Line #9 VideoGame/SwordAndFairy7


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sword_and_fairy_7.png]]
2	''Sword and Fairy 7'', also known as ''Sword and Fairy: Together Forever'', is the ninth installment of the ''VideoGame/SwordAndFairy'' series of Chinese {{Eastern RPG}}s. Developed by Softstar Entertainment, the game was released worldwide in October 2021 on PC. Version for Platform/PlayStation4 and [[Platform/Playstation5 5]] were released in August 2022, while Platform/XboxOne and [[Platform/XboxSeriesXAndS Series X\|S]] got their versions in November 2022. This game is the first pure ActionRPG in the series, with previous installments being various types of turn-based [=RPGs=]
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4	A Deity general, Xiu Wu, was tasked with assassination of a [[FallenAngel Heaven Demon]] Kuiyu, who betrayed the Deity Realm. However, he fails, and has to flee, losing the [[SwordOfPlotAdvancement Chunzi sword]], that holds the power to freely traverse Realms. Meanwhile, in the Human Realm, Yue Qingshu, a disciple of Mingshu Sect, by chance saves a boy named Ziqiu, who turns out to be a vessel for a Deity Lord Aoxu, and a target for Demons. She also encounters Xiu Wu, who ended up in Human Realm, and accidentally forms a link with him. Together, they set out to stop Demons from invading the Human Realm. They are later joined by Bai Moqing, a disciple of another Sect, and Sang Yo, a wandering doctor with a crush on Moqing.
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6	In February 2023 the game received a story expansion, ''Dreamlike World'', that [[{{Interquel}} bridges the gap]] between original game's ending and its PostCreditScene.
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8	The Steam page for the game can be found [[https://store.steampowered.com/app/1543030/Sword_and_Fairy_7 here]].
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10	!! Sword and Fairy 7 contains examples of:
11	* AbsurdlyHighLevelCap: By the end of the game, your level will be around mid-fifties, while the level cap is 100.
12	* AlternateWorldMap: The party eventually ventures into Devildom, and it gets its own map. [[spoiler:Averted with Deity Realm, since the only places that the party visits here are two springs - both plot-related, rather small locations]].
13	* AmazonBrigade: Xianxia Sect is an implied example. It's an all-female Sect, of which Moqing, a party member, is a disciple. Several members are seen with swords and its Master is a ''former'' party member, returning from ''Sword and Fairy 2''. We don't see them in action, though.
14	* AntiFrustrationFeatures: All segments with UnexpectedGameplayChange automatically reload to the last checkpoint if the player failed. Said checkpoints are set fairly generously, so the player will lose a minute of progress at worst.
15	* AwfulTruth: Early on, Qingshu learns from the Ice Spirit the reason for the decline of the Mingshu Sect. Turns out that [[spoiler:one of the previous masters of the Sect started enslaving contracted spirits for quick gains. After he died, most of his bound spirits fled, and refused to grant their help to the Sect any longer]].
16	* BlindIdiotTranslation: The translation is rough around the edges, to say the least.
17	** One early achievement is called "Power of Protoss". No, the game isn't related to ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' in any way. It may be a holdover from [[VideoGame/SwordAndFairy6 the previous game]], that used "protoss" as a name for Deities.
18	** One instance of particularly awkward dialogue comes from Xianxia Sect disciple early in the game:
19	--->'''Wei Xiao:''' ''[Threatening soldiers with a sword]'' Otherwise, we will see you as villains and shall not be polite to you!
20	* BloodlessCarnage: Deites and Demons don't seem to bleed at all. One character doesn't bleed even after being impaled through the chest with a {{BFS}}. Instead, their wounds produce some glowing particles.
21	* BrokenArmorBossBattle: Jiuying, the fourth Vicious Beast, is protected with a forcefield, allowing the player to deal only ScratchDamage. After several dozen hits it breaks, and the boss is knocked down, exposing his vulnerable head.
22	* BullfightBoss: The second phase of the very first boss battle, against Vicious Beast Xiqu, is like this. There are two ways to avoid charging attacks: hide behind small rocks, that the boss smashes, or lure Xiqu in attacking big rocks and get stuck.
