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[Yottamole]

I am Chinese, but why do all Chinese-made RPG have to be martial arts related?
It's not like all Western RPG are cowboys or Japanese RPG full of Ninja.

There are some Chinese RPGs that are not Wuxia related as seen from some other posts of this topic, such as Shegnü zhi Ge/Heroine Anthem (聖女之&#27468, 阿貓阿狗, and that Wizard of Oz game. But yeah, most Chinese RPGs are Wuxia or Chinese mythology-related, and I think that's because...they don't exist anywhere else? These games are catered toward a Chinese audience, and since the stories of chivalrous martial artists and gods and demons of Chinese mythology have been popular for thousands of years, it'd be natural for the developers to make games based on that.

 

[Yottamole]

Just a random update:

Softstar is still releasing new Chinese RPGs, which is always good...this latest entry in the Sword of Xuan Yuan series is coming out in 2009 in Taiwan, here's the official website:

http://swd.joypark.com.tw/SWDCF/index.html

 

[Geneijin]

I think I've fallen in love with Heroine Anthem. The artwork is gorgeous and mesmerizing, the in-game shots look great and distinctive from what I've seen on youtube, and I'm really considering to pick up Chinese again to play this series. Now where to order...

 

[Tenbatsu]

大家读的懂华语吗？

 

[Geneijin]

大家读的懂华语吗？

My Chinese is horrible and has been inactive since elementary. I'd probably have to spend a good 3 months with my old tutor to read again.

 

[sfried]

I am Chinese, but why do all Chinese-made RPG have to be martial arts related?
It's not like all Western RPG are cowboys or Japanese RPG full of Ninja.

Are you making the assumption that all "Westerners" are American?

Heck, I want a Celtic RPG. Or Welsh, for that matter.

 

[Willenium]

i don't know about all that stuff, but...

this game looks like it fucking owns. look at that picture!

 

[tenritsu]

Maybe I'm wrong, but I've always thought that Chinese Mythology and Chinese tales were underused when it came to games (Dynasty Warriors lol).

I'd like to see some in English though... Even though I'm Chinese, my comprehension of the language is horrid .

 

[Psycho Penguin]

Well no one mentioned Shinsenden for NES. Not that I am surprised, as the game is pretty obscure and hard as balls, but I rather enjoyed it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uLNOvq5AEY

I mean, come on, thats fucking AWESOME.

 

[Yottamole]

I've recently just finished playing this gem called 幽城幻劍錄, and found it to be amazing. It's got hands down the best writing in any Chinese RPG I've played. The background research put into making this game was also mind boggling: the writers fused Hindu and Chinese astrology and mythology into the background legend of the game, and as most Chinese RPGs were, the game took place in an actual historical period in China.

Also, a Rabbi and the Lance of Longinus are in the game.

Just so that whoever cared...gameplay of 幽城幻劍錄 (May be known in English as Castle, Kalpa, or The Forbidden Divinevs):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjQti_XeACM

Well no one mentioned Shinsenden for NES. Not that I am surprised, as the game is pretty obscure and hard as balls, but I rather enjoyed it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uLNOvq5AEY

I mean, come on, thats fucking AWESOME.

I made this thread mainly to discuss games made by Chinese/Taiwanese companies that primarily targeted toward the Chinese-speaking market. There may be other games made by Japanese companies or Bioware (Jade Empire lol) that were influenced by the traditional Chinese Wuxia genre, but that's not what this topic is about. Many Chinese/Taiwanese companies created games that did not take place in a Wuxia setting.

Sorry about the random bump.

 

[hteng]

somehow the RPGs are still 2D sprites or diablo-ish sprites.. even for MMOs, it's all outdated and i can't imagine playin one.

 

[MiniKelly]

Most of these are chinese only so I wish I know how to read them.

 

[ULTROS!]

Well... I can only think of sort of Chinese themed RPG, that is Suikoden.

 

[Yottamole]

somehow the RPGs are still 2D sprites or diablo-ish sprites.. even for MMOs, it's all outdated and i can't imagine playin one.

