| GuJian | |
| Developer: | Aurogon |
| Publisher: | Gamebar Typhoon Games Interwise |
| Designer: | Shao Yun |
| Composer: | Lo Chi-Yi Zhou Zhihua |
| Artist: | Zheng Wen |
| Series: | Gujian |
| Engine: | Gamebryo |
| Platforms: | Microsoft Windows, Xbox One |
| Released: | Microsoft Windows Xbox One Canceled[1] |
| Genre: | Role-playing |
| Modes: | Single-player |
GuJian (Chinese: s=古剑奇谭 琴心剑魄今何在|t=古劍奇譚 琴心劍魄今何在|p=Gǔjiàn Qítán Qínxīn Jiànpò Jīn Hézài|l=The tale of ancient swords: the story of a [[guqin]] and an ancient sword) is a 3D role-playing video game developed by Aurogon with the Gamebryo engine and published by Gamebar. The first installment of the Gujian series, it was originally released in China on July 10, 2010 for Microsoft Windows. An Xbox One port of the game was announced in 2014.
Set in a fictionalized version of ancient China, players control Baili Tusu, a young swordsman with a tragic background. Elements of traditional Chinese culture, including mythology, cuisine, fashion, architecture and Taoism, were prominent; the main characters' names are derived from names of alcoholic beverages in ancient China. The game's monsters were inspired by Chinese mythology, and many of the in-game locations are based on photographs and descriptions of historic sites.
GuJian is the first Chinese video game with fully voiced main characters. The combat is turn-based, occasionally including quick time events. At the time of release, it was warmly received by gamers and reviewers who regarded the cinematic cutscenes to be beautiful and visually interesting. Aurogon has released 7 pieces of downloadable content.
The first sequel, GuJian2, was released in August 2013. The third game in the series, GuJian 3, was released on December 14, 2018.
Players control the main characters during their journey across ancient China. The game has a main story missions and side quests, which tell stories about non-player characters and provide information about skills. Combat is turn-based, and each action has a number of action points, from one to five.
Aurogon describes the game's theme as reincarnation. Set in an alternative, ancient China, it is based on wuxia with elements of fantasy. GuJian features the Seven Ancient Cursed Powerful Swords, which were sealed by the goddess Nüwa.
Players can collect food from monsters and buy recipes from shopkeepers. The prepared dishes and their leftovers can be used for recovery or attack.
Since August 11, 2011, Aurogon has released seven items of downloadable content, including costumes, weapons, sub-quests and stories.
The game begins with a young Han Yunxi, son and sole successor to a female village shaman, sneaking out of the village to play. His plan to take his best friend, Chu Chan, to see a rare golden fox is disrupted when they are attacked by a bear, causing Chu Chan to stop playing with him. Under his mother's orders, Yunxi enters the Cave of Ice and Fire to perform a village ritual. Inside the cave, he sees the Sword of Fenji within a magical seal. He finally emerges from the cave, only to witness a group of outsiders massacre his village. He passes out in shock, and wakes up in the cave beside his mother's dead body.
Several years later, a 17-year-old Yunxi, now called Baili Tusu, has become the second disciple of Master Ziyin from the Tianyong sect that resides in the Kunlun Mountains. Tusu carries with him the Sword of Fenji, which has been released from the seal after the massacre. Vicious spirits residing within the sword torment him from time to time. Tusu leaves the mountains for the outside world to answer to the desperate pleas of a group of men kidnapped by bandits. He rescues Fang Lansheng, a young, talkative scholar, Ouyang Shaogong, a gentle, mild-mannered alchemy expert, and Ji Tong, Shaogong's elderly servant. Shaogong tells Tusu that he is trying to retrieve the stolen treasure of the Qingyutan sect: a special jade which can be used to create a potion to revive the dead. The jade has been broken into pieces, and are being used to absorb human souls. Hoping to revive his mother, Tusu proposes to help Shaogong find the fragments, in exchange for Shaogong to brew him the potion of resurrection. Tusu also vaguely recognises the jade, and is convinced that it will lead him to the true culprit behind the massacre.
Tusu leaves the bandit camp for the town of Qinchuan. He passes by a mountain stream and runs into Feng Qingxue, who happens to be bathing in the stream. Taking him to be a voyeur, she immobilises him and takes away his Sword of Fenji as punishment. Tusu chases after Qingxue, but the evil spirits in the sword haunt him again when he finally catches up to her in Qinchuan, causing him to lose his mind. Tusu regains his consciousness to discover that he is on Shaogong's ship. By passing some of her chi to him, Qingxue was able to relieve him of his pain, something he thought was impossible.
Qingxue, in search of her missing elder brother, joins Tusu and Shaogong in the search for the jade fragments. On the ship, they meet Xiang Ling, a half-fox who was also saved when Tusu cleared the bandit camp. Lansheng attempts to escape from an arranged marriage, meeting a lady named Hong Yu. The three of them join Tusu's party.
The dubbing group Jingcheng Zhi Sheng voiced the game.[2]
GuJians score was composed by Lo Chi-Yi and Zhou Zhihua of the Musit Music Studio, and its 101-track CD[3] was released on March 18, 2011. Aurogon and Gamebar released "Gu Jian Qing Yun" from the Xiaoxu Music Studio, sung by Dong Zhen,[4] during the summer of 2011 with the game's second ending.
GuJian received generally favourable reviews from players and the media. Reviewers praised the story, character setting and graphics. PCGames calls it "basically the best that local single-player games have to offer" at its time.[5] POPSOFT gave the game a score of 8.5/10, lauding it for the story and graphics, but noted that "it takes a while to fully immerse oneself into the game".[6]
A novel adaptation was published in August 2012.
In 2014, the game was adapted into a critically acclaimed television series, Swords of Legends, starring Li Yifeng and Yang Mi.