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[Bartski]

A tsunami of Chinese and Korean folk inspired action rpgy soulsy games is heading our way.

Since there seems to be no way to tell some of them apart, please enjoy this mid-tier effort post to help you all out making your bets on near to distant future bangers and stinkers.

1. Daba: Land of Water Scar

While the premise is still a little foggy in its current form, Dark Star has at least been able to shed some light on its protagonist and the overall setting that Daba: Land of Water Scar will adopt. What you really need to know, however, is that the world is on the verge of collapse, and it’s your duty, as a humanoid clay puppet, to track down an elemental aura that supposedly holds the key to its survival. Sounds pretty simple on paper, for sure, though there’s bound to be a bit more to it than what meets the eye.
From the looks of the footage that was shown during the recent China Hero Project presentation, gameplay will mostly involve third-person combat that dabbles on a similar wavelength to that of Dark Souls. To this end, we can definitely expect to see our fair share of colossal foes, combos, and ultimately, death. More deaths than you could shake a stick at, by the looks of it.

2. Project: The Perceiver

Project The Perceiver is an upcoming action-RPG open world game very similar to Sekiro. In this game, you'll take on the role of a character who is capable of perceiving the world around them in a unique way, using masks to become the enemies. This souls-like game will remind you of Assassin's Creed Red, Sekiro, Where Winds Meet and Ghost of Tsushima!The game is a Chinese open-world action game developed by Papergames' 17ZHE Studio. The game is being developed in Unreal Engine 5 and will release in PS5 and PC.Set against the backdrop of ancient China, Project: The Perceiver is a unique mix of open-world and soulslike gameplay. The story follows an artist who died before he could complete the play that he was writing. As he spends his last moments drowning in the waller, a mask grants him a second shot at life and he sets off to avenge those who wronged him in the first place. This kickstarts your journey to free your homeland of Tang from the hostile presence that has invaded these lands.

3. Code: To Jin Yong

Developed by Lightspeed Games, who also created PUBG Mobile and Apex Legends Mobile, Code: To Jin Yong is a tribute to well-known wuxia writer, Jin Yong. The new game is based on the world created in his wuxia novel series. In this trailer, check out an intense sword fight between two characters, who also appear to possess some impressive elemental powers.

4. Faith of Danschant: Hereafter

Faith of Danschant: Hereafter is an Action RPG inspired by Chinese mythology. Developed by Beijing Joyfun, it's a sequel to 2017's Faith of Danschant, featuring Chinese martial arts and sword fighting. Built in Unreal Engine, it also implements NVIDIA RTX Ray Tracing, and supports the latest DLSS technology.Faith of Danschant: Hereafter will launch on PC and consoles. Its release date is yet to be confirmed.

5. Where Winds Meet

Embark on an epic adventure in ""Where Winds Meet,"" an oriental Wuxia open-world action-adventure RPG that draws inspiration from the romantic and fantastical martial arts works, offering a distinctly oriental experience of boss battles and open-world exploration.Play as a young swordsman, wielding nimble Wuxia artistries and powerful Kung Fu as you unveil the mysterious veil of your identity and forge your own Wuxia legend in this tumultuous historical era!

 

[Bartski]

6. Wuchang: Fallen Feathers

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is developed by Leenzee Games, a Chinese indie studio founded in 2016. This upcoming action RPG takes us to the Ming Dynasty of ancient China. Based on historic events, Wuchang: Fallen Feathers focuses on fictional character, Wuchang, and her journey of seeking the truth. Watch 18 minutes of exclusive Wuchang: Fallen Feathers gameplay to see it in action. This gameplay also features English subtitles.Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is currently in development and is planned to release in 2024.

7. Lost Soul Aside

Lost Soul Aside is an upcoming action RPG by UltiZero Games. Serving as one of the key titles in the China Hero Project—a Sony-led program that aids local video game development in China—the highly anticipated IP will be gearing up for an ambitious 2024 launch on PS4 and PS5.

+

Honorable mentions - yeah we all know those, belong in the same category but distinct enough and hard to confuse with any of the above:

9. Black Myth: Wukong



10. Phantom Blade 0



11. First Berserker: Khazan



and also this thing:

Project M Gameplay Trailer (New Brutal Action RPG Game 2023)

Project M Gameplay Trailer (New Brutal Action RPG Game 2023)HOUND 13, a South Korean studio, has recently released a prototype gameplay demo video of their n...

youtu.be

Know any more? ctrl+c ctrl+v that shit in the comments!

Edit:

Great post summarizing the projects OP, but I do want to make some clarification just in case folks were anticipating all those games to be soulslike.

Project 3 is not soulslike.

project 4 has been essentially canceled as the studio was shunt down (The game development could be revived by other studios);

Project 5 is more inspired by Ghost of Tsushima, but it runs the mobile game monetization model that is free to play but has endless boring daily quests, battle pass, in game currency and shop, etc. If you wanna single player experience avoid this one.

Project 7 is DCM and FFXV inspired and will be more like a character action game, should be out this year.