That's because no one makes any Chinese RPGs now due to Piracy. Most of the 2D games were released before 2004. As for MMOs, I don't really play them, but I do know there are many 3D ones (that are unfortunately just rip-offs of WoW that take place in a Chinese setting).

http://www.gamebar.com/aurogon/gj/index.html

This is the only single-player Chinese RPG set to be released later this year.

 

[Micius]

I've recently just finished playing this gem called 幽城幻劍錄, and found it to be amazing. It's got hands down the best writing in any Chinese RPG I've played. The background research put into making this game was also mind boggling: the writers fused Hindu and Chinese astrology and mythology into the background legend of the game, and as most Chinese RPGs were, the game took place in an actual historical period in China.

Also, a Rabbi and the Lance of Longinus are in the game.

Just so that whoever cared...gameplay of 幽城幻劍錄 (May be known in English as Castle, Kalpa, or The Forbidden Divinevs):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjQti_XeACM

I made this thread mainly to discuss games made by Chinese/Taiwanese companies that primarily targeted toward the Chinese-speaking market. There may be other games made by Japanese companies or Bioware (Jade Empire lol) that were influenced by the traditional Chinese Wuxia genre, but that's not what this topic is about. Many Chinese/Taiwanese companies created games that did not take place in a Wuxia setting.

Sorry about the random bump.

Man, this thread brings back memories. I've never played 幽城幻劍錄, but I'm familiar with Dynasty, the company that made the game. 幽城幻劍錄 is actually a sequel/sidestory to 天地劫, which is a fantastic early DOS SRPG that had amazing production values for its time. Was also a brutally hard game, but I just loved pretty much everything about it.

Just saw that someone posted a playthrough of it on Youtube, here's the intro to the game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhzI85OMHN0

You might notice the main character of 幽城幻劍錄 is in the intro. He appears in 天地劫 as an antagonist who you can recruit into your party. Watching that intro just reminded me of the awesome music of the game and also the very unique Chinese-style artwork and character designs of the game too. Such a shame Dynasty has gone under a few years back

 

[Yottamole]

Just some random updates...

Out of the few single-player RPGs being released this year, the newest Sword of Xuan Yuan game is out (軒轅劍外傳：雲之遙, http://swd.joypark.com.tw/SWDCF/index.html) in Taiwan. To combat the piracy issue, it requires the player to stay connected online at all times while playing the game (yes, just like the Ubisoft DRM).

Gu Jian Qi Tan (古劍奇譚, http://gjqt.gamebar.com/) is coming out this summer. It's supposedly going to be the best-looking RPG developed by a Chinese studio ever. Watch the newest trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Uk8kde9HfU

The newest game in The Legend of Sword and Fairy series is in production. Don't know when it's gonna get released, but here are some pictures: http://tieba.baidu.com/f?kz=786385654

 

[Yottamole]

Just realized the newest Chinese RPG (Gu Jian Qi Tan 古剑奇&#35885 has been released for digital download...and it's only 10 US dollars through Paypal. Their official site is here: http://gjqt.gamebar.com/. I'll probably grab some images after I finish downloading the game. The game's packaging sure look nice though:

 

[KTallguy]

Gu Jian Qi Tan 古剑奇谭 looks cool. How does it play? Is the combat interesting?
Your images are currently broken by the way...

Edit: Oh, if I go to the image URL it works.
But yea, any details about the combat or story?

 

[LocoMrPollock]

Don't know if it's Chinese or Korean, but Rainblood: Town of Death is pretty cool.

 

[Yottamole]

Gu Jian Qi Tan 古剑奇谭 looks cool. How does it play? Is the combat interesting?
Your images are currently broken by the way...

Edit: Oh, if I go to the image URL it works.
But yea, any details about the combat or story?

Sorry, I just fixed the links.

Rainblood looks like a nice indie game...unfortunately I don't know much about it. I think China has a pretty good indie scene, but I haven't really looked into it.

