Shuyan Saga™

Overall (7/10): Shuyan Saga brings the delightful aspect of martial arts to the fore and adds a touch of Chinese mythology, with flamboyant yet inspiring 2-D graphics! While its art style shines through, technical problems, limited gameplay, and a straightforward story limit its overall impact. It is an amusing option for players who like kung fu stories running for a shorter experience, however, if you are seeking depth or more polished mechanics - Shuyan is not your game.

Recommended for: Fans of martial art aesthetic and Chinese mythology who enjoy casual, light on story, play experience.

Not recommended for: Players wanting depth of narrative or refined mechanics.

Graphics (6/10): The art style looks a bit cartoonish, it is full of life and movement and it is really colorful. The action angles that were shown are impressive and they really demonstrate the artists' skill. One thing that detracts from the whole immersion process is the characters' facial expressions which are not very stable; they appear to be changing almost from frame to frame. The visuals of the 3D combats could not be described as stunning; they resemble a bit the old graphics and they move rather chunky. Still, they carry their burden of informing the players-reasonably well-to make combat decisions. The interface also makes things a little difficult—menus are not placed properly and they are not very user-friendly either which can sometimes ruin a smooth experience.

Music and Sound (7/10): The orchestral score does a great job of depicting the Chinese culture, going from relaxing tunes to battle themes with great effect. The performances of the actors are of different quality—Kristin Kreuk as Shuyan sometimes comes across as not very emotional, and one has to put the audio to Chinese in order not to be disturbed by the pronunciation problems with Chinese names which is not an option here. Still, the music adds to the atmosphere quite a lot.

Gameplay (5/10): The expert combining of the visual novel story-telling and martial arts combat does not lead to the promised heights. The visual novel sections are rather simple with few options for rewinding, auto-skipping, or even the mice can be oddly movable. The timing can be tricky and sometimes it gets very frustrating since your mouse aiming and timing are the only things that you are after. The martial arts system is nice but not really intensive it has some similarity to nuts and bolts, and the fights turn out to be a bit monotonous; moreover, sometimes the controls seem not to respond. Puzzles and exploration are some of the new elements offered to the players but they can become a tough ask due to the limitations of the camera and controls.

Story and Narrative (4/10): The storyline is a plain good against evil story, with not much subtlety or character development besides Shuyan's basic storyline. Minor characters such as Jade are not well presented, and Shuyan, in her character, seems to be somewhat like a Mary Sue—omnipotent and yet not progressive. The plot does not open up to intricate ideas and thus becomes predictable and standard.