The name “Swords Of Legends” does not exactly cultivate intrigue. File it alongside Legendary Sword, Sword Legends, Legend of Sword, and Sword: Legends under “game titles that would put me to sleep even if I were being steadily electrocuted”. Having visited the official site for Swords and watched the Chinese announcement trailer, I have come up with some alternative, vastly superior English titles: 1) My House Is Unaccountably Peckish, 2) Can I Play Football With This Boss’s Detachable Head, 3) A Kingdom For My Horsebro, and 4) Did That Mountain Just Sideeye Me.
Developed by Aurogon Shanghai with Wangyuan Shengtang publishing, Sword Of Legends is the fourth main game in the Gujian series, which I’m not familiar with. Occasional Rock Paper Shotgun contributor Khee Hoon Chan has a PCGamer write-up of the third one in which they describe it as “close to being the Final Fantasy of Chinese RPGs”. As with Final Fantasy, the devs insist that you don’t need to have played the other Gujian games to enjoy this one.
The new game is a premium (i.e. not free-to-play) single player action-RPG with an obvious Soulslike flow to its boss battles. You are an underworld enforcer who must “guide the departed” by kicking their heads in, whether attached or not. It’s ceremonially described on the official site as “wide linear” – a mixture of story-led fights and sidequests that is neither as sprawling as an open world game, nor as suffocating as many Soulslikes. It’s set, like Black Myth: Wukong and the more recent Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, in a realm inspired by Chinese mythology and folklore.
As the aforesaid Stygian copper, your combat abilities range from combos, dodges and parries to capturing the souls of munsters and unleashing them against the next wayward phantom you encounter. There’s a neat bit in the trailer when the player uses a companion creature’s out-thrust spear as a springboard. Horseguy, you’re so dependable! Not like those horsegirls in that viral gacha game the top brass keep telling me to write about.
I’d say I’m weary of action-RPGs inspired by Chinese myth, after Wuchang and Wukong, but that would be outright hypocrisy, given that I still knock back Tolkien-esque fantasies by the flagon. Besides, I’ve always wanted to be eaten by a house. It’s probably the nearest I’ll ever come to owning one. Swards Of Legumes doesn’t have a release date yet, but there’s a Q&A with more details on the offical site.
