Tale of Wuxia - Review @ RPG Codex

Tale of Wuxia - Review @ RPG Codex

October 26th, 2019, 10:50

A rare thing happened - the RPG Codex likes an RPG:

RPG Codex Review: Tale of Wuxia

Ancient Chinese secret

Hey. Let me ask you something. Did you ever feel like your favourite RPGs suffered from a critical lack of explosive flying roundhouse kicks? Were you ever of the impression that you really missed having a calligraphy skill? And wouldn't you agree that a zither would make for an excellent weapon?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, odds are you might need more wuxia in your life. It is also very likely that you haven't heard of the one game that can satisfy all your crazy Chinese kung fu cravings. That game is called Tale of Wuxia.

It was released in 2016 by Heluo Studio from China, which is how you know that it's the real deal and not some cheap gweilo knockoff. Though actually it's a remake of the studio's earlier game from 2001, known as "Legend of Wulin Heroes" (it was never released outside China, I believe), which was a tactical RPG/princess maker based on wuxia novels by the writer Jin Yong.

You've probably never heard of any of the names and titles mentioned in this introduction. I know I hadn't before trying this game. Not to mention it took me years before I did give it a spin. And the only thing I can say is that I regret it took me so long to do it.

[…]

Joy be with you, dude
Tale of Wuxia took me completely by surprise. I can't tell you what I'd expected before trying it, because I don't think I even had any specific expectations other than "it's probably going to be silly fun". Suffice to say, it turned out to be much, much more than that.

I will reiterate what I said before, and I will do it with full conviction. This game has one of the best character systems I've ever seen in an RPG, if not the best, to the degree that it puts the vast majority of RPGs out there to complete shame. The influence character building has on combat and storytelling as well as on pure old-fashioned fun derived from the gameplay is astounding, and even more amazing is how well thought out it is, and how everything clicks together into one great package.

Because the character system is not its only advantage. The combat is exciting. The storytelling is solid. The nonlinearity is impressive. And the non-player characters are both complex and interesting.

Of course, as noted, it's not without its problems, but their relative insignificance compared to the game's good sides makes it easy to pay less attention to them and instead focus on what works, and what is fun.

I finished Tale of Wuxia in 34 hours, and I must say I was sad to see it end. The last chapter can drag a bit because of the awkward open world structure introduced during it, but the final fights are so damn crazy and fun, they more than make up for it, and also make you appreciate the journey as a whole. On reflection, these 30-ish hours of playtime are probably as optimal as you can get. The game ends gracefully before it can turn stale, and it leaves you with an appetite for more, which is very beneficial from the perspective of its branching plot structure and multitude of different character builds. It is definitely something I am going to come back to, and perhaps even in the very near future.