23	* ChainedHeat: Downplayed. Yue Qingshu and Xiu Wu are spiritually bound together (the game calls this "symbiosis"), and Xiu Wu would weaken if they were to separate.
24	* ContinuityNod: "Paladin" section in the in-game "library" contains short entries about some characters from previous games, starting with [[Series/ChinesePaladin Li Xiaoyao]]. Several characters from previous games also return.
25	* ConvectionSchmonvection: Justified example in Yanbo spring. The party knows that it's the sourse of all fire in the world, and goes to get a fire spirit, who can protect them from heat.
26	* ColorCodedElements: FireIsRed, WindIsGreen, WaterIsBlue (and [[IceMagicIsWater Ice, too]]), [[YellowLightningBlueLightning Thunder is Purple]], and [[YellowEarthGreenEarth Earth is brownish Yellow]].
27	* CombinationAttack:
28	** The game calls it Joint Srike. During battle, there's a small chance that a [[ActionCommands button prompt]] will appear. If pressed in time, lead character and a random ally will use a powerful attack.
29	** DualBoss from [[spoiler:Zhaodan spring]] uses one, framed as judgement for party members' "sins". It drops a {{BFS}} on them.
30	* CoresAndTurretsBoss: For a given value of "turrets", but the plant thing in Duzhang spring has several vines that try to smack you, a flower that tries to poison you, and a core that opens when the aforementioned vegetation has been dealt with. In the last phase core opens permanently, but "turrets" start to come back to life with time.
31	* DimensionalCutter: Chunzi sword, that can create temporary portals between Realms in this manner.
32	* DoomsdayDevice: Played with. [[spoiler:Shenting Force Field]] is theoretically capable of sealing [[PlaceOfPower springs]], that supply life in Realms with spiritual energy. However, it's not powerful enough to ''keep'' them sealed long enough to cause significant problems. The real reason for BigBad to use it is [[spoiler:to seal the only spring in Devildom. Being threatened with possibility of extinction, Demons would go to war [[FlawExploitation without thinking twice]]]].
33	* DualBoss:
34	** Near the exit from Yanbo spring the player is met with two souped-up [[EliteMooks Sword Servants]].
35	** [[spoiler:Zhaodan spring]] has its sentries - Puppet Mirror and Sword. They actually work as a team, constantly exchanging Mirror's barrier of invulnerability between themselves and even using a CombinationAttack.
36	* DuelBoss: Sentry of Duzhang spring must be fought with [[spoiler:Sang Yo]] alone.
37	* EquipmentUpgrade: Some weapons have one to three "skills", that can be enhanced up to two times, but no more that three times per weapon in total. It means that a single weapon can be built in seven different ways, crossing into EliteTweak.
38	* EscortMission: There's a short scene where Moqing injures her hand, and the player must use Yo to escort her out of danger. Thankfully, she can't be targeted by enemies.
39	* FacialMarkings: All Deities and Demons have a mark on the forehead, that [[PowerGlows tends to glow]] when they use their powers.
40	* FallenAngel: Heaven Demons are basically this. They are Deities who fled to Devildom, and were corrupted into Demons by local "evil air". [[spoiler:It's mostly true, except that they used a barrier to partly protect themselves from said "evil air" and were corrupted much slower, fully retaining their morality and mental facilities in process]].
41	* FieldOfBlades: There's a graveyard variety, found in the Devildom, and made by Heaven Demons. Xiu Wu borrows a sword from here.
42	* FightingYourFriend: Late in the game [[spoiler:Xiu Wu get hit by the same curse as Vicious Beasts, and goes berserk. The party is forced to fight him, and in the end Qingshu uses her link with Xiu Wu to weaken him, allowing Yo to use sedative]].
43	* FinalBossNewDimension: The final boss battle takes place in [[spoiler:Chunzi spring]]. It's a small platform among boundless sky, surrounded by aurora borealis, with divine tree visible in background.
