The Legend of Sword and Fairy
Encyclopedia
The Legend of Sword and Fairy , is an action RPG developed by Taiwan
's Softstar Entertainment. Set in ancient China
, the game is based on the Wuxia
genre with elements of fantasy
. With the first of the series released in 1995, the game became one of the most successful video game franchises in both Taiwan and mainland China
.
The protagonist, Li Xiaoyao, is an ordinary 19-year-old boy who lives in a small fishing village near Suzhou
, China
. During a quest to seek a cure for his ill aunt, he travels to a strange island out at sea, where he meets a fairy named Zhao Ling'er. He is forced to marry her and remain on the island forever, but manages to escape home with the cure for his aunt. However, he loses memory of his adventure on the island and does not remember Zhao when he meets her again. This time, Zhao's home has been destroyed by some enemies and Li decides to accompany her to southwestern China to find her mother, who may still be alive.
Li and Zhao arrive in Suzhou and meet Lin Yueru, the spoiled daughter of a wealthy martial artist. Unexpectedly, Li emerges as champion in a martial arts contest and wins Lin's hand-in-marriage. Li and Lin are engaged but Zhao disappears mysteriously on their wedding night and they set of to find her. Their search brings them to Sichuan
, where the Mount Shu Sect, a powerful martial arts clan, is based. They learn that Zhao is actually a half-serpent spirit and has been imprisoned inside the Demon Prison Tower by the sect's elders. Li and Lin break into the tower and succeed in rescuing Zhao after making a perilous descent to its lowest level, but suffer grave injuries when the tower collapses on itself during their escape.
The trio are saved by a herbal medicine guru, who tells Li that Zhao is pregnant with his child, and that Lin has died from her wounds. Li is deeply saddened but he has a more important task to do, which is, to retrieve two rare items to save Zhao and his baby's lives. During his quest, he meets and befriends A'nu, a white Miao princess. They are currently in southwestern China, where the Miao people
live. The land is plagued by a prolonged drought and the white and black Miao are at war over scarce resources. Li completes his mission and Zhao recovers, after which she calls for a rainstorm and restores peace to the land. They discover that the drought is orchestrated by an evil black Miao cleric. Li, Zhao and A'nu confront him and manage to defeat him after a battle, but Zhao sacrifices herself to destroy a monster summoned by the cleric.
Li is traumatized by the loss of his two close friends, who are also his love interests. He bids A'nu farewell and walks away alone. Just then, he sees Lin, carrying his child. Lin's reappearance at the end of the game is often disputed, but the official story released by the producers claim that Lin is indeed dead and cannot be resurrected. However, her body may be brought back to life, but she will never be the same as before because her soul is dead.
When the characters engage in combat, they are taken to a separate combat screen. Battles are purely turn based. Certain ability scores of the combatants determine which party acts first, and then actions alternate between the player characters and the enemies. The actions taken during battles mainly consist of normal attacks and casting spells. The players may also defend, throw and use items, and steal from the enemies. Once the appropriate equipment is obtained, the player may also capture monsters to later turn them into beneficial items. The magic system contains the five elements of wind, lightning, ice, fire, and earth, which form the descriptors for the offensive spells, each type able to counter another. There are also spells of no elemental type, such as Li's Wanjian Jue (incantation of ten thousand swords).
The player's equipment is primarily upgraded through treasures gained in mazes and acquisition from shops. Defeating monsters usually make negligible contributions to the player's inventory, but it is the primary source of money. Healing and combat support items can be made from captured monsters as well as bought. The player can also make poison-based weapons using certain types of venomous insects as raw material.
Yao faced some turmoil in his love life during the game design process. This influenced him to integrate his own views of love into the game. Yao said, the three female protagonists are based on reality; Zhao Ling'er is like a girlfriend; Lin Yueru is like a lover and A'Nu is like a mate. At some point, there arose a dispute regarding to the fate of two of the female characters in the end. In the finished game, this matter was intentionally made ambiguous where Lin is shown standing under a tree in the ending cinematics even though she is supposedly dead. Yao commented that he invested a great deal of feeling into the story, and the unclear ending was meant to leave events open to the players' imagination. In the years that followed the game's release in 1995, Yao did not wish to openly address questions regarding the game’s ending. (There was an anecdote about the ending: Yao was in favor of Zhao while another producer Xie Chonghui inclined towards Lin. In Yao's blueprint of the whole game, the ending is that Lin's body is intact but her soul is destroyed while Zhao's body has disappeared but her soul exists. However, Xie disagreed with this setting. Eventually, this setting was broke by some final changes and the next version that indicated Lin's body was preserved by a special type of insect.
