.T
My personal thoughts/My Summary:
It's been a while since I felt excited, refreshing and was able to immerse myself into a game - have some fun with little frustrations and wanting more. The last time i felt this wasy was with Life is strange/Witcher 3/Gibz (Seriously). Are my standards too high?
There were no frustrating game design/mechanic here. The scope of the product was small (and this is the right decision for your first product), direct gameplay, easy to pick up and theres save function by chapters, no bugs, no funny business of grinding/crappy quests/crazy puzzles, sudden difficulty spike in boss fights/late game - none of those nonsenses. AND most importantly, like all visual novel games, it has the skipping conversation function (unlike a previous game which i condemned it to the shredder machine) so yay. I like it. I like all the characters. The evil duo character really gets on my nerve & i wanted to smack them in the eye. I feel shuyan's lost and struggle and also on the friendship aspect. Apparently all Martial art masters talk in a calmly manner...from day to night, regardless of the situations. lol ><
What i would like to see in the future?
- Polish the fighting mechanics
- Introduction of weapons & fighting styles (I want the mantis style/crane style you know)
- Some sort of character customization
- Inventory system + some gears + merchant/trading
- more quests/side quest and some mini games away from the main story
- Allow players to make more decisions
- Expand on the locations/places to visit
- Please introduce a new martial art master who's a bit more lively xD
My Summary:
For me, Shuyan Saga is one of jewels on STEAM. It's short but enjoyable. Upon completing the campaign, I didnt felt disappointed instead I wanted more. There's great potential for this product and Iam looking forward to see what Lofty Sky Entertainment Inc. plans in the future.
*Sits beside master Shan and meditates*
So, on the scale of 0 - 10, my personal rating for Shuyan Saga is Masterful crafted acrylic statue of a vermillion phoenix worth 7/10.
Master Shan: Aruvin, In still water you will find your true self, that is the Phoenix way.
Aruvin: What about the mantis way, master?