Sword and Fairy Gameplay Debuts in 3 Minutes but Zhou Shuyi Isn't Sold

At yesterday's Summer Game Fest, the Chinese game Gujian debuted a new gameplay trailer and, for the first time, showed a 3-minute Boss fight. Former LPL caster and streamer Zhou Shuyi later reacted to that footage on stream, and her takeaway was mixed: she praised the game's Chinese folklore-inspired supernatural aesthetic, but said the current visuals show some rough spots and that the hit feedback in the Boss fight feels too weak. Both the report and her livestream comments make one thing clear: the footage shown is still in development and does not represent final quality.

Zhou Shuyi focused on exactly those points. She clearly liked Gujian's Chinese folklore-inspired supernatural aesthetic, which is already coming through in the footage. But she also said the current build has visible shortcomings, and that the hit feedback against the Boss feels too weak. Overall, she was not very satisfied with the showing and felt it fell short of expectations.

For an action game, that criticism matters more than rough visuals in an early showing. Rough visuals are easier to forgive than combat that lacks weight. A Boss battle is usually where a game proves its combat. Players need to read enemy and player animations clearly, see solid reactions to hits, and get a sense of the rhythm between dodging and attacking. If those things do not come through, even a strong art style can only carry the footage so far. The result is footage that looks stylish without fully selling the combat.

That made her reaction more pointed than simple praise. She did not dismiss the project outright. Instead, she praised the Chinese folklore-inspired supernatural aesthetic while also calling out the demo's current weaknesses. That balance matters, especially because Aurogon is making a self-driven push into a new field here. As noted in the report, this project represents a self-driven push into a new field for the studio. That ambition is worth watching. But direction alone is not enough if the feel and presentation still come up short.

What players should watch next is not whether this footage seemed promising at a glance, but whether future builds directly improve the issues exposed in these 3 minutes. The report explicitly notes that "the current footage shown is in-development material and does not represent final quality." That cuts both ways. It gives the team room to improve, but also raises the bar for what needs to be addressed before release.

If you are trying to decide right now whether Gujian is worth jumping into based on this showing alone, the safest call is to wait and see. That is especially true for players who care a lot about action feedback and Boss design. If what matters most to you is the Chinese folklore-inspired supernatural aesthetic and Aurogon's attempt to push into a new genre, then the game is still worth tracking. But if you wanted a first reveal with immediately convincing combat, this 3-minute Boss fight still doesn't fully sell the combat yet.