 

[MvmntInGrn]

Gu Jian Qi Tan (古劍奇譚, http://gjqt.gamebar.com/) is coming out this summer. It's supposedly going to be the best-looking RPG developed by a Chinese studio ever. Watch the newest trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Uk8kde9HfU

I was doing some searching about Chinese RPGs and this thread showed up, and its been posted in today!

I really liked this trailer, especially the music. I'd like to play something like this (though I don't speak the language). I'm surprised more Japanese/Western devs don't attempt games in this setting/style (unless there are and I'm unaware of them).

 

[SILVO]

大家读得懂华语吗？

fixed(?)

still studying

Also, does anyone know a Chinese RPG with fairly simple language? I wouldn't mind using one to practice, but at the same time, I don't want to spend all day translating a single cutscene.

 

[Castor Krieg]

Just realized the newest Chinese RPG (Gu Jian Qi Tan 古剑奇&#35885 has been released for digital download...and it's only 10 US dollars through Paypal. Their official site is here: http://gjqt.gamebar.com/. I'll probably grab some images after I finish downloading the game. The game's packaging sure look nice though:

GETTING THIS! Looks great, the special attacks really have Chinese feeling to them. But I want physical copy - only 17EUR lol.

Post impressions when done downloading!

EDIT: I'm confused is this an MMO, or Chinese take on jRPG? Also, any recommendations on where I can order Special Edition?

 

[Yottamole]

GETTING THIS! Looks great, the special attacks really have Chinese feeling to them. But I want physical copy - only 17EUR lol.

Post impressions when done downloading!

EDIT: I'm confused is this an MMO, or Chinese take on jRPG? Also, any recommendations on where I can order Special Edition?

It's a single-player RPG. Internet connection is required for activation and achievements upload and future DLC downloads, but otherwise it's only offline.

As for where to buy the special edition, both DangDang and Amazon China sell it, but I don't think Amazon China ships software worldwide and it current lists the special edition as on backorder.

Some notes about the game itself:
The control is pretty bad. The game was not very optimized for nVidia cards, but a recent patch much improved it. There's no voice acting, and the cutscenes are really long. Battles are standard turn-based fare. I'm not far into the game to say anything about the story. There's a 星蕴 character growth system (similar to FFX's sphere grid apparently) and a cooking system (Tales series?!). Oh and all characters are named after alcohol.

I posted some screenshots in the 2010 PC screenshots thread.

Also, just came across an article on Hardcore Gaming today that talks about some of the fan translations for Chinese RPGs. Have a look: http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/Fantranslation/Romhacking3.htm

 

[Thommunist]

A bump because I'm interested in how the industry is now. What are the newest RPG's I should look into? I'm in Taiwan right now, so getting the games wouldn't be too big of a problem. Really eager to hear from the experts!

 

[BlueTsunami]

Where the hell are our cowboy rpgs? That sounds awesome.

Wild Arms ;_;

 

[RedSwirl]

Y'know what, I've always wondered why gaming hasn't developed as many of its own varied and unique production cultures from country to country.

I mean you have American, Japanese, Chinese, French movies etc. that are made mainly for their home audience and thus reflect on their culture. Same goes for pretty much all other entertainment. But would your average bro have any idea that Crysis 2 is a German game? The only really unique production cultures you have in gaming are Japan and Eastern Europe. Even a lot of Czech games coming out these days are essentially "American".

Maybe a lot of countries have relatively unknown PC gaming cultures while console gaming continues to restrict itself to North America and Western Europe. I'd like to know this.

 

[Xane]

You forgot one.

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

I level you up long time?

 

[Yottamole]

A bump because I'm interested in how the industry is now. What are the newest RPG's I should look into? I'm in Taiwan right now, so getting the games wouldn't be too big of a problem. Really eager to hear from the experts!

