Is this the Chinese-style fairy tale world you imagined in your mind?
On December 22, China Mobile Games’ first self-developed open world game “World of Sword and Fairy” officially authorized by the “Legend of Sword and Fairy” IP ended its eight-day test. Also being tested at the same time were many masterpieces such as “Eternal Tribulation” and “Sixteen Voices of Yanyun”. I believe many people, including Fairy Sword fans, are sweating, wondering what kind of “Sword World” will bring us. world.
As early as April this year, after the game was first revealed, the discussion about “World of Sword” has not stopped. After the first test in June, the evaluation of the player group was not surprisingly polarized: some people saw new hope in the Fairy Sword IP works in it, while others were worried about the feelings of consuming IP.
When the Fairy Sword IP meets the open world gameplay, is this the Chinese-style Fairy World in the minds of players?
What kind of world is the Fairy Sword World?
Speaking of Fairy Sword, the first thing that comes to mind is the touching love stories described in works of various generations. As an IP with nearly 30 years of accumulation, Fairy Sword has already built a huge worldview. The story of the Three Emperors, Six Realms, and Nine Clans is never limited to a certain region or ethnic group. Each generation of works in the Fairy Sword series will start from the identity of ordinary people and gradually unfold the world during the journey. Each generation of works also condenses a profound theme: the “fate” of Fairy 1, the “forgiveness” of Fairy 2, the “forgiveness” of Fairy 3, “Reincarnation” in Xian 3 Gaiden, “Questioning” in Xian 3 Gaiden, “Searching for Immortals” in Xian 4, “Wish” in Xian 5, “Tie” in Xian 5 prequel, “Transcendence” in Xian 6 and “Xiang Xiang” in Xian 7 Shou”.
Through the inheritance and development of the unique humanistic spirit of each generation of works, the world view system of Fairy Sword’s entire IP is also simultaneously enriched and brought to life. It can be seen that “World of Sword and Fairy” itself already has the most solid foundation for the fairy-themed open world gameplay – story and content.
Like previous stand-alone works, “World of Sword and Fairy” is still a work with plot experience as its core. But at the same time, as an open-world game, the narrative of “World of Fairy Sword” uses a linear plot combined with fragmented narrative techniques to show everyone what is happening in the World of Fairy Sword and the characters in the World of Fairy Sword in sequence.
Even a casual fan of Fairy Sword, when it comes to exploring the open world with Li Xiaoyao and Zhao Ling’er, at least they already know that this is a fairy world full of infinite possibilities.
Connecting the fairy sword timeline, the story is still continuing
The story of “The World of Immortal Sword” itself takes place in the 33rd year of the Immortal Sword Calendar, which is the timeline after the end of the story of Immortal Sword II. As the protagonist walks out of the village, he encounters classic IP characters such as Ling Bo, Lin Yueru, and Wang Xiaohu on the road. In the new story line, these characters will show their respective personalities according to their status during the 33rd Year of Fairy Sword, and reveal the plot that has not been revealed in the original work.
Just like the texture and details of the Fairy Sword IP, they are also consistent in the story of “Fairy Sword World”. Lin Yueru has grown into a very responsible young master of Linjiabao, and now in Yuhang Town, the story of Li Xiaoyao is spread in the streets and alleys, and it has become a tourist attraction called “Li Xiaoyao’s Former Residence”.
The game begins in a village in the south of the Yangtze River. The monster-like buildings and NPC conversations in the village convey that this is not an ordinary village, but a place built and lived by various monsters. This kind of environment where people and spirits coexist harmoniously, as well as the relaxed and leisurely atmosphere, is exactly the world that Xianjian has always described, where young people and all things coexist.
As the story progresses, classic places such as Suzhou City, Yuhang Town, Fairy Sword Inn, and Fairy Island reappear. Familiar NPCs such as Xianglan, Uncle Shui Sheng, and Aunt Li also continue to live in this world, unfolding a life that was not explained in the original storyline. This is also a very good supplement and new creative logic for the Fairy Sword IP. It comes from the original IP but brings completely different content and stories.
If you continue to experience it, you will find that this “fairy sword flavor” is reflected in every detail and gameplay.
The battle system of “World of Sword and Fairy” restores the classic five-spirit creation and suppression mechanism of the IP. It can use card corners with different attributes to create restraint effects, and combine it with “broken spirits” (a bit like a toughness setting) to deliver high damage. The combat operation is a bit like ACT. The seamless cutting, perfect dodging and action rhythm are also good after the first experience.
Some details with a more fairy-sword feel are more in line with players’ fantasy of flying with swords. The flying movements of different characters also restore the character settings of the original IP, such as Li Xiaoyao’s chic and flamboyant, Li Yiru’s naughty and cute, Ling Bo’s lightness and elegance as a disciple of Shushan, etc. Judging from the current promotional video, it is at least something worth looking forward to. As for the actual performance, we may have to wait until we experience it.
