Swords of Legends already feels like a standout action RPG, and I'm eager to play more

While one of the most delightful trends in modern gaming is the rise of titles coming out of China and Korea, it's worth noting that these markets have existed for decades; it's less that these games are just now starting to exist, and rather that we're starting to see them breach cultural boundaries as teams target a worldwide audience. Swords of Legends, a brand new title in the Gujian series from Aurogon Shanghai is a perfect example of this - a team with a storied history developing RPGs, looking to broaden their scope with their latest release with a title focused on Chinese literature, folklore and supernatural short stories.

Last month, we had the chance to get an early hands-on look at the game. Over the roughly hour and a half we had to get acquainted with the game, our demo was split into 5 distinct segments. A tutorial facing off against our companion Ox-Head in Wangchuan, leading into a fight against a Headless Swordsman, before being let loose to choose between three separate encounters. 

This first encounter teaches the basics of combat; players equip two weapons, and instead of swapping weapons manually they're tied to either the X or Y button. Similar to last year's Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, dodging attacks at the last minute allows you to gain resources to use skills you've equipped that are compatible with your specific weapon loadout. You can also summon companions to briefly fight with you, not unlike Spirit Ashes in Elden Ring. 

Accounting for the fact that the game is still early in development, I enjoyed the combat a decent amount - though I'd say the star of the show had to have been the Artifacts system. Artifacts determine what actions the shoulder buttons do; by default, they're tied to a Mirror that will either let you block or slam down on enemies from a distance. Others, like the Thunder Banner, lets you infuse your light attack weapon with lightning - transforming your attacks - or allowing you to dash straight through enemies. The closest analog I can think of are the Prosthetic Arm tools from Sekiro, but even that isn't quite right at capturing the nuances.

I'm a big fan of how these Artifacts impact the gameplay. Some, clearly, are designed for specific encounters - one umbrella Artifact felt purpose-built to help tackle the boss at the end of the demo's sole level showcase. Kong Kong Zi has several attacks which send strings of magic your way, and one of the Umbrella's abilities is to use it as a barrier to repel magic; the other being a thrust attack also helped close the gap whenever it darted around the room.

The rest of the demo showcase were simply boss fights, and they all had rather unique designs. Tri Tail is a three-tailed cat spirit which morphs into something that looks just like a bodybuilder, even with its facial features remaining comically identical to the adorable kitten it starts the encounter as; Wuyang is a boss fight which takes place in a tea house, and his entire design screams "tea". His helmet is a teapot, he wields a long-spouted kettle as a rapier, and the team described in great detail how he was meant to embody a blend of tea ceremony and martial arts. He was easily the highlight of the demo, an incredible fight, and the cutscene leading into it had a ton of charm on its own.

It's hard to say exactly how well everything will come together once the team is ready to release the game, but so far what I've seen feels quite promising. Rather than just an amalgamation of existing games, there's a thoughtfulness to how Aurogon has designed the core mechanics of Swords of Legends - and how players are given the tools to mold combat to fit their playstyles. I'm curious how level design will shake out in the full game, which does feel like the major lingering question. Visually, the world design of Swords of Legends feels striking; I just want to see level design that can help tie everything together. What I played was good, but one segment in a vacuum could never tell the whole story.

Swords of Legends will launch on consoles and PC (Steam). Release timing has yet to be announced; stay tuned for our further coverage in the months to come.