With the new buzz and excitement surrounding the upcoming release of Xuan-Yuan Sword VII, more gamers from the Western hemisphere are paying attention to the Xuan-Yuan Sword series, a Wuxia-styled roleplaying franchise that's very popular in China and Taiwan. Many are likely wondering: in what ways does this RPG franchise differ from Western and Japanese RPGs, and what plans does Softstar Entertainment have for the latest installment of their best-selling series?

America is famous for western-style RPGs like the Elder Scrolls or Baldur's Gate. Japan is famous for JRPGs like the Final Fantasy series. China, in contrast, is famous for "ARPGs" like Xuan Yuan Sword (轩辕剑), a long-running roleplaying game franchise that tells tales of fantasy adventure steeped in Chinese culture and history. Published by the Taiwan-based Softstar Entertainment since 1990, the Xuan-Yuan Sword games and their numerous spin-offs have enthralled Chinese gamers for decades with tales of questing heroes, grand romances, and chivalrous martial artists.

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The Xuan-Yuan Sword series is heavily inspired by two particular genres of Chinese fiction. First is the "Shenmo" (神魔) genre, which focuses on the conflicts of sorcerers, demons, and deities. Journey to the West, with the Monkey King and his war against the Celestial Bureaucracy, is a famous example of this genre. The other big inspiration for the Xuan-Yuan Sword games comes from the "Wuxia" (武侠) genre, which focuses on the passionate romances and flying sword fights of martial artists in different eras of Chinese history. This particular genre includes bestselling books and movies like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Each Xuan-Yuan Sword installment consistently centers around a party of martial artists who must defeat a great evil, generally by fighting off demons and claiming artifacts like the titular “Xuan-Yuan Jian” (The Sword of the Yellow Emperor). Much like RPG games in the West and in Japan, the Xuan-Yuan Sword games have evolved considerably over the years, increasing in graphical sophistication while offering more elaborate gameplay and more nuanced takes on the 'save the world' plot.

Xuan-Yuan Sword I and II (1991 -1994)

Xuan-Yuan Sword II RPG Open World

The first two Xuan-Yuan Sword games were originally supposed to be one game, according to Fanatical, before getting split into two parts during development. Xuan-Yuan Sword I was a turn-based party RPG with graphics and gameplay similar to that of Dragon Quest and other JRPGs, while the second game introduced new features like a monster summoning system and a unique art style modeled after traditional Chinese paintings.

Xuan-Yuan Sword III and IV (1999 to 2002)

Xuan Yuan Sword III RPG Turn-Based Battle Mode

Xuan-Yuan Sword III switched over from a traditional turn-based RPG battles to an Active Time Battle system in the style of Final Fantasy VII, with a globe-trotting plot that took players from early Tang Dynasty China to the courts of Charlemagne. Xuan-Yuan Sword IV was the first game in the series to incorporate 3D graphics, while introducing steampunk devices and robots created by adherents of Mohism, a historical school of Chinese philosophy famed for its proficiency with mechanical skills.

Xuan-Yuan Sword V and VI (2006 to 2013)

Xuan-Yuan Sword VI Cutscene Footage

Xuan-Yuan Sword V, unlike other Xuan-Yuan Sword games with historical settings, took place in the world of "Shanhai," a secondary fantasy realm filled with immortals, floating mountains, and the more bizarre creatures of Chinese mythology. Xuan-Yuan Sword VI went farther back in time than any Xuan-Yuan Sword game to date, with a narrative centered around the rise of the half-mythical Zhou Dynasty and the birth of classical Chinese culture.

Trailers for the next Xuan-Yuan Sword game, Xuan-Yuan Sword VII, showcase a new real-time combat system that retains the martial arts and creature summoning of earlier titles, mixed with a new storyline set in the waning years of the Han Dynasty (detailed in Romance of the Three Kingdoms). Depending on the quality of its gameplay and the fluency of English translations, Xuan-Yuan Sword VII might bring this long-running franchise international popularity, exposing gamers across the world to a new, quintessentially Chinese style of computer RPG.

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