Tianji: Shadow of the Ancients Modernizes Turn-Based Combat With Action Systems
Tsai Ming-Hung's first independent project reworks the classic turn-based RPG by layering action-game mechanics onto the command system, keeping the player active between turns.
Reporting from 1 source: Automaton.
Tianji: Shadow of the Ancients is the first title from Tsai Ming-Hung, creator of the Xuan-Yuan Sword RPG series, after he left Softstar to work as an indie developer. The demo was shown at bilibili's Bilibili Game First Look playtest event. Set in Tang dynasty China, the game follows Shangguan Shuo, who loses his memory in a battle with the Xuanxin Sect. The battle system is timeline-based turn-based with action elements: a weakness and break system, follow-up attacks, and parrying.
The battle system keeps a timeline-based turn order, but the author reports almost no idle time during the roughly three-hour session. Each character skill carries an attribute, and enemies display their weakness next to their HP bar. Depleting the weakness gauge with the right attribute skills puts an enemy in a break state, where it cannot act and takes extra damage, though it later enters a weakness nullification state that blocks that approach. Follow-up attacks trigger randomly off character stats and can stack, and a timed parry input grants heavy damage reduction with a chance of just guard or counter. The result is a turn-based RPG where the player acts as a participant in every battle rather than a spectator.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.