44	* FlashbackMontageRealization: In Quanyin village Qingshu has a prolonged flashback, in which she summarizes the information known so far: [[spoiler:Vicious Beasts themselves didn't know how they got into Human Realm, and they most definetely didn't escape with Kuiyu. Meanwhile, Ziqiu, who should be imprisoned in Heaven Prison, is used as a vessel by Aoxu. And Aoxu was the one who put the ban on procreation among Deities]]. Downplayed, since she doesn't immediately get an EurekaMoment, but [[spoiler:it makes her doubt Aoxu's intentions greatly]].
45	* FlawExploitation: The final stage of BigBad's EvilPlan relies on impulsive nature of Demons to lure them into a hopeless war against both Deities and Humans. To elaborate: [[spoiler:Aoxu tries to seal Yanbo spring, the only spring in Devildom, to deprive Demons from spiritual energy. Normally that would mean that Devildom, essentally, starves to death, but Aoxu can uphold the seal for only so long. However, Demons, being faced with such a threat, would invade Deity Realm without thinking twice]]. The plan would be a success, if not for [[spoiler:Chonglou and Heaven Demons, who stopped Garuda tribe from starting the invasion]].
46	* GameplayAndStorySegregation:
47	** Yue Qingshu, Xiu Wu and Bai Moqing are all shown to [[HealingHands heal people]]. Qingshu ''can'' heal others, but it happens before she gains the corresponding spirit. Xiu Wu has only a self-heal ability, and Moqing doesn't have any healing spells at all.
48	** Likewise, Bai Moqing and Sang Yo are shown to create protective barriers, while they can't do this in gameplay.
49	* GenderEqualEnsemble: Two men and two women.
50	* GhostTown: Smoky village, that was destroyed by Vicious Beasts several years ago. It was Yo's residence at the time, and, while fleeing, he also managed to save Moqing.
51	* GuideDangIt: So, there's a secret fifth god to summon. How do you summon him? Of course, you need to complete a long, game-spanning questline, equip the accessory you get as a reward, and ''then'' summon a god.
52	* HarmlessFreezing: Over the course of the game several characters get frozen in blocks of ice and later released none the worse for wear. There's some magic involved, though.
53	* HeadsIWinTailsYouLose: Battle with [[spoiler:Chonglou]] end with them using a party-wide HpToOne attack and leaving.
54	* HellInvadesHeaven: The BigBad's final goal. The unusual part is that [[spoiler:it's ''Deity'' who wants Demons to invade Deity Realm. Then, he can launch a counterattack and wipe Demons out]].
55	* HiddenElfVillage: Quanyin village, that guards Duzhang spring. [[spoiler:Sang Yo]] hails from here.
56	* InterfaceSpoiler: In-game "library" is full of these. For example: one folder contains descriptions of already-visited places. It has a number of unused slots and three tabs, of which the only one avilable is signed "Human Realm". One may wonder, how many unvisited places are left in the game, and where the party would go next.
57	* InstantRunes: Whenever a particularly impressive spell is being cast. Also appear when Qingshu signs a contract with a spirit.
58	* LimitBreak: Each character has an incredibly powerful skill, accompanied by a short cinematic cutscene. Unfortunately, they recharge for 3 minutes (compared to under 30 seconds for most other damaging skills), making it impossible to spam them.
59	* LimitedLoadout: The player can use only a limited number of recovery items in each battle, thus preventing TooAwesomeToUse situations.
60	* ManualLeaderAIParty: As befits an ActionRPG, the rest of the party fights automatically. They are usually fairly good in surviving, if only because enemies [[SpitefulAI mostly focus on the player]].
61	* MonsterTown: [[spoiler:Heaven Demon Kingdom]] is a downplayed version. There are some [[spoiler:Garudas]] that the player killed by dozens in previous area, but they're the minority here.
62	* MysticalWhiteHair: All Heaven Demons has it, likely as a result of their corruption.
63	* NonStandardSkillLearning: Qingshu can use her summons only after signing a contract with a spirit.