Project 10 is my most anticipated game other than the black monkey. But the game is not soulslike either, it draws inspiration from Ninja Gaiden and is more like a character action game.

 

[Magic Carpet]

I thought you double posted then realized no those are other games.

 

[GymWolf]

Lmao this was absolutely needed, great idea

 

[Pelta88]

The ones that I’m interested in look very distinct to me.

 

[diffusionx]

I saw a trailer for one of these and thought it was Black Myth Wukong and then realized there were like 6 others that looked identical. Maybe this flies in China, I don't know.

You just know that AI scripts generated large chunks of all these games.

 

[Zheph]

You can easily see quality when its there imo

 

[SlimySnake]

I dont know what i despise more. The cod mania in the PS360 era or souls mania. At least those cod games were still worth playing. i have no desire to play these games when From does it so much better.

 

[adamsapple]

 

[LavitzSlambert]

Even after reading OP's descriptions:

 

[Mossybrew]

LOL nice effort OP though I have zero interest in any of these games.

 

[tommib]

I’m sure some of these are good but fuck me if they don’t all look the same.

 

[Pimpollo818]

POCKETSAND

 

[Darkkahn]

Yup, they're all the same. Will play these when they hit PS+.

 

[GymWolf]

The last berserker, wukong and phantom blade seems to be most recognizable of the bunch.

One has a peculiar artstyle, wukong has the best classic art design, phantom blade has the most flashy combat animations.

 

[Bartski]

I’m sure some of these are good but fuck me if they don’t all look the same.

out of all the literally identical looking (above honorable mentions) my bet is on Project: The Perceiver, looks rather cool.

 

[FoxMcChief]

These names couldn’t be more stupid. Guide is needed. But in all reality, I doubt I will play a single one of them, even if they’re on PS+ or game pass.

 

[Kurotri]

I hope that some of them really turn out good. China needs to break into this industry proper, same as Korea. Only interested in Wukong, Phantom Blade 0 and Wuchang myself though.

 

[NeverYouMind]

A lot of them are Suckiro rip-offs. I am just happy Lies of P has an upcoming DLC and Team Ninja keeps knocking their games out of the park (Nioh, Wo Long, Rise of the Ronin, etc.).

 

[FunkMiller]

Yeah, most of these are either never coming out, or will be a janky, shitty mess. China must have some sort of soulslike sweatshop thing going on.

I even have my serious doubts about Wukong, and that's the highest level one in terms of hype.

 

[Bartski]

I hope that some of them really turn out good. China needs to break into this industry proper, same as Korea. Only interested in Wukong, Phantom Blade 0 and Wuchang myself though.

I just noticed only Khazan (edit: and Project M) are Korean, everything else here is Chinese

 

[CosmicComet]

Most excited for Wukong, Phantom Blade, Lost Souls Aside and Where Winds Meet. Pretty much in that order.

 

[March Climber]

Thank you OP for putting them all into one place.

I dont know what i despise more. The cod mania in the PS360 era or souls mania. At least those cod games were still worth playing. i have no desire to play these games when From does it so much better.

And because of comments like this, I’m just glad that at least CoD fans back then gave other shooters a try and didn’t try to gatekeep CoD as the only shooter series on earth that is a ‘real shooter’.

 

[Holammer]

Those Chinese games might actually need some actual Canadian Sweet Baby assistance, because Chinese storytelling and stock characters are weird, stuff that might not work for an international mass market audience.
Jokes aside, I do think they're going to be localized to iron out the cultural context stuff.

 

[Aion002]

I love third person action games so:

Phantom Blade has some DMC inspired combos and the IGN interview with the studio founder made me really hopeful that this game might end up being really good:



Wukong graphics seems really good and the release is so close, I hope they deliver it.

Wuchang will be released on gamepass... So... It will be released one day... Right?


Everything else...

 

[Shubh_C63]

You could have been banned for that headline if this was era.

Everything looks the same to me means everything looks kinda amazing.

 

[balls of snow]

I dont know what i despise more. The cod mania in the PS360 era or souls mania. At least those cod games were still worth playing. i have no desire to play these games when From does it so much better.

Yep. And out of these, will they even be on par with Lies of P which is currently the king of From copies.

 

[FalsettoVibe]

Really good thread. Phantom Blade is not soulsy though.

 

[Bartski]

Really good thread. Phantom Blade is not soulsy though.

I think even the devs called it that way, minus combat which is much more DMC/NG

 

[FalsettoVibe]

I think even the devs called it that way, minus combat which is much more DMC/NG

They said the level design was souls-like. So maybe that does count...

 

[Lambogenie]

On a glance they're too damned similar. But that's like every Wuxia tv show as well.

Wukong is king. And then the one with the cute woman lead. The others also look cool but are probably same same but different. Don't need to play them all.

Phantom Blade Zero also gave me modern Onimusha vibes. So I guess I'm down for that.

 

[LectureMaster]

A tsunami of Chinese and Korean folk inspired action rpgy soulsy games is heading our way.

Since there seems to be no way to tell some of them apart, please enjoy this mid-tier effort post to help you all out making your bets on near to distant future bangers and stinkers.