In the first month following the game's release in Taiwan, The Legend of Sword and Fairy sold over 100,000 copies. Sales reached 350,000 copies in mainland China a month after the game's release there. The game's sales totaled about two million copies, but as many as 20 million copies may be in circulation due to piracy.
The Legend of Sword and Fairy won numerous awards. The game was recognized in 1995 by the Best Role Playing Game award from CEM STAR magazine and the Golden Bag Game award (游戏类金袋奖) from KING TITLE. The Legend of Sword and Fairy was also on the top of the Best PC Game List of the New Gaming Era (新游戏时代) magazine until October 1996, for 14 consecutive months; and topped the "My Favorite Singleplayer PC Game" list in the Pop Software (大众软件) magazine for ten years.
The Legend of Sword and Fairy is best characterized as a very memorable tragedy. Its plot, especially the ending, has moved many players to tears. Zhao Ling'er's death and the question of whether or not Lin Yueru was successfully resurrected have fuelled an abundance of forum discussions and fan fiction. Yao Zhuangxian became reputed as the "Father of Xianjian", and many players reverently refer to him as "Immortal Yao".
Due to popular demand, the Kuangtu production team released New Legend of Sword and Fairy in 2001. Minor changes were made to the storyline; and the graphics was greatly improved using better technology (new visual effcts, reproduced music, some additional storyline details, etc.). The most significant and most requested addition was two new hidden endings. The game's success eventually led to the creation of the subsequent titles in The Legend of Sword and Fairy series, even somewhat against Yao's wishes.
Initial release was in 2001, titled as New Legend of Sword and Fairy . It was re-released again as the New LSF XP version for the Windows XP platform.
has been made and is currently in open beta in China, Taiwan and Malaysia (include Singapore).
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
's Softstar Entertainment. Set in ancient China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, the game is based on the Wuxia
Wuxia
Wuxia is a broad genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists. Although wuxia is traditionally a form of literature, its popularity has caused it to spread to diverse art forms like Chinese opera, manhua , films, television series, and video games...
genre with elements of fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
. With the first of the series released in 1995, the game became one of the most successful video game franchises in both Taiwan and mainland China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
.
Titles in English
The game's title has been unofficially translated into English as The Magic Sword and the Chivalrous Youngsters, or Chinese Paladin. Softstar officially named it The Legend of Sword and Fairy upon the release of the sequel. However, in the 3rd and 4th game, the English title was changed to Chinese Paladin.Plot
There are many subtle differences between the numerous versions of the game. The plot provided in this section is based on the PC game versions for Windows 95 and 98.The protagonist, Li Xiaoyao, is an ordinary 19-year-old boy who lives in a small fishing village near Suzhou
Suzhou
Suzhou , previously transliterated as Su-chou, Suchow, and Soochow, is a major city located in the southeast of Jiangsu Province in Eastern China, located adjacent to Shanghai Municipality. The city is situated on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Taihu Lake and is a part...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. During a quest to seek a cure for his ill aunt, he travels to a strange island out at sea, where he meets a fairy named Zhao Ling'er. He is forced to marry her and remain on the island forever, but manages to escape home with the cure for his aunt. However, he loses memory of his adventure on the island and does not remember Zhao when he meets her again. This time, Zhao's home has been destroyed by some enemies and Li decides to accompany her to southwestern China to find her mother, who may still be alive.
Li and Zhao arrive in Suzhou and meet Lin Yueru, the spoiled daughter of a wealthy martial artist. Unexpectedly, Li emerges as champion in a martial arts contest and wins Lin's hand-in-marriage. Li and Lin are engaged but Zhao disappears mysteriously on their wedding night and they set of to find her. Their search brings them to Sichuan
Sichuan
' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
, where the Mount Shu Sect, a powerful martial arts clan, is based. They learn that Zhao is actually a half-serpent spirit and has been imprisoned inside the Demon Prison Tower by the sect's elders. Li and Lin break into the tower and succeed in rescuing Zhao after making a perilous descent to its lowest level, but suffer grave injuries when the tower collapses on itself during their escape.
