Chinese action RPG Xuan-Yuan Sword 7 hits October 29th with a demo available now

The first entry in the 30-year Xuan-Yuan Sword series to get a global, same-day English and Chinese release when it comes to Steam on October 29th. Xuan-Yuan Sword VII is an action RPG with a strong emphasis on the stories of a historical world strongly influenced by Chinese mythology. It's a world of big monsters, flashy swords, and extremely cool stone-and-brass clockwork tiger constructs. Combat in Xuan-Yuan Sword 7 is pretty quick, focusing on smoothly using combos, cinematic kills, and defense through fast dodges or riposte maneuvers.

Each entry in the series tells a different story, with the first game released back in 1990, though the games are interconnected by taking place in the same shared universe. In short, you don't have to have played earlier games to get this one. The only prior related Xuan-Yuan sword game to be released in the West was a secondary tale from the spinoff Xuan-Yuan Sword Legend series called The Gate of Firmament, released through Steam Greenlight in 2016.

Here's what goes down in the demo: "You will get to experience the beginning part of Zhao and Xiang’s epic journey in Xuan-Yuan Sword VII. Orphan Taishi Zhao and his baby sister Xiang live in a small mountain village. When their peaceful life is disrupted by a mysterious army and a murky figure, Zhao must face fearsome monsters and triumph over powerful demons in order to protect Xiang."

XYS7 is the story of Taishi Zhao, a swordsman who is on a journey to protect his sister, Xiang, in a chaotic period of history. The rightful emperor has been usurped, and in the Xuan-Yuan series that means there are going to be monsters and general celestial unrest. Zhao must learn the secrets of the ancient Chinese logicians, the Mohists, to solve the problems of the empire. If you're looking for a story-driven action RPG this year, Xuan-Yuan Sword 7 might be it.

The Xuan-Yuan sword series is developed and published by large Taipei-based game studio Softstar Entertainment. You can find Xuan-Yuan Sword 7 on Steam, where there's also a demo available. Xuan-Yuan Sword 7 releases worldwide on October 29th. You can see more footage of the game on the Softstar Youtube Channel or on its official website, swd7.com.

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Jon Bolding is a games writer and critic with an extensive background in strategy games. When he's not on his PC, he can be found playing every tabletop game under the sun.