1. Daba: Land of Water Scar





2. Project: The Perceiver





3. Code: To Jin Yong





4. Faith of Danschant: Hereafter





5. Where Winds Meet

Great post summarizing the projects OP, but I do want to make some clarification just in case folks were anticipating all those games to be soulslike.

Project 3 is not soulslike.

project 4 has been essentially canceled as the studio was shunt down (The game development could be revived by other studios);

Project 5 is more inspired by Ghost of Tsushima, but it runs the mobile game monetization model that is free to play but has endless boring daily quests, battle pass, in game currency and shop, etc. If you wanna single player experience avoid this one.

Project 7 is DCM and FFXV inspired and will be more like a character action game, should be out this year.

Project 10 is my most anticipated game other than the black monkey. But the game is not soulslike either, it draws inspiration from Ninja Gaiden and is more like a character action game.

 

[Bartski]

Great post summarizing the projects OP, but I do want to make some clarification just in case folks were anticipating all those games to be soulslike.

Project 3 is not soulslike.

project 4 has been essentially canceled as the studio was shunt down (The game development could be revived by other studios);

Project 5 is more inspired by Ghost of Tsushima, but it runs the mobile game monetization model that is free to play but has endless boring daily quests, battle pass, in game currency and shop, etc. If you wanna single player experience avoid this one.

Project 7 is DCM and FFXV inspired and will be more like a character action game, should be out this year.

Project 10 is my most anticipated game other than the black monkey. But the game is not soulslike either, it draws inspiration from Ninja Gaiden and is more like a character action game.

Thanks, I didn't investigate them all that thoroughly. I'll add a quote in the second post

 

[thief183]

Just from the thumbnail everyone of those looked more interesting than some purple colored western game. I can't believe what is going on on the west.

I really hope some of the went for the nioh combat system, or sekiro one.

 

[Bartski]

thread is way above average effort so there was no way I couldn't botch the title

 

[Clear]

I just hope people don't get too precious about "Souls'" games being untouchable. The plain fact is that there's a lot of variety possible within the frame-work of a game of that type.

Team Ninja for instance started with something that inarguably lifted a lot of FROM's DNA, but have subsequently built out on that to create a family of titles that are well differentiated but have their own distinctive identity.

There's plenty of meat on this particular bone.

 

[SmokedMeat]

The new Metroidvania.

 

[Mr Hyde]

Saw an extended gameplay video of Phantom Blade 0 and it didn't look as good as the trailers. Solid art direction and flashy combat, but it did feel derivative, floaty and kinda bland overall. Deflated my hype considerably. I love Souls-likes but lately there's been a mass influx and most of them seem dime a dozen nowadays with little to no originality or innovation.

 

[Kururu]

thread is way above average effort so there was no way I couldn't botch the title

It's now mostly unbotched.

 

[poppabk]

Saw an extended gameplay video of Phantom Blade 0 and it didn't look as good as the trailers. Solid art direction and flashy combat, but it did feel derivative, floaty and kinda bland overall. Deflated my hype considerably. I love Souls-likes but lately there's been a mass influx and most of them seem dime a dozen nowadays with little to no originality or innovation.

I would say it's the same type of originality. Like there are original designs of bosses but they all feel like they started with a generic boss and then replaced parts until it was something unique but without any, ironically, 'soul'.

 

[10v12]

You have to be blind to call Lost Soul Aside a Souls game.

And apparently Phantom Blade 0 is closer to Ninja Gaiden according to people who played the demo

 

[Darkmakaimura]

Chyyyyyyyyyyyna!

 

[Kagoshima_Luke]

After reading through everything here and gathering all relevant details, I've come to the below scientific conclusion:

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

HOLY SHIT putting these besides each other really makes you realize how ridiculous this is. Christ.

 

[Aenima]

Only really interested in Black Myth Wukong. Have been following the game for years and it looks amazing. My only concern is how it will look and run on consoles.

 

[struggler_guts]

I just noticed only Khazan (edit: and Project M) are Korean, everything else here is Chinese

Nice, Khazan is the only one im interested in and knowing it's korean makes me more hopeful

 

[mckmas8808]

I thought you double posted then realized no those are other games.

I'm shocked people have issues telling them apart. Do you all also have this same issue with Western GAAS games?

 

[mckmas8808]

I love third person action games so:

Phantom Blade has some DMC inspired combos and the IGN interview with the studio founder made me really hopeful that this game might end up being really good:



Wukong graphics seems really good and the release is so close, I hope they deliver it.

Wuchang will be released on gamepass... So... It will be released one day... Right?


Everything else...

You didn't like Khazan? Really?!

 

[RavageX]

You all only have yourselves to blame. All the hardons you had for "Soulslike" when they were pretty much the same damn thing anyway.

Now they really are the same damn thing.

 

[Magic Carpet]

I'm shocked people have issues telling them apart. Do you all also have this same issue with Western GAAS games?

I know someday I'm going to be on a gameshow with millions of people watching and they will ask me to match the picture with the game. I'm going to need to use all my lifelines.