If you thought Persona 5 was unforgiving, hoo boy. It is equally easy to fall too much behind in training and get wiped in must-win fights in the second half of the game, or never going out and missing important story context or even branching points. Time has to be split between actually working out, earning money, or wandering around socializing. On the other hand, the game is relentlessly harsh, with little hint or guidance, and very strict event triggers/cutoffs. high “eye” stat gives you the option to cheat in a test, and certain items are only obtainable with high “quickness” in order to scale cliffs. The game is also filled with stat-check events, e.g. “Flexibility” (important stat for soft arts like Tai Chi) and “toughness” (Shao Lin arts) are incompatible, as you lose points in one when practicing the other. Maxing out “music” and attacking enemies with your chi as you play the zither/qin is a viable build (fans have called for nerfs, ha). On one hand the freedom to choose what to master is exhilarating. You should notice the dozens of different stats listed on the sim layer UI. Take a look at these screenshots, inexplicably from the same game! Love/Hate relationship with the revamped hex-based combat Chinese UI goes vertical, so additional work had to go in for the English version Even the art style is all over the place. And then in a final turn, the last fifth of the game escalates into an open world where all previous locations and more are accessible with new quests, and characters that like you enough thus far can be recruited to the team. Then story bits happen and you get dumped into a time management sim layer filled with minigames, and occasional breaks to other towns and cities. Complete over a dozen side quests, earn money through tasks such as fishing and mining, or just go around buying different items. Frankly my next paragraph is ruining some of the surprise, but here goes.Īt the start of the game, you have hours to explore a town like any standard RPG. After getting the worst ending possible and then consulting guides, I found I had missed major events, characters, and even flat out systems in my first blind playthrough. On multiple occasions, I was shocked watching the game pivot mechanically. I still vividly remember my first time bumbling through this game. It’s rough, it’s strange, but it also mostly works effectively. If Persona 5 (which I recently beat, and lead me to dig up this similar game again) is like its protagonist, stylish and suave, Tale of Wuxia would the stumbling drunken master. Heluo then went on to make Tale of Three Kingdoms, and also a prequel of this, without the sim layer, and both to moderate success, but that's another story for another time (actually, probably not, since I don't feel much for either game) The remake adds even more events and quests, including the option to trade you manhood for ultimate power (it… happens several times in Jin Yong’s novels… it's about switching from yang to yin.) The end product is the most complete wuxia simulator one can dream for. You name your favorite bit from wuxia novels or movies, it’s probably in the game. Yes, you can consult a traveling journalist on your martial arts power ranking in the world. ![]() Yes, there’s a drunkard that will teach you drunken mastery after enough drinks. In response, the studio created a world that covers nearly every imaginable wuxia motif without directly referencing any authors, similar to Dragon Age’s creation after Bioware lost the DnD license. What didn’t return in the 2001 game, though, was the Jin Yong IP. Most notably, recruitment of characters and learning various wushu moves were tied to stat-checks such as morality and IQ, a feature that will come back in Tale of Wuxia with much heavier presence. ![]() Heluo Studios created Tale of Jin Yong in 1996, successfully mixing 14 novels from Jin Yong, the JRR Tolkien of wuxia novels, into a free-roaming open world RPG. In Chinese though, so I can't vouch for the translation) (This was my first time on the remaster, 4th overall, steam reports 25 hours to get to one of the standard good endings. I can’t guarantee you’ll like it, but the game is such a strange, fascinating hodgepodge of ideas that I highly recommend seeing it for yourself. If you have the money to spare, stop reading here and just go try the game. The recent remake is (mostly tolerably?) translated to English, and can be found on Steam here, for $17, with an 84% positive rating among English reviews. Tale of Wuxia is a modern remake of a beautifully bizarre Chinese RPG, somewhat similar to Persona in structure, wrapped in full-blown wuxia/martial arts theme.
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