古劍奇譚 was released last year, and it just got its final DLC a few months ago. It's an OK game, got tons of voice acting for a Chinese-language game, but I find most of its cutscenes to be way too long. There were a few times where I killed a boss but couldn't save the game until like an hour later because of the cutscenes (and the fact that the game does not feature an autosave option). Of course you can skip the scenes, but then you miss out the storyline. The control scheme is not very good, and characters are pretty stiff. But the game's got some of the best graphics out of all the Chinese RPGs out there, and the story is pretty good.

Another Chinese RPG that was released a few months ago would be 仙劍奇俠傳五, the latest game in the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_Sword_and_Fairy series, which can be considered the Final Fantasy of China due to the series' influence and popularity. I've never played this latest entry in the series myself, but the general consensus on the Internet seems to indicate that this was not a good game. Here's a promotional video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0i7rLX12hI

Since the single-player market is not there, most recent Chinese-language RPGs you'll be able to find are going to be MMOs. The two games listed above are pretty much the only single-player RPGs released within the last year. If you want to play some really excellent Chinese RPGs, I would suggest that you seek out one of the games I wrote about in my first post, especially 武林群俠傳.

 

[Thommunist]

The Heroes of Wulin game sounds really interesting, I should try to find that one. Thanks for the information, I really think it's a shame that the Chinese singleplayer RPG market is being abandoned in favor of the MMO's..

 

[wrowa]

I see a bunch of interesting games I'll never be able to play. I don't like that.

Are there any good Chinese RPGs that have been translated into English?

 

[NotebookJ2]

I really want to try a Chinese RPG someday, but the language barrier is a big issue so I have to wait until someone translates one I suppose. Kinda sad to here that single-player RPGs are dying out there. :\

Maybe a lot of countries have relatively unknown PC gaming cultures while console gaming continues to restrict itself to North America and Western Europe. I'd like to know this.

Y'know, this definitely wouldn't surprise me at all. The majority of mainstream games are--for the lack of a better word--eurocentric with the occasional dab of Japanese culture here and there. And well since gaming journalism won't look at anything outside the big three, it'll definitely take some work to see if it truly exists.

For some reason, I'm reminded of that one adult-rated RPG based on an Egyptian setting.

 

[aggro crag]

I'd love to see some Chinese RPGs get translated and get distributed on Steam. Sorta like the love Recettear got.

 

[Yottamole]

Are there any good Chinese RPGs that have been translated into English?

The only single-player Chinese RPG that I know of that was officially released in English was Prince of Qin, a Diablo-clone set in the Qin Dynasty (221 to 207 BC).

Other MMORPGs such as Dragon Oath (based on a popular Wuxia writer's novel) and Dream of Mirror Online (part of the Xuanyuan Jian series) have been released in English, but I've never played them and can't really comment on them.

There is an ongoing translation project for the game Xin Xianjian Qixia Zhuan (New Chinese Paladin): http://english.fairysword.info/project.html, and a few English videos are released for the project:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvc4omk2DB8&hd=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9z4bwgs9mo&hd=1

But looks like it's still in its infancy. There was an English demo of the game released a while back, but the site that used to host it is down (http://www.lsfgame.net/blog/). I saved a copy of the installer on my hard drive if anyone wants it, but I've never installed it personally so I can't guarantee how well it works.

But there is good news: Xin Xianjian Qixia Zhuan was released in 2001 as a remake of Xianjian Qixia Zhuan (Chinese Paladin, also known as Legend of Sword and Fairy), which was released in 1995 for DOS, then ported to Windows. The Windows version of the 1995 classic is legally available as a free download on Xianjian Qixia Zhuan 5's official website:

http://pal5.baiyou100.com/pal5/download/98xjrq.html

It can also be downloaded here.

The good new is that there's apparently a full translation patch of the game, which can be downloaded here, so you might want to give it a try.

 

[j^aws]

The only single-player Chinese RPG that I know of that was officially released in English was Prince of Qin, a Diablo-clone set in the Qin Dynasty (221 to 207 BC).

[...]

