Sword of the Lily is out and has been well-received, attracting many players with its tactical gameplay, classic RPG aesthetics, and love of narrative and music. But even with all its merits, the game has received mixed reviews from the public. There are two main reasons for this: monetization and progress barriers.
That’s because Sword of the Valley is a gacha game! Enticing you to spend money is the point, arguably more important than creating a satisfying gameplay experience. Those who are unhappy with monetization strongly oppose this approach, and progress barriers come in the form of rechargeable stamina that prevents you from continuing when you run out of it. You can recharge stamina naturally, of course. Or you can spend money.
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To many, such complaints will be odd, since you know what you’re getting into when you download the game. However, it’s also worth noting that the harshness of the gacha mechanics has been significantly softened in recent years (in fact, probably since HoYoverse started making big-budget gacha games aimed at the wider Western market). Sword of the Lily isn’t the worst game in the genre by any means, but it’s by no means the best if you compare it to today’s hits.
In addition, many players may not be used to this type of game, and they are attracted by the well-known game development talents hired by XD and the classic RPG style. Looking at the Steam reviews, many players hope that this game is just a classic RPG. Well, you can’t express too much contempt for this view.
I’ve played quite a few Gacha games! While I can certainly stop myself from investing tons of money in these games, there’s no doubt what the purpose of this monetization practice is. That’s why they have free codes and giveaways to keep you happy. These games are slots. They’re usually well-made and really fun, but they’re slots. Zenless Zone Zero, Sword of Convallaria… all of them!
It’s for this reason that, while the game is good and worth a try if you can trust yourself not to fall victim to this temptation, I doubt it can overcome its current mixed Steam rating and its status among casual RPG fans. This is a shame, but not surprising.