The trio are saved by a herbal medicine guru, who tells Li that Zhao is pregnant with his child, and that Lin has died from her wounds. Li is deeply saddened but he has a more important task to do, which is, to retrieve two rare items to save Zhao and his baby's lives. During his quest, he meets and befriends A'nu, a white Miao princess. They are currently in southwestern China, where the Miao people
Miao people
The Miao or ม้ง ; ) is an ethnic group recognized by the government of the People's Republic of China as one of the 55 official minority groups. Miao is a Chinese term and does not reflect the self-designations of the component nations of people, which include Hmong, Hmu, A Hmao, and Kho Xiong...
live. The land is plagued by a prolonged drought and the white and black Miao are at war over scarce resources. Li completes his mission and Zhao recovers, after which she calls for a rainstorm and restores peace to the land. They discover that the drought is orchestrated by an evil black Miao cleric. Li, Zhao and A'nu confront him and manage to defeat him after a battle, but Zhao sacrifices herself to destroy a monster summoned by the cleric.
Li is traumatized by the loss of his two close friends, who are also his love interests. He bids A'nu farewell and walks away alone. Just then, he sees Lin, carrying his child. Lin's reappearance at the end of the game is often disputed, but the official story released by the producers claim that Lin is indeed dead and cannot be resurrected. However, her body may be brought back to life, but she will never be the same as before because her soul is dead.
Gameplay
The player guides the characters through southern China in landscapes consisting of cities, mazes, and wilderness. The game has no overland map; entry points to subsequent locations can always be found on the current location's screen. The story is mostly linear. Once the player completes the quest associated with a particular location, there is usually no reason to return (In most cases, return is impossible, as either the entrance is destroyed or you travel to the new location via a game mechanic). Hidden items and quests are available, but they do not affect the story's progression.When the characters engage in combat, they are taken to a separate combat screen. Battles are purely turn based. Certain ability scores of the combatants determine which party acts first, and then actions alternate between the player characters and the enemies. The actions taken during battles mainly consist of normal attacks and casting spells. The players may also defend, throw and use items, and steal from the enemies. Once the appropriate equipment is obtained, the player may also capture monsters to later turn them into beneficial items. The magic system contains the five elements of wind, lightning, ice, fire, and earth, which form the descriptors for the offensive spells, each type able to counter another. There are also spells of no elemental type, such as Li's Wanjian Jue (incantation of ten thousand swords).
The player's equipment is primarily upgraded through treasures gained in mazes and acquisition from shops. Defeating monsters usually make negligible contributions to the player's inventory, but it is the primary source of money. Healing and combat support items can be made from captured monsters as well as bought. The player can also make poison-based weapons using certain types of venomous insects as raw material.
Development
The Legend of Sword and Fairy is developed by the Kuangtu production team (狂徒制作群) of Softstar Entertainment Ltd. with concept work beginning as early as 1991. The group consisted at that time approximately 12 members, some being very young with little experience in game design. The Legend of Sword and Fairy was their first major RPG project. The production manager was Yao Zhuangxian (姚壮宪), who was 22 years old at the time. The game's music was composed by Lin Kunxin, whose most memorable titles include The Butterfly's Love (蝶恋), Martial Arts Contest for Marriage (比武招亲), and Drunken Sword Master (酒剑仙). Lin Jiawen, a graphics artist on the team, was the major contributor to character portraits and animation. She also enthusiastically participated in the designing of the mazes, but her expertise in that area was limited.Yao faced some turmoil in his love life during the game design process. This influenced him to integrate his own views of love into the game. Yao said, the three female protagonists are based on reality; Zhao Ling'er is like a girlfriend; Lin Yueru is like a lover and A'Nu is like a mate. At some point, there arose a dispute regarding to the fate of two of the female characters in the end. In the finished game, this matter was intentionally made ambiguous where Lin is shown standing under a tree in the ending cinematics even though she is supposedly dead. Yao commented that he invested a great deal of feeling into the story, and the unclear ending was meant to leave events open to the players' imagination. In the years that followed the game's release in 1995, Yao did not wish to openly address questions regarding the game’s ending. (There was an anecdote about the ending: Yao was in favor of Zhao while another producer Xie Chonghui inclined towards Lin. In Yao's blueprint of the whole game, the ending is that Lin's body is intact but her soul is destroyed while Zhao's body has disappeared but her soul exists. However, Xie disagreed with this setting. Eventually, this setting was broke by some final changes and the next version that indicated Lin's body was preserved by a special type of insect.
