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Xuan-Yuan Sword: Mists Beyond the Mountains

Xuan-Yuan Sword: Mists Beyond the Mountains

|Taiwan|Adventure, Role-playing (RPG)

6.3 /10

Okay

Trailers & screenshots
Why play it

This Game is one of the most popular RPGs in the Chinese Speaking Area and has won many awards around Asia. The game story takes place in an era of collision between East and West, covering a wide range, spanning Eurasia, the Arab World, Francia, and China. Xuan-Yuan Sword: Mists Beyond the Mountains is a classic turn-based RPG. Under the orders of Pepin III, the Frankish Knight Septem has embarked on a long journey to seek the Invincible Arts of War. Starting from the canals of beautiful Venice, the great knight's path has spanned the Middle East, Western Regions on his way to the mystical orient. In his adventures, Septem has drawn into the intricate power disputes between local powers, along with the decade-spanning ambitions of the dark lord, Satan. China enjoys peace and prosperity under the rule of the Tang Empire, Europe finds itself embroiled in the Dark Ages, the Arabian Empire is ascendant, and all the while, the march of progress brings these disparate cultures together. From ancient times, Chinese legends have spoken of the Xuan-Yuan Sword and Spirit Fusion Pot, along with the rise of great legends in the new era... The scope of Xuan-Yuan Sword: Mists Beyond the mountains covers a wide range, spanning all of Eurasia and covering the Arab World, Francia, and China. From the canals of Venice, Damascus to the beautiful Chang’an, the story introduces unique architectural styles, clothing, food, and customs. Players can use the Spirit Fusion Pot to capture enemies in battle. Items and monsters can be used to craft a new item or monster from the codex. Users can craft items and monsters from the Eastern or Western altars, which the resulting item differing based on the selected altar.

Story and worldbuilding

The story opens in Venice with Septem (賽特), a Frankish knight and covert intelligence operative of mixed descent from Gaul who was the lieutenant to Pepin the Younger. Septem possessed an heirloom bronze vessel with an eastern design, which was in fact the Monster Fusion Vessel. He had heterochromic pupils of blue and brown, garnering discrimination and distrust from his peers and fellow knights over his somewhat Eastern appearance. Miles (麥爾斯) (the reincarnation of Satan whose memories and innate powers had not yet been fully awakened), a knight-commander under the guidance of the cleric Cornelius (康那里士) (the Dread Lord of Hell in disguise), was the polar opposite of his rival Septem, enforcing the Church's will without mercy and question, executing those designated as heretics without hesitation, and had the affection of Lilian (莉蓮), a pure maiden Septem had courted in vain. Pepin himself, however, favored Septem, and gave him a quest of great import. He was to go to the East, and find the way to achieve Absolute Victory/the Way of the King. During the journey, a simpleminded demoness named Nicole (妮可) joined Septem after being summoned by a strange dying man Septem tried to help, as an agent sent by Satan. Her mission was to awaken Septem's memory of his past life, in which he was Lucifer's most trusted ally who took part in Lucifer's Rebellion, and to convert him to Satan's cause once more, accompanied with promises of wealth, power, and demonic servants, but she eventually abandoned her mission over the fondness she developed for Septem. Kama, a self-proclaimed spirit of love, and Ankh, a snarky talking flying Egyptian black cat accompanying Kama (both of whom Septem encountered in the Tadmor Tombs), as well as Li Jing (李靖), a Chinese mortal-turned-deity who oversaw the establishment of the Tang dynasty, whose reincarnated self, Master Huiyan, previously accompanied Septem for a short time before sacrificing himself in an attempt to stop a war between the Abbasid Caliphate (which recently overthrew Umayyad rule) and Tang (which ended in the defeat of the Tang forces led by Gao Xianzhi), also joined the party. Septem also met his eventual wife, Widad (薇達), a military leader who defied Arabian patriarchal traditions and who was the reincarnated spirit twin of Kama, and the young grandson of Al-Kindi, whom Septem studied under for a short time around the time of the Abbasid Revolution, as well as Wang Siyue (王思月), a willful young woman from Chang'an with feelings for Septem, along his journey. After finally reaching China and encountering a variety of conflicts, including the An Lushan Rebellion, the group discovered Satan's plan to subjugate all worlds by using the Reversal of Mandala Ritual (反曼陀羅陣), which Septem's past incarnation invented and gained time traversal powers from, to modify the natural laws of causality, and managed to foil it with the assistance of The Immortal of Xuan-yuan Sword (the avatar of the Xuan-Yuan Sword who takes on the form of a stern and wise old man). After Satan's defeat, Septem married Widad, returned to assist Charlemagne with lessons from his journey-that a ruler must rule in the best interests of the common folk, and the way to ensure victory lies in the prevention and cessation of conflicts, and later reunited with Nicole, who was reborn once more as a normal girl by the grace of Heaven.

