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Movies about a Chinese hero, who represents of the resilient spirit of the people and triumphs over its colonial oppressors, are very popular among Chinese audience. The enduring popularity of movies like Bruce Lee’s Fist of Fury, Jet Li’s Once Upon a Time in China and Fearless, and Donnie Yen’s Ip Man – to name a few – shows the appeal of the genre. It doesn’t matter if the hero is real or fictional, or that the story is exaggerated, if not completely made up. It’s all about rousing the audience’s cultural pride.
By chance, I came across The Legend of Tianding, an action platformer of this genre. I actually didn’t know who Liao Tianding was prior to playing this game. What caught my attention was the game’s art style, which reminded me of Chinese manhua of the 1970s and 1980s, like Tony Wong’s Oriental Heroes (a.k.a. Dragon Tiger Gate) and Ma Wing-Shing’s Chinese Hero: Tales of the Blood Sword (a.k.a. A Man Called Hero).
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3156568624
The Legend of Tianding – subtitled The End of the Unrivaled Thief in Chinese – is a game about the embellished last days of the Taiwanese folk hero. Tianding was a thief during the Japanese colonial period in Taiwan. His criminal exploits had been mythologized to be Robin-Hood-esque and driven by fighting colonial injustice. Today, he is still seen as a hero who stood up to Japanese oppressors, and is said to be a skilled martial artist who thwarted colonial authorities. What a great subject for a video game!
This action platformer also has light adventure and Metroidvania elements. With newly unlocked abilities, you can explore previously inaccessible areas to find collectibles and complete side quests. But, it’s the combat that is the gameplay centerpiece. Best played using a controller, the game has brisk and impactful martial arts action. The game’s manhua-style action and cutscenes, and the beautifully rendered 2.5D graphics bring this comic book tale of Liao Tianding to life.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3156568662
A few special actions could be a bit tricky to pull off at first, but the game is forgiving and provides plenty opportunity for honing those skills. The game also allows you to change difficulty level mid-game should want a bit more…or less challenge; so even gamers like I, who like just a bit of a challenge, can finish the game without getting overly frustrated. Still, this doesn’t mean the final boss battle is a walk in the park.
One type of collectibles that you can find or earn in the game are amulets. Amulets can be equipped to give a slight boost in your combat or adventuring stats. The other type are common items of the era, such as everyday objects, food, and artwork. The developers added captions to each collectible entry to provide some information about life during Japanese occupation in Taiwan. It was a nice touch of authenticity to include historically important buildings, designs, and items of the period in the game.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3156568643
The game’s telling of Tianding’s final days may be a mix of truth and fiction, but it was effective in getting players to live vicariously through the hero in fighting colonial oppression. While this game didn’t break new grounds in game design, the well-balanced, tried and true gameplay elements worked well to deliver a pleasant, exciting action platformer experience. I hope The Legend of Tianding will inspire Chinese developers to make more games of this genre to spur people on to learn more about Chinese history, folktales and mythology.