Stranger of Sword City

I've played the original Stranger of Sword City twice, but this is actually my first time beating it. Originally, I hadn't planned my characters' builds well enough, and since class changes are limited, my party wasn't where they should've been at the end. This resulted in me getting frustrated and giving up. Now, with knowledge in the game's mechanics, I've planned my party well enough that they were able to face anything. This can be a negative, since newer players might fall down the same hole I did, and leave the game feeling frustrated.
Overall, this version of the game is much more difficult than Revisited. Limited ambush attempts, random tougher foes mixed in, restrictive class changing, and the Mumic mechanic, make things harder. I like how in this version, you can buff Hit and Avoid all the way to 99, when in Revisited, the buffs cap out at a count of 10. This change, however, is the only thing that makes combat easier.
The hardest fight in the game is definitely the Two-Headed Nessie, located in the Mausoleum of the Sea. The inability to cast spells underwater, coupled with its high Avoid and ability to deal tremendous damage make it super challenging. It's definitely far more difficult than any of the optional or final bosses.
Overall, the original Stranger of Sword City is a fun challenge, however, but if you're new to the games, I definitely recommend starting with Revisited first. It's a lot more forgiving for newer players. This game is fairly hardcore at times, so a great understanding of Wizardry-like dungeon crawlers and/or detailed preemptive research into the game's builds and mechanics is nearly a must.

Stranger of Sword City is a dungeon-crawling RPG that blends traditional grid-based exploration with a dark fantasy aesthetic. Its structure emphasizes careful party building, methodical progression, and high-stakes encounters that reward planning over improvisation. The game positions itself firmly within the lineage of classic dungeon crawlers while introducing its own identity through atmosphere and visual style.
The story begins when the protagonist is transported to Escario, the titular “City of Strangers,” after a mysterious plane crash. This world is shaped by competing factions and powerful beings known as Lineage Types. Narrative delivery is understated, relying on brief scenes, faction choices, and discoveries made within the labyrinths. The plot is intentionally sparse, allowing environmental tone and gameplay tension to dominate the experience.
Character creation and party composition form the game’s strategic core. Players build a full team from several races and classes, each with advantages in durability, magic, or agility. Long-term planning is essential, as reincarnation mechanics, stat growth, and class changes influence overall effectiveness. The balance between survivability and specialization becomes increasingly important as enemies grow more dangerous.
Exploration follows a first-person grid format, with dungeons that feature traps, hidden passages, and enemy ambush points. Visibility and mapping are key, encouraging careful movement rather than rapid advancement. Each labyrinth has distinct themes and enemy groups, creating a steady escalation in challenge that promotes cautious resource management.
Combat is turn-based and unforgiving. Many enemies can defeat poorly prepared teams quickly, pushing players to consider formation, ability synergy, and targeted strikes. The ambush system—where players set traps to lure specific enemies—adds a tactical layer that helps secure rare items and experience. Boss battles, especially against Lineage Types, serve as major skill checks that test party resilience and planning.
Presentation stands out through its detailed character art and contrasting art styles, offering a choice between Western-inspired and anime-inspired visuals. The dark color palette, atmospheric music, and sparse sound effects reinforce the sense of tension that defines dungeon exploration. While environments are functionally designed, their minimalist approach supports clarity during grid navigation.
Stranger of Sword City succeeds as a focused, challenging dungeon crawler built around deliberate progression and strategic party management. Its emphasis on high-risk encounters, atmospheric worldbuilding, and flexible character development makes it appealing to fans of traditional grid-based RPGs. For players seeking a demanding and methodical experience, it offers a well-crafted and distinctive entry in the genre.

This game is hard and will ensure you that its not gonna hold your hand one indication of this is that every enemy packs a punch, your allies especially in early game is very weak expect to see them get decimated even on the beginner dungeon since every enemy is either very high in level or the same if your lucky and fight easy targets most enemies are higher in level than your party probably level 20 while your whole party still level 5 and very slow which in this scenario you'll see them get attacked by only one enemy in its respective row which attacks for multiple times (depends) in one turn, remember this is only one target in the row the situation will be even more grim when its multiple enemies that are very fast in multiple rows which will definitely encourage some to grind on that sweet,sweet AGI and trying buff every turn which in turn makes the combat slower ( this is a turn based game).
However this is not the only reason why this game will be even more slower than normal since it employs a life system which will definitely have permanent death if an respective character/Party Member gets defeated a life point will be consumed. Now then you'll ask how does the life system work, it all depends on the age of an character as older it is the less life will it get however if younger the more life it gets. Age also is an contributing factors of stats, for how old or young they will have a set of bonus stats they'll can attribute to your character for young they are lower for the old characters they will be higher. it all comes down to age whether it will be easier to roll good stat.
Another one is that this game also employs a hospitalization system which will force you to rest for few in game days (you need to fight to progress it i think) your party if ever a member is defeated and after that you'll need to make it rest again to recover its life point for an even longer in game day. Still this game does have instant recovery button which will sped up the recovery process the only downside is that prices will scale up with your level meaning the higher you are the expensive it is this stands true for the recover life point this scales up way to high making it very very expensive to even afford to sped up the process since its much more important to buy support items. There are items that heals life points though very rare and items that auto revives a character so just grind away.
Due to the life point system you'll probably be forced to create more party members to cycle as a spare if you ever need. Even if not they also give money which will help you gain another source of income in the game. And yes they also give you a save button and load button on the base giving you another option to just save and load at every mistake how its your choice on whats your strategy on it.
Another thing is that the shop where you buy stuff does not resupply making it not a go to for buying healing items that much since if you'll get caught off guard and you have no healing magic it will severely ruin the experience this is however not a really massive issue i just don't like it. Good ui though its not bad compared to abyss another game of experience.
Regarding everything i have said above its still however a fun game offered a good difficulty trying to finished it and it took quite a while for me to beat it and very easy achievements to get and complete so if you still find it interesting i highly recommend you to play it and if you want more they still have a lot of games that feels like this which is like Operation abyss new tokyo legacy. and if you really want this i highly suggest to really learn more of the mechanics and systems of this game since it can get confusing.

It was ok, a couple of very heavy RNG achievements but nothing a few hours of farming didnt solve.

I dont get why they forced the underwear thing and some thirsty ecchi scenes here and there but whatever,

The story started out pretty good but then it dissolved into cliches and predictability, very disappointing but I enjoyed the game mechanics and building up my party to be able to curb-stomp anything the game threw at me.

Anyway, Ill give it 6 roasted crab monsters out of 10 painful ninja penetrating assassinations.

Probably my favorite dungeon-crawler game. Has a lot of grind, but it's a good choice for anyone who derives satisfaction from the results of a lot of effort.

I can't speak to the new "Revisited" version, but this is Experience's magnum opus and one of the best dungeon crawlers out there. A must-play for genre fans.

Not perfect, but a good dungeon crawler