Xing Guardian Slot

I first came across this new game from NextGen at Casumo, but I didn't play it until much later. The graphics are nice and contemporary, the 1024 ways to win is amazing, but the 5-reels 4-rows format is just not one of my favourites. So far, I haven't really liked any of such 4-rows games, but a few of the newer games are acceptable enough for me to play them. From NextGen, Glorious Empire is one of them. As for this Xing Guardian, well, I'm having a mixed response to it. I can't like it, yet I can't dislike it either. Perhaps the overall look of the game isn't as exciting as Glorious Empire, and that makes a difference to me.

That sweet Lady is the Wild symbol in the game, paying an extremely low 100x the line bet for getting 5 of her, is stacked on all reels, an substitutes for other symbols except for the Scatter symbol. However, it doesn't double any wins with it. The Yin Yang is the Scatter symbol, paying 500x the line bet for 5 of them, which is also very low, and getting 3 or more of these Scatters trigger 10 free spins without any multiplier. Getting 3 or more Scatters during the Free Spins game retriggers 5 more free spins. Why only 5 and not 10 free spins? That's a big letdown, the way I see it. The Scatters themselves already have very low win values. Add that to the 10 free spins and 5 free spins more for every retrigger, makes the whole package unattractive at all! Furthermore, the values of the other symbols, paying from a mere 75x to 10x the line bet for getting 5 of each kind, makes the paytable an extremely low one!

In the base game, a Dragon may appear at any time and reveal a stack of Wilds on 1 or more reels. Also in the base game, the Xing Guardian may appear at any time and lock 2, 3, 4 or even all 5 reels for one spin, for a nice winning chance. I say a winning chance because a win is not guaranteed for the locked reels spin. Not only that, the locked reels do not come with just one same symbols on the reels and rows - they usually come with one symbol on each row, 4 different symbols on the 4 rows, so this isn't good at all. It doesn't play like Twin Spin, where all symbols can be the same one, making getting an all-same-symbols win possible. Not with this Xing Guardian game though, and that's a big shame!

The minimum starting bet is 0.50 EUR and this can be a deterrent to some players. For me, the extremely low paytable is one huge deterrent, but for trying out the game sake, I gave it one play nonetheless. One and only one, nothing more. What I got from that one session was enough to deter me even further! The payouts in the base game hardly ever exceeded 2x my staked amount, and the only Free Spins game that I could get, gave 1 retrigger with 5 additional free spins, for a total of 15 free spins. And how much did this 15 free spins paid? A blardy low 15x my staked amount, even with those stacked Wilds and locked reels! Xing Guardian was and is a very disappointing game for me.

I know well that there are a lot of players that are always alert for the new games released by the company “NextGen” and as the public has requested it, here is “Xing Guardian” which is the most recent slot of this company.

“Xing Guardian” is a rather attractive Asian-themed slot, crafted with fine graphic details and images including dragons, turtles, Yin Yang, lotus flower and other typical Far Eastern elements, all set in a rather harmonious fantasy environment.

While it is true that the pay table of this slot is fairly tight, it is also true that this slot is equipped with 3 special features strong enough that are able to fairly compensate for that weakness in prices, and in fact, I would say that while you play, you can perceive as real the theoretical RTP of this game which is estimated at 97.01% and which in my opinion is an edge for the casino smaller than in many other games of this genre.

The first feature is “Rise of the Dragon” and this is in charge of revealing stacked wilds on one or more reels at the same time; then we find “Xing Guardian Locked Reels” feature, able to synchronize adjacent symbols on 2, 3, 4 or 5 reels within a frame marked with fire by two golden dragons. This feature happens randomly during the base game and permanently during free spins, which would be the remaining feature of this slot.

During the base game, our revenue from line formation is usually small, but sometimes stacked wilds help us to get some acceptable payouts, which would be between 4 and 10 times our total bet; however, this seems to be one of those slots where you normally do not go through many spins without getting a hit, therefore your balance seems to hold at acceptable levels most of the time.

My biggest win during a single spin was not during the base game but during a round of free games in which the machine was able to combine stacked wilds with locked reels and the result was that all three central reels were completely covered with wild symbols, and my win only during that spin it was 50x my total bet, contributing significantly to the total win during that round that was around 69x my total bet, which I consider a pretty good win because I think that this round happens quite often.

To me, “Xing Guardian” has seemed a pretty interesting slot; I think it's fun enough and also has a good winning potential; so I do not see any excuse for players who are fans of NextGen to refrain themselves from spinning this slot a little.