Assassin’s Creed and Total War have proven that video games can be better than any tattered textbook at bringing history alive – though they do tend to retread the same old battlegrounds of western Europe. China’s Everstone Studio is hoping to change that, letting players loose on an open world 10th-century China in its debut game, Where Winds Meet.
Here, we are put into the sandals of a nameless young martial artist and transported back to the dramatic fall of the Southern Tang dynasty, where the sudden poisoning of Emperor Li Yu thrusts our hero into a dangerous new world. Despite its indie origins, Where Winds Meet looks like a game with a big budget behind it, drawing comparisons to Sucker Punch’s multimillion dollar samurai epic Ghosts of Tsushima. Its sprawling depiction of southern China is a sight to behold; comb through the gameplay videos and you’ll see its hero roaming across a luscious countryside one minute, stumbling upon a serene wildlife-filled pond the next and then being pursued by bandits after dark, dodging arrows on rain-soaked rooftops.
Where Japanese-made series such as Dynasty Warriors have had players happily cleaving their way across China’s third-century Three Kingdom era since the days of the PS2, Where Winds Meets dials the clock forward, exploring a far more chaotic and uncertain chapter of Chinese history. “Our goal was to offer something different,” say Everstone, who prefer to be quoted as a collective. “The Five Dynasties and 10 Kingdoms period in Chinese history is an extraordinary era characterised by disorder, even surpassing the turbulence of the Three Kingdoms era. As creators, we find this period fascinating.”
Where Winds Meets is heavily influenced by Wuxia cinema – the genre popularised by Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Combining history with a healthy dose of mythology, players can expect to hear philosophical musings from ancient Chinese poets, wrestle wild bears and master an ancient strand of kung fu by carefully observing a bathing frog.
“[Where Winds Meet] encompasses both realistic combat moves and elements that defy physical laws, filled with romantic imagination,” Everstone say. “We are striving to replicate various unique weapons from eastern martial arts, such as spears, swords, fans, dual swords, umbrellas and long knives.”
Where the aforementioned multimillion selling Ghost of Tsushima was a 13th-century Japan-set epic made by a firmly American studio, Where Winds Meets deals with the culture and history of its studios’ own homeland. When it comes to depicting kung fu especially, the team has gone to great lengths to do it justice. “We pay great attention to the portrayal of martial arts,” the team says. “ There are many fascinating kung fu designs, such as Xing Yi Quan, which originated from the simulation of animal hunting behaviour, and Fei Yan Zou Bi (which translates to “flying over eaves and walking on walls”), enabling swift traversal over obstacles.
“This kind of kung fu has appeared before in martial arts literature and films but … this fusion isn’t merely about combining martial arts themes with an open-world game setting; it involves a genuine interweaving of these elements, to the extent that removing either component would render the experience incomplete. The collision and integration of these eastern martial arts abilities … this is what sets us apart from other open-world games.”
In an intriguing touch, outside the blood-spattered main storyline, Everstone promises that players will be free to ignore their heroic quest in order to take up more unconventional roles. You can hone your gift of the gab to become an entrancing orator, study medicine and roleplaying as a doctor or lay down your sword to learn construction or commerce, bringing a life-simulation flavour to this historical epic.
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Where Winds Meet’s ambition is commendable at a time when spiralling production costs are leading many studios to produce increasingly safe and conservative open-world games that feel the same, despite their different settings. Its developers are delving into their heritage to create something distinct.
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Where Winds Meet will be released on PC in 2024.