More and more lately I have found myself impressed by games being produced by Chinese developers. Last year I raved over Sword and Fairy: Together Forever, and there have also been highly publicized games like Black Myth Wukong and Where Winds Meet. Wandering Sword isn’t as high profile, but it is definitely a pleasant surprise.

In Wandering Sword, you play a young man known as Yumen Yi, who finds himself injured and poisoned after his caravan is attacked and his friends are killed. In typical Wuxia fashion, what ensues is a journey across gorgeous HD-2D environments as he attempts to get revenge and winds up embroiled in a larger conflict. The story feels a lot like popular Wuxia experiences, and the localization is relatively well done, minus a grammar issue here and there.

The fun part though, is that Wandering Sword’s gameplay takes its Wuxia inspirations seriously, even down to its progression systems. By using the Meridian system, you can level up characters’ stats. Additionally, you can level up various fighting styles and cultivation methods to strengthen their abilities and be more effective in battle.

Contrary to a more menu-based RPG, Wandering Sword is a grid-based Tactical RPG that can be played either in a Turn-Based format or in an RTS format for people who find Turn-Based games too slow. I found the Turn-Based mode a lot more comfortable, but I know people who will love the more fast-paced RTS style.

Another interesting element of Wandering Sword is its Affinity system. By sparring or gifting items to certain NPCs, you can raise their affinity. Get their affinity high enough and you can recruit them to your party! Sparring also gives you the benefit of getting items from NPCs like sect leaders, who may have powerful weapons or armor.

Additionally, Wandering Sword has a crafting system that allows you to create weapons, armor, and other useful things. If you spend time doing side quests, you’ll unlock a myriad of endings, plus you can enjoy things like fishing and cooking as well. Wandering Sword is a surprisingly dense game, with a lot of replay value and content packed in.

What really makes it so special though is the soundtrack mixed with the stunning art style. The HD landscapes look beautiful, and the pixel art of characters interacting with the world provides a gorgeous backdrop to the intrigue of Wandering Sword’s plot. It is the perfect atmosphere for an RPG that spans 5 diverse regions.

My main issue with Wandering Sword is that the controls feel clunky at times. In certain situations, the “confirm” button and the “cancel” button are reversed. It wasn’t anything to do with my controller either, there are just certain situations where it seems to be programmed in. There are a few other minor bugs and glitches as well, but overall, these complaints feel very minor.

It helps that the development team behind Wandering Sword has been working hard to fix the various bugs and glitches in the game. They have also been working to add quality-of-life features thanks to community feedback. According to various updates on Steam, they even plan to add story expansions and DLC content in the future.

If you are a fan of Turn-Based RPGs, Wandering Sword is a no-brainer. If you are new to Wuxia-style media then this is a great entry point. Alternatively, if you’re a fan of things like The Legend of the Condor Heroes, The Untamed, Word of Honor, or other similar stories, this will scratch that itch nicely. I cannot recommend Wandering Sword enough.

A PC Review Copy of Wandering Sword was provided by Spiral Up Games for the purposes of this review.

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Wandering Sword

$24.99 USD

9

Score

9.0/10

Pros

• Gorgeous Visuals and Pixel Art
• Both Turn-Based and Real-Time options
• Multiple endings
• Compelling storyline
• Lots of side quests and content

Cons

• Controls can be clunky
• Minor bugs and glitches