Reception
The Legend of Sword and Fairy is praised to be the pioneer of Chinese RPG. It has deeply affected a whole generation of Chinese, and established a particular Chinese style of story-telling and maze-running RPG. Many Chinese consider it to be one of the most classical RPG games ever made.In the first month following the game's release in Taiwan, The Legend of Sword and Fairy sold over 100,000 copies. Sales reached 350,000 copies in mainland China a month after the game's release there. The game's sales totaled about two million copies, but as many as 20 million copies may be in circulation due to piracy.
The Legend of Sword and Fairy won numerous awards. The game was recognized in 1995 by the Best Role Playing Game award from CEM STAR magazine and the Golden Bag Game award (游戏类金袋奖) from KING TITLE. The Legend of Sword and Fairy was also on the top of the Best PC Game List of the New Gaming Era (新游戏时代) magazine until October 1996, for 14 consecutive months; and topped the "My Favorite Singleplayer PC Game" list in the Pop Software (大众软件) magazine for ten years.
The Legend of Sword and Fairy is best characterized as a very memorable tragedy. Its plot, especially the ending, has moved many players to tears. Zhao Ling'er's death and the question of whether or not Lin Yueru was successfully resurrected have fuelled an abundance of forum discussions and fan fiction. Yao Zhuangxian became reputed as the "Father of Xianjian", and many players reverently refer to him as "Immortal Yao".
Due to popular demand, the Kuangtu production team released New Legend of Sword and Fairy in 2001. Minor changes were made to the storyline; and the graphics was greatly improved using better technology (new visual effcts, reproduced music, some additional storyline details, etc.). The most significant and most requested addition was two new hidden endings. The game's success eventually led to the creation of the subsequent titles in The Legend of Sword and Fairy series, even somewhat against Yao's wishes.
DOS version
First released in 1995, it is often cited as the most successful video game in Taiwan and mainland China.Windows 95/98 version
A re-release for the Windows 95/98 platforms. Some bugs (such as typos) in the former version were removed, and the whole difficulty reduced by simplification of mazes. Additionally, three-dimensional AVI clips were introduced in place of the original static pictures. Also, the RIX music used in the DOS version was replaced with MIDI tracks.New version
This is a remake of the DOS version, with minimal changes to the original story. Two alternate endings are dedicated to the two female protagonists of the story.Initial release was in 2001, titled as New Legend of Sword and Fairy . It was re-released again as the New LSF XP version for the Windows XP platform.
The Xianjian Inn
A restaurant management simulation game released in 2001. The story is based on the original game.Chinese Paladin Online
A MMORPGMMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
has been made and is currently in open beta in China, Taiwan and Malaysia (include Singapore).
Television series
| Year | | Production | | Li Xiaoyao | | Zhao Ling'er | | Lin Yueru | | Additional information |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Chinese Entertainment Shanghai Ltd. (Mainland China) |
Hu Ge Hu Ge (actor) Hu Ge , is a Chinese actor and singer. Hu is best known for his role as Li Xiaoyao in the 2003 television series Chinese Paladin.-Biography:... |
Liu Yifei Liu Yifei Liu Yifei is a Chinese actress and singer. Her legal name is Liu Ximeizi. The "茜" is from the German film Sissi .-Early life and education:Born in Tongji Hospital in Hubei, she was originally named An Feng... |
Ady An An Yixuan Wu Wenjing , better known by her Chinese stage name An Yixuan or Audrey "Ady" An, is a Taiwanese actress.-Career:... |
See Chinese Paladin (TV series) Chinese Paladin (TV series) -Track list:#Yongheng De Jiyi #Zhongyu Mingbai performed by Power Station#Xiaoyao Tan performed by Hu Ge#Shapolang performed by JS... |
See also
- Chinese Paladin (TV series)Chinese Paladin (TV series)-Track list:#Yongheng De Jiyi #Zhongyu Mingbai performed by Power Station#Xiaoyao Tan performed by Hu Ge#Shapolang performed by JS...
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