64	* NoSexAllowed: Deities are [[DystopianEdict forbidden from falling in love]], and having a child is considered to be even worse offence. It's slightly more justified than usual, as the child absorbs spiritual energy of both their parents, who will eventually die from it. What's not justified, however, is [[spoiler:that both the child and the parents are imprisoned for life, in such a place where the child will too eventually die. The last part was bad enough to lead to Kuiyu's rebellion]].
65	* OptionalPartyMember: All spirits aside from the main four must be found in sidequests.
66	* OurDemonsAreDifferent: They used to be Beasts, one of three races that was created by the [[FantasyPantheon Three Emperors]], but following [[GreatOffscreenWar The War of Three Races]] retreated to Devildom, where they were corrupted into Demons. One example of Demons are Garuda tribe - orc-like {{Winged Humanoid}}s. There's also [[FallenAngel Heaven Demons]] - Deities who betrayed their kind and fled to Devildom.
67	* OverratedAndUnderleveled: Xiu Wu is hyped up as being so much more powerful than the rest of the party, it may as well be "him and everyone else". [[CutscenePowerToTheMax Cutscenes]] has him {{Flash Step}}ping around before anyone can react and knocking people out [[TapOnTheHead with a single chop]]. In gameplay, he's no stronger than the rest of the party, even though he does have some useful skills and FlashStep instead of dash.
68	* TheParagonAlwaysRebels: Kuiyu used to be the leader of all New Deities, and when she went rogue, so did some of her subordinates. [[spoiler:The ''real'' reason for this is because Kuiyu is AMotherToHerMen, and events that led to her rebellion revealed her superiors to be enormous assholes]].
69	* PivotalBoss: The first form of the final boss stands in the center of a circular platform, and the player must first hit his hands to make him flinch, and then destroy now-vulnerable devices, scattered around the arena.
70	* PlaceOfPower: Nine springs, scattered across Six Realms, supply them with spiritual energy. [[GreatOffscreenWar The War of Three Races]] was fought over them. Each spring has a Guard - a Human, Deity or Demon, tasked with the protection of the spring, and a Sentry - a [[GeniusLoci personification]] of the spring itself. It's possible to travel between springs and, by extension, Realms.
71	** Duzhang spring, located in Human Realm, is the source of poisons and antidotes. It appears as an underground cave, overgrown with tree roots. [[spoiler:Over the course of the game Sang Yo becomes its Guard]].
72	** Yanbo spring is located in Devildom, and is the source of "earth fire", and looks like a lava pool. Due to feuds among Demon tribes it doesn't have an official Guard, but Demon Lord Chonglou watches over it.
73	** Zhaodan spring is located in Deity Realm. It has the power to reflect minds, and thus divine trials are being held here.
74	** Chunzi spring is the heart of Deity Realm, that purifies impure energies. Aoxu is its current Guard.
75	* PointAndClickMap: The player can travel between major locations using one.
76	* PowerFloats: Anyone who casts powerful spells. Moqing in particular floats even during some of her combos.
77	* PressXToNotDie:
78	** Prologue has button prompts appearing on screen. Thankfully, if failed, the scene would just play again.
79	** In battle, several bosses use attacks that will deal a lot of damage if shown button isn't pressed in time.
80	* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: All Deities and Demons, naturally. Chosen Children indicate that they are born and mature normally, until ImmortalityBeginsAtTwenty.
81	* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: Red and black is the general color scheme of Heaven Demons. [[spoiler:Subverted, as it turns out that they just want to be left alone]].
82	* RunDontWalk: Partly inverted, as lead character will automatically slow down to a walk upon entering a building.
83	* SeeminglyHopelessBossFight: The first encounter with Kuiyu. After she thrashes the party in a couple of hits, Aoxu enables SuperMode for the heroes, and they become able to actually fight back.
84	* SlippySlideyIceWorld: Changbai Mountain is a frozen region, where the group looks for the Ice Spirit. There's even a [[SlideLevel snowboarding segment]] here.
85	* SpellLevels: Most skills come in two versions - a weak version with short recharge, and stronger one with slightly longer recharge time, that's learned on a higher level. There's nothing stopping the player from setting both versions of the skill, if necessary. For example, Qingshu has Twitter Thunder skill, and later she learns stronger Roaring Thunder variation.
