Tale of Wuxia: The Pre-Sequel (v2017.11.08)

Martial-arts rivalries, wandering heroes, and unpredictable Jianghu encounters drive this character-heavy Chinese RPG. Tale of Wuxia: The Pre-Sequel serves as a prelude to Tale of Wuxia, but it stands comfortably on its own with a broader focus on party adventuring and side stories. Its world mixes earnest wuxia drama with playful comedy, sending a band of disciples across inns, sects, forests, towns, and dangerous hidden corners of the martial world. The tone can turn from lighthearted banter to bitter feuds and lethal conspiracies without losing its pulp-novel charm.

Players travel across a free-roaming world map, pursue major story leads, investigate optional incidents, and recruit martial artists with distinct personalities and combat roles. Battles use turn-based squad tactics, asking you to position fighters, manage ranges, exploit enemy weaknesses, and combine weapon techniques, internal arts, poisons, healing, and status effects. Character growth goes beyond simple level gains: party members learn different martial disciplines and skills, letting you build specialized teams around damage, control, defense, support, or unusual tactical tricks. Side quests regularly present choices, tougher fights, hidden rewards, and branching consequences, while multiple endings give long campaigns real reason to be revisited.

What separates it from more straightforward martial-arts RPGs is the sheer flexibility of its roster. Recruits are not interchangeable units; their talents, movesets, relationships, and personalities shape both combat plans and the flavor of the journey. The Jianghu Tales-style events make roaming feel like more than moving between objectives, as chance encounters and smaller stories help sell the idea of a living, hazardous martial world. Fans of tactical party RPGs such as the older Final Fantasy titles or Chinese wuxia fiction will find plenty to enjoy, though newcomers should expect a dense system with lots of names, skills, and optional content to absorb.