Last weekend, a global beta test began to the place where the winds meet, a game with an open world published by Netease, which is now available in China. This free game takes place around 1000 between the Dynasties of the Great Tang and Song during what is known as five dynasties and ten kingdoms. In it, players take the role of a lonely wandering hero at this time of shock, in which their own strength has more than the principles of society. Ign readers may not be very familiar with the period of five dynasties and ten kingdoms, but don’t worry – the same seems to be about players in China.
We know that the game has some influence from the spirit of Tsushima and the legend of Zeld: Breath of the Wild thanks to the earlier intelligence with the main designer Chris Lyu, but it can be hard to imagine exactly what the game will be. According to Lyu, this is “the world’s first Wuxia Open World game.” When I got the game, I found where the winds were meeting, it was actually a game of Wuxia, and the strength of the concept combines various elements evident in today’s games.
When you finish creating the character and start playing the game, for the first time you met with a grateful man with liquid hair resting in a bamboo grove, holding a child on his chest, almost like Zhao Yun from the romance of the Three Kingdoms. Then comes another handsome and long -haired man to talk to him and it seems that this man with his child betrayed his school. He jumps on a white horse, and then galloping through bamboo, while avoiding the weapon of his persecutors, sometimes in sluggish motion. All these shots resemble the eminent scenes from various Chinese films from the past, which from the very beginning explains that this game is closely related to WUXIA’s tradition.
The feeling of “Wuxia-Iissness” results from this game at every step, even after the end of this opening scene and you take control of the character you created-not meaninglessly from whether it is thanks to her gameplay, its systems and graphics or her dialogue. A few minutes after I started walking through his world, I talked to the venerable man on the side of the road, who asked me to push the bear overwhelming, which was on honey. It seems that the hero is able to learn the techniques from the bear’s movements, because pressing the buttons at the right time according to the icons that pop up, made him learn Tai Chi from the beast, unbelievably.
All this serves as a tutorial for mystical arts, which are part of your arsenal, but more importantly, this process of observing eminent objects and nature to learn ability and stronger gives the player a sturdy sense of WUXIA taste. It seems that there are other skills from nature, such as the Lion roar and the venomous toad style, so I’m sure there will be many other techniques that the hero learns from all creatures of the game world. As you can expect, you will be able to exploit magic to create a fire in a fantastic environment, a player in Wuxia World of this game is able to master his own strange powers. It is also worth noting that these skills can also be used out of fight. For example, nearby fish are caught in Tai Chi when they are used by the surface of the water, creating capable fishing.
One of the most noteworthy things in this WUXIA game is to include many elements that we expect from combat systems and exploration in action games. For example, pressing the correct button just before the landing of the enemy attack will evaporate it, creating a pace forward during the segments of the action.
Although equivalent types of Parry systems that have become the basis in the latest action games, this game goes through a sluggish rate when it’s time to evaporate the enemy attack and displays an icon that informs what button press (although you can turn off this icon in options). Although similar to the Final Fantasy XVI -Final Final, these icons exhaust the Insight points meter when they are displayed and do not appear if you finish, so you can’t recklessly repel each enemy attack.
There are currently seven types of weapons, from which the player can exploit (with plans to add more). In addition to standard swords and spears, there are also more unusual weapons, such as umbrellas and folding fans. Each weapon provides its own unique gameplay, such as the skill of an umbrella, which temporarily stunning the enemy or the ability of fans to create a zone that treats the player and their allies.
Players can equip both the main weapon and under weapons, each of which enables various combat techniques. What techniques are available will also change based on the school in which you study with a total number of eleven schools available. The style of fighting in the game changes slightly depending on the combination of mystical and war skills you exploit, enabling a wide degree of customization. Between all different attacks, balance between a crime and a defense enabled in pairs, and a general voracious approach to fight, it seemed that the game adopted the menu of popular newfangled functions and ordered one of everything.
The bow and arrow are treated differently, regardless of whether it is used as the main or under the weapon, capable of attacking enemies from afar, as well as solving puzzles by burning vine to open the paths. The way it is set shows the influence of another game, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
The core of exploration and progress in the game was also extravagant. During the preview, I could visit Kaifeng, one of the eight antique capitals of China located in the province of Heinan, which flourished at that time as one of the largest cities in the world. Despite the world of devastated war, the city in the game was open and alive, and its inhabitants talked as if it were Cyberpunk 2077 after a compact walk through the streets. It seems that up to a thousand NPC has levels of reputation, which allows you to make friends with them individually.
It is not hard to imagine how people live on the detailed streets of Kaifeng, apparently reproduced by reference to historical remains that still exist. Go through a gigantic street that crosses it all, and ultimately you will find a gigantic bugging bridge. A attractive palace with a high defense is waiting for you on the other side, explaining how good this Chinese capital is at that time. From there, the player will be able to delve into secrets around his birth as a wandering hero.
After only about three hours of gameplay, I could say that where the winds meet, there are full elements that players had previously experienced in the games of the open world. But above all, I was shocked by the fact that although this can be called mishmash functions, the key concept of Wuxia along with the way these elements are presented to combine them all in a natural way. Perhaps you can say that it best determines where the winds meet, this is the coexistence of the last decade of what made the games of the open world and the action fun with the love of Chinese creators to the Wuxia genre.