Game highlights
Play style

Leans into Adventure, Role-playing (RPG), Turn-based Strategy — a quick read on whether that fantasy matches what you usually enjoy.

Reviews

9 media reviews

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RPG FanAudra Bowling · 5 Aug, 2023
7/10

Xuan-Yuan Sword: Mists Beyond the Mountains is a solid traditional RPG remaster held back by a lackluster English translation.

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SwitchabooMonique Moate · 3 Jan, 2024
9/10

Like any game, Xuan-Yuan Sword: Mists Beyond the Mountains won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. I would recommend it for fans of old-school role-playing games like Final Fantasy, and especially to people who want to try something a bit different from the usual Western or Japanese video game narratives. The continent-spanning (is Eurasia a continent or a landmass with two continents?) plot, characters, battles, enemies, locations, music, etc. all helped to cement this game’s place as a classic back in the day, and it’s great that there’s now an English localisation for us to enjoy.

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Nintendo BlastKarina Morais · 31 Dec, 2023
7/10

Xuan Yuan Sword: Mists Beyond The Mountains is a game with a unique and fresh narrative in a market dominated by Japanese and Western titles, with a plot that discusses sensible and polemic themes. The game plays with mixing religions and a big amount of folklore myths from various parts of the world. Even though its gameplay isn't quite attractive and its graphics feel outdated sometimes, the different plot compensates [its failures] for those who are patient for an oldfashioned title when looking for an adventure filled with surprises and twists.

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Digitally DownloadedMatt Sainsbury · 12 Dec, 2023
7/10

If Xuan-Yuan Sword III: Mists Beyond The Mountains had a working localisation, it would be essential. After all, it’s not often that you get to play a RPG from the 90’s for the first time these days. The classic turn-based combat is well executed, the Pokemon-like monster-capturing system adds nicely to the base formula, and the real-world and real-history backdrop is something that I wish more RPGs did. But it’s so hard to follow the plot, worldbuilding and characterisation when the localisation is this undercooked, and these elements are all so important for the RPG genre in particular. I do hope that one day, someone has the opportunity to give these games a high-quality localisation, because it is obvious that they deserve it. Until then, unfortunately, this classic is only for the patient.

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The Outerhaven ProductionsScott Adams · 8 Dec, 2023
7/10

Xuan Yuan Sword: Mists Beyond The Mountains is a fun piece of history that helps us see how games were evolving in the eastern side of the world. It is a great time piece but can easily frustrate modern players.

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The Switch EffectRichard Heaton · 8 Dec, 2023
7/10

The game is serviceable but I really wanted to like it so much more. There’s a lot of potential in the story and characters and both the music and visuals are great, but that’s where the praise ends.

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Hey Poor PlayerShane Boyle · 12 Sep, 2023
4/10

It’s unfortunate that every positive I've mentioned comes undone at the hands of that dreaded localization. There were stretches of gameplay where I was just grinding, or exploring, and for a moment I’d forget what a mess the translation was, immersed in Xuan-Yuan Sword’s perfectly serviceable gameplay loops. But, this is an RPG, and to this player, world-building, deep characterization, and dense lore that I can immerse myself in is just as important to my enjoyment of an RPG as gameplay is. There will likely be a portion of players who will be able to look past this issue, simply content at being able to play a game that had been out of the reach of Western audiences for so long, and that’s perfectly fine. As I’ve indicated, there’s a solid RPG here somewhere and I have no doubt that this would be a fantastic experience had the port been shown the love and care it deserves. As it stands, though, Xuan-Yuan Sword: Mists Beyond the Mountains is such a compromised experience that it’s impossible to recommend in its current state.

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RPGamerPascal Tekaia · 28 Aug, 2023
3/10

When push comes to shove, there’s just no way to ignore the terrible blow dealt to the game by its one-of-a-kind translation, evident in everything from the philosophical musings of the plot to how character arcs unfold. And if that alone wasn’t the deathblow, then the frustrating and plain unfun balance issues that made me beg for credits certainly did the trick.

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GameGrinConor McGuigan · 25 Jul, 2023
6/10

Mists Beyond The Mountains would be a perfectly average turn-based RPG if not for its acid-trip alt-history storyline and cuckoo characters. Its bizarre narrative cuts through unexceptional level design and gameplay to deliver something worth a second look.

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