- Engaging, innovative combat system is generally enjoyable.
- Authentic Wuxia world creates immersion.
- Developers are responsive and dedicated.
- Game feels unfinished and lacking content.
- Story lacks freedom and impact.
- Unappealing, generic character art.
Verdict
Mixed
Summary
Positive 61% · Negative 39%. Score: 39 / 100
Positives:
- The combat system is a highlight, featuring unique weapon characteristics, diverse skill designs, and satisfying combos. The real-time combat provides a good sense of martial arts action, with some reviewers comparing it favorably to fighting games. The system allows skilled players to overcome higher-level opponents through skillful play and parrying.
- The game is generally enjoyable and addictive, with a decent story and art style. Many reviewers found the game fun, engaging, and worth purchasing, especially considering its reasonable price and the developers' consistent updates. Some reviewers noted the game's accessibility and suitability for casual players.
- The game has a solid foundation with potential for expansion, offering a good degree of freedom and a rich storyline. Reviewers appreciate the ability to make morally questionable choices and the inclusion of Steam Workshop support for future content and modifications. The game's framework feels like it can accommodate a lot of gameplay content.
- The game successfully captures the essence of Wuxia novels, immersing players in a martial arts world with a unique open-world design and a beautiful ink-wash painting style. The game's plot is surprisingly amazing, standing out among many Wuxia games. The game creates a realistic martial arts world where players are thrown into a corrupt novice village and can choose to be a 'hero' according to their own values.
- The development team is highly responsive to player feedback, consistently updating and optimizing the game. This dedication and willingness to address concerns have led to significant improvements in the overall gaming experience. The frequent updates and positive attitude of the developers are commendable.
Negatives:
- Many reviewers feel the game is incomplete, unpolished, and lacking content. They cite missing features, repetitive gameplay, a short main story, and numerous bugs as key issues. This widespread sentiment significantly impacts the game's overall reception.
- Reviewers express dissatisfaction with the story's quality, freedom, and impact. They criticize the writing, forced plot points, lack of meaningful choices, and limited player agency. The story often feels disconnected from player actions, leading to frustration.
- The game's character art and overall art style receive frequent criticism. Reviewers describe the character models as unappealing, generic, and lacking in variety. This negatively impacts immersion and the overall visual experience.
- NPC interactions are shallow and unrewarding. Reviewers note a lack of meaningful dialogue, limited relationship options, and a general lack of dynamic interactions. The open world feels empty and unengaging as a result.
- The combat system is criticized for being repetitive, uninspired, and lacking depth. Reviewers cite issues with enemy AI, combo systems, and a lack of satisfying feedback. Many also dislike the reliance on 'scripted deaths' that negate player skill.
Gameplay:
- The game struggles to balance its story-driven and sandbox elements. While it presents itself as an open-world sandbox, the linear main story and limited freedom make it feel more like a traditional RPG. Reviewers suggest focusing on one approach or the other to improve the overall experience.
- The martial arts system, while extensive, suffers from limitations in customization and impact. Skills have fixed stat bonuses, and many moves lack super armor, restricting build diversity and strategic options. The acquisition of martial arts manuals feels random, diminishing the importance of factions.
- The combat system feels stiff and unrefined, with issues like awkward movement, prolonged enemy invincibility, and delayed responsiveness. Hit detection can also be strange, with attacks sometimes missing when they should connect. More variety and refinement are needed to improve the combat experience.
- The game features dynamic difficulty scaling for regular enemies, which negatively impacts the game by making normal battles too hard and boss battles too easy. This creates a negative feedback loop with character progression, as enemies become stronger as the player levels up.
- The light skill system allows for flight and jumping, useful for traversal and combat maneuvers. However, the skill has a cooldown, and some reviewers suggest that its combat effect should be more powerful and distinct from dodging, and the activation needs simplification.
Performance:
- Several reviews mention performance issues such as stuttering, lag, frame drops, and crashes, especially in specific maps or after extended playtime. Some players have found temporary workarounds, but optimization needs improvement. These issues affect gameplay smoothness and can cause discomfort.
- Multiple bugs are reported, including selling all equipment at once, game crashes when opening inventory in specific locations, skill menu issues that prevent movement, and unclickable buttons. These bugs can severely disrupt gameplay and require immediate attention.
- Players desire faster movement speed in cities and increased jump distance with higher Qinggong levels. These changes would improve navigation and exploration, making the game world feel more fluid and responsive.
- The same music tracks play for each map and battle, regardless of the story. This lack of variety can become repetitive and detract from the immersive experience.
- The game takes an excessively long time to save. This can be frustrating for players, especially if they are trying to save frequently to avoid losing progress.
Recommendations:
- A frequently mentioned desire is for Steam Workshop support to enhance the game through user-generated content. Reviewers believe that modding capabilities will significantly extend the game's lifespan, add depth, and address current shortcomings. Some suggest the game's survival depends on it.
- Many reviewers express optimism about the game's future, citing its potential and the developers' dedication. They anticipate improvements, new content, and the full release, while also acknowledging the game's current flaws and incomplete state. Some reviewers are waiting for specific updates or the full release before playing or re-evaluating the game.
- Reviewers suggest the developers should prioritize open-world gameplay and sandbox elements to increase player freedom and replayability. Some suggest focusing on this aspect over the story, while others propose separating the game into story-driven and sandbox modes. They want more freedom to explore and interact with the game world.
- Some reviewers give positive reviews to encourage the developers, support domestic games, or acknowledge their efforts. Some reviewers urge others to offer constructive criticism instead of baseless negativity. Some reviewers acknowledge the game's shortcomings but are willing to overlook them due to its potential or the developers' dedication.
- Many reviewers recommend the game to fans of the Wuxia genre, citing its martial arts themes, engaging story, and immersive world. Some reviewers highlight the game's potential to capture the essence of Wuxia and fulfill the dream of experiencing the Jianghu world. Some reviewers urge the developers to focus on chivalry and justice in Wuxia games.
Miscellaneous:
- The game is in Early Access, with many reviewers expressing hope for future updates, content additions, and optimizations. The game's foundation is considered promising, but many features are incomplete and unpolished. The developers are responsive to feedback and have a roadmap for future development.
- Many reviewers are anticipating the release of the creative workshop (modding support) and Steam Workshop integration. They are looking forward to the community-created content and the potential for expanding the game's features and replayability. Some reviewers are already creating content for the workshop.
- This cluster contains a variety of suggestions and observations related to character customization, story elements, and content. Some points are subjective preferences, while others touch on potentially sensitive content. One reviewer expresses concern about the developers' word choices.
- The game is heavily influenced by Wuxia themes and Chinese martial arts culture, with a strong 'jianghu' atmosphere. The art style leans towards ink wash painting, appealing to Chinese players with familiar character designs and settings. Some reviewers feel the game is just wearing a martial arts skin.
- The game's interactive elements and many features are currently incomplete, awaiting future updates. The game is described as a small-scale indie title, which may explain the limited scope of some features.