86	* StealthBasedMission: Several, all located in Lulong town. Notably, these missions slightly differ in mechanics. One segment has heroes just sneak past the guards, in another player needs to take them out with sedative, and in yet another mission player can [[ThrowingTheDistraction throw distractions]].
87	* SummonMagic: Comes in two flavors:
88	** Qingshu's spirits come out to perform one attack and vanish afterwards. These summons make up the bulk of her skills.
89	** God Summoning requires a full SuperMode gauge, and replaces the entire party with said god. Their attacks are far more powerful than party members', they are invulnerable, and after summon time runs out, they perform one last cinematic attack.
90	* SuperMode: So-called "Art of Sanity", that makes the character invulnerable and makes them move faster. If the gauge was filled completely, it summons a god instead.
91	* SuperNotDrowningSkills: In East Azure Abyss the party can freely swim, solve puzzles and even talk as much as they want with the help of the Ice Spirit.
92	* TasteOfPower: The prologue starts with Xiu Wu, [[SwordOfPlotAdvancement Chunzi sword]] in hand, escaping from a troop of Demons. He has damage-heavy skills in all four slots, a number of powerful healing items, and a high level. He then gets wounded, and the game cuts to Yue Qingshu, with only two skills and basic equipment. Xiu Wu soon comes back, but loses most of his power.
93	* TeleportSpam: All humanoid bosses in the game tend to teleport in the worst time possible, but the final boss seems to be particularly fond of this.
94	* TemporaryPlatform: Crumbling variation is found in Yanbo spring.
95	* {{Transflormation}}: Existence of all New Deities is built on an inversion of this trope. When a spirit fruit is imbued with the power of Chunzi spring, a New Deity is born. They theoretically may return to the fruit form if they lose too much energy, as it happens with Xiu Wu at the beginning of the game.
96	* UnderwaterRuins: East Azure Abyss features these. As for how it got there, local spirit tells a legend about two lovers - [[ForbiddenLove a Deity and a Demon]], who hid in an underwater city from persecution. Later they [[HeroicSacrifice sacrificed themselves]] to stop an underwater volcano from erupting.
97	* VoiceoverLetter: When Moqing and Qingshu send letters to each other, while the former is being held in captivity, the letters are read with their respective voices.
98	* WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou: Normally averted, but during several plot-related battles the lead character is locked and thus must survive, even though other characters are present and actively fighting.
99	** In fights against major Demons the player must control Xiu Wu. It may be due to the fact that the enemy in question is so much more powerful than everyone else, that only Xiu Wu can stand up to them.
100	** During battle against [[spoiler:BrainwashedAndCrazy Xiu Wu]] the player controls Sang Yo, because [[spoiler:he has sedative, that player must use on the boss]].
101	** During the FinalBoss fight the game first locks in Yue Qingshu, and then Xiu Wu. This time the reason is purely gameplay-related, as the boss has some attacks that can only be avoided by current character.
102	* WolfpackBoss: The penultimate boss of the game consists of five constructs with a SharedLifeMeter. They tend to fill the arena with their otherwise easy-to-dodge attacks.
103	* {{Wuxia}}: But of course! With Taoist protagonists and a lot of of references to immortals and cultivation it veers somewhat closer to SpiritCultivationGenre, though.
104	* YellowPurpleContrast: Tianshi Sect robes feature both yellow and purple colors.
105	* YouCantThwartStageOne: The heroes deduce very early on that whoever mines Ice Ore is up to no good, and go to free miners, who were forced to work, and even destroy the Ice Ore stockpile. However, it's not enough, and the device that it was meant for, is eventually completed. [[spoiler:Cue the desperate assault on heavily-fortified Shenting tower in the climax]].
106	* ZipMode: "Flying Mount" allows the player not only to travel between locations, but also to teleport to specific landmarks. If a landmark is blocked, and the objective is to go there, it means that something will happen en route.

Context VideoGame / SwordAndFairy7