In addition to Prince of Qin, Seal of Evil, and Blade and Sword, were released in the UK - both single-player, action RPGs, similar in style to Prince of Qin (released around the same time):

 

[Yottamole]

Found out that the two most venerable Chinese RPG franchises are getting new releases in 2013. Very glad that single-player RPG is still not quite dead in China.

Both the Xuan-Yuan Sword series (軒轅&#21133 and The Legend of Sword and Fairy (aka Chinese Paladin) series (仙劍奇俠&#20659 are getting new sequels. The Legend of Sword and Fairy is getting a prequel to its fifth main installment, and the Xuan-Yuan Sword series is getting its sixth main installment.

The Legend of Sword and Fairy (Chinese Paladin) 5 Prequel (仙劍奇俠傳五前&#20659:
Official Facebook Page
Youtube Video
Official Website (Simplified Chinese)

Xuan-Yuan Sword 6 (軒轅劍&#38520:
Official Facebook Page
Official Website (Traditional Chinese)
Official Website (Simplified Chinese)

Also apparently Joe Hisaishi is composing for the second MMORPG installment of the Chinese Paladin series.

 

[CorvoSol]

FF7 for nes

That's the only one I really remember

I have been playing FF7AC NES recently. It's full of terrible design decisions, but the fact that it exists makes it worth the run through. As someone told me "Play it--cheat, but play it."

Like, the game only has 2 songs in it, which become grating, and the enemy sprite choices range from acceptable to hilariously inappropriate (Dyne has a sword, OWA is the COD), bosses are practically immune to anything but magic, your characters do pathetic damage and leveling up does little to improve this (at level 40 I had less than 1000 HP), shops sell you only a certain set of equipment and everything else in the game, from weapons to armor to accessories, must be gained via random drops by enemies.

That said, the game is still a pretty decent demake of FF7, and for an NES game it's crazy story heavy. The downside is that a lot of events are implied, and you only know what happens there because you've played FF7. Like Don Corneo dropping you into the sewer. One minute you're threatening him, the next you're in a sewer. No explanation offered.

 

[Yottamole]

And of course, soon after they announce making Xuan-Yuan Sword 6 as a single player RPG, they also announce that Xuan-Yuan Sword 7 is in development as an MMORPG.

There have already been 4 online entries in the Xuan-Yuan Sword series, one of which was released in English as Dream of Mirror Online. The first online entry of the Xuan-Yuan Sword series was released in 2002. Assuming Xuan-Yuan Sword 7 gets released next year, that would make a total of 5 MMORPGs in 11 years.

The first Xuan-Yuan Sword game was released in 1990. When Xuan-Yuan Sword 6 gets released next year, that would mean a total of 6 single player main installments over the span of 23 years. (Note: The franchise also has a number of Gaiden games as well, all single player RPGs built with existing engines used by the main installments, and many of which have received higher acclaim than the numbered games, but that's besides the point.)

Xuan-Yuan Sword 7 looks to be a parody of its own franchise and the MMORPG genre, according to the trailer (English subtitles available): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCaFmPfRu5c

At least the concept art looks nice:

 

[Benhur]

I've been wanting to play Prince of Qin lately, but I'm having trouble getting it to work. I can't get it to run in a window, and I can't change resolution options in-game because of wonky menu sizes. Does anyone have any experience with getting PoQ to work on modern machines? Any imprssions on Blade and Sword or Seal of Evil?

 

[Tactics]

Any hints on where I might order some of these games online? I'd be especially interested in some of the older stuff, like the Sword and Fairy Remake.

 

[Atolm]

.

 

[manzo]

Sorry for the necrobump, didn't see a reason to post a new thread just for this.

I unpacked some of my older stuff and found basically a pristine, complete in box copy of Heroine Anthem 2 - Angel of Sarem. I remember buying it in 2004, but only played it like once or twice. It's been stashed away in a closet for 13 years.

I tried to search the net what it's worth, but couldn't find anything. Since the whole package is "almost new", it would be a shame just to throw it away.

What price would it go these days? If it's worth less than 10 euros, then I will just throw it away.