The past works of Sword and Fairy, whether they are games or film and television dramas, are extremely impressive for their emotional entanglements, fateful helplessness and tragedy. The new copy “Mirror Spirit Fantasy” experienced in this test follows this feeling. In the process of experiencing the plot of the dungeon, you can feel the love-hate entanglement between people and mirror spirits. At the end of the plot, you will also sigh at the tragic experience and ending of the Yu family siblings.
In the game, the plot protagonist “Chen” was also made into an original card character. On the basis of inheriting the setting context of Fairy Sword, it also took its own innovative steps. Judging from the story of Mirror Spirit copy and Chen, it is indeed the most familiar “fairy sword flavor”.
Even the newly added characters and plot are completely self-consistent and have no sense of dissonance. It’s still the timeline of Fairy Sword, and the story is still continuing.
Pure fairy tale flavor, unexpected encounter with the maze
Speaking of big world exploration, it is also inseparable from the settings of mechanisms, puzzle solving, and opening treasure boxes. In this kind of design that already has fixed practices, how will “World of Sword” create a differentiated experience?
Unlike other products where what you see is what you get and directly explore the underground palace, the design of mazes and dungeons in “World of Sword” has a more sense of adventure, or randomness. Combined with the sword-controlling system in the game, in the process of sword-controlling, you will encounter some floating stones floating in the air. Open the mechanism on the floating stones. The moment you pass through the stone door, you can instantly open up another world, maybe open It may be a map of a mechanism that needs to be decrypted by moving around, or it may be a mission that requires rescuing a certain demon spirit. You never know what you will face when the mechanism is opened.
This also instantly reminded players of the most impressive Demon Locking Tower and General Tomb in the stand-alone version of Fairy Sword. They originally thought that “World of Fairy Sword” would directly copy it. This is essentially the simplest approach that can please IP fans. This attempt The method of small innovation can be regarded as a new attempt in the exploration of existing IP. Due to the low level of completion of the version, the current gameplay in the maze may still be a little simple, but now that the framework has been set up, it is just a matter of filling the content.
Another point that makes the open world feel more like a fairy is the small spirit exploration gameplay in “World of Sword and Fairy”. It is also a puzzle-solving mechanism. In the game, you can also possess various spirits and solve the mechanism by acquiring the different abilities of the spirits. For example, by possessing a brush spirit, you can unlock certain formation seals by splashing ink; or by possessing a lotus spirit, you can discover treasures hidden under the water. This is a small ingenious idea.
It’s the story of the Fairy Sword, and it’s also the story of the players.
The history of fairy swords is intertwined with humans and demons, gods and ghosts, immortals and demons. Naturally, stories between humans and humans are also indispensable. The game has designed a “smart mode” function. When players enter some specific main cities (the second test currently only opens Hangzhou City), they will directly enter a multiplayer world full of players. Here you can chat and interact with different players, form a team to play lore, and even see people setting up stalls and selling goods, which is full of real life atmosphere. Not only can you experience the plots of Fairy Sword NPCs here, but you can also write your own stories through social interaction!
Among the currently open multiplayer gameplay, there is a more interesting team challenge called “Xuanyi Fantasy”, which is a team-based grinding gameplay where you can drop high-quality equipment and get a large number of spirit stone rewards. Another gameplay is a bit like the group mode of World of Warcraft. After defeating the BOSS and dropping the gold equipment, you can obtain it through on-site bidding. After the bidding is over, all players can get dividend rewards.
Combining the stall setting and group bidding modes, we can boldly imagine that “World of Sword” hopes to build an economic transfer system between players, and non-Krypton players can also obtain game currency resources through “working”. For open world games, allowing players to choose their preferred gaming method is more worthy of the keyword “open”.
The road is long and difficult, but the fairy sword has already embarked on its way to the “world”
Due to the limited experience time, there is still a lot of content in the game that I have not experienced, and among the content that I have played, the game has given me many surprises. However, there are still many problems in the performance optimization of this test, such as frame drops in complex scenes. In addition, it can also be seen that the degree of completion of the game is not high yet, and many gameplay loop systems have not yet been completed. These shortcomings still have an impact on the game experience.
Judging from the two tests, the project team is also carefully polishing the game and has made optimizations in many aspects. The actual sword-wielding, combat, scene, and gameplay demonstrations have a good quality improvement compared to the first test.
In the second beta version of “World of Sword and Fairy”, we have already seen a domestic IP with a history of 28 years and carrying the genes of traditional Chinese culture, exuding new vitality. We have also seen the difficulties of classic IP under the open world proposition. In any case, we have seen that China Mobile Games has given a good solution in “Xianjian Weier”.
Overall, although there are shortcomings, it is still worth looking forward to. This exam for the Fairy Sword IPThe road is long and difficult, but the fairy sword has obviously already embarked on the road to the “world”.
