Sword of Convallaria can't shake mixed Steam reviews due to predatory monetisation and progress blockers
There's something to be said about the ease of onboarding for gacha games.
Sword of Convallaria is out and doing well, drawing in players with its tactical gameplay, classic RPG aesthetic, and loving approach to both narrative and musical score. But even with its many merits, the public review score for the game remains mixed. This is due to two major reasons: the monetisation and progress blockers.
This is because Sword of Convallaria is a gacha game! Tempting you to spend money is kinda the point, arguably more than making a fufilling gaming experience. Those upset about monetisation are strongly against such practices, whereas progress blockers come in the form of rechargable stamina preventing you from moving through the game when you run out. You can recover stamina naturally, sure. Or you could spend money.
For many such complaints will be weird, because you knew what you were getting into when you downloaded the game. But, it's also worth noting that in recent years (in fact, probably since HoYoverse started making big-budget gachas aimed at wider western markets) that the harshness of such gacha mechanics has been softened considerably. Sword of Convallaria isn't the worst offender in the genre by any means, but if you compare it to the big hitters of the day, it's by no means the best either.
Add on top of that the fact that many players, those tempted in by the renowned game dev talent brought on board by XD to create the game as well as the classic RPG look, may not be used to these kinds of games. Looking at Steam reviews, many players wish that the game was just a classic RPG, and well, you can't throw too much disdain at such opinions.
I play gacha games, quite a few of them! And while I can certainly stop myself from dropping silly amounts of money on them, there's no mistake what the goal of such monetisation practices is. That's why they have free codes and giveaways to keep you sweet. These games are slot machines. They are often brilliantly made, and very fun, but they are slot machines. Zenless Zone Zero, Sword of Convallaria...all of them!
It's for this reason that while the game is good, and worth trying out if you can trust yourself not to fall victim to such temptation, I doubt it'll ever overcome its current mixed Steam review score and the place it currently fills in the minds of general RPG fans. A shame, for sure, but not an unexpected one.