The Legend of Sword and Fairy
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| The Legend of Sword and Fairy | |
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| Developer(s) | Softstar Entertainment Inc. |
| Publisher(s) | Softstar Entertainment Inc. |
| Release date(s) | China: 1995, Japan: 1999 |
| Genre(s) | RPG |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Platform(s) | PC: DOS, Windows, Sega Saturn, NES, etc. |
| Media | CD-ROM |
| System requirements | 486 |
| Input | Keyboard |
The Legend of Sword and Fairy[1], originally named Xianjian Qixia Zhuan (Traditional Chinese: 仙劍奇俠傳; Simplified Chinese: 仙剑奇侠传; pinyin: xiān jiàn qí xiá zhuàn), also known as The Legend of Magic Sword and Wonderful Heroes, Chinese Paladin or PAL for short, is made by Taiwan's Softstar Entertainment. It became one of the most successful video game franchises in both Taiwan and Mainland China, with the first of the series released in 1995. It is a Wuxia turn-based role playing game in a fantasy/medieval setting.
A TV series entitled Chinese Paladin based on The Legend of Sword and Fairy 1 was made in 2004.
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[edit] Plot
The game differs depending on which version is played. The DOS version has a shorter story, leaving many things unexplained. The Neo version extended some of the storyline to answer those questions. This will be about the Neo version as it is more clear on some aspects of the story than the original.
The game starts with Li Xiaoyao riding on a flying sword, chasing down some delinquent imps. The two imps took shelter in a nearby cave. Xiaoyao decided to go in and inspect. Once inside he found that the entire cave was swarmed by imps. Xiaoyao then bravely fought his way to the top, where he confronted the ultimate witch queen, a vampire with a Jack-O-Lantern. A fight ensued, with Xiaoyao losing. As the demon queen was about to make the fatal blow with her army of imps, a frying pan landed hard on Xiaoyao's head.
Xiaoyao then woke up on the floor, with his aunt yelling at him for being such a slackoff (after waking him up with that pan to the head). She then told him that a triad from the Black Miao tribe had come to the inn, looking for a place to stay. Xiaoyao then happily ran out to greet the new guests. The three then asked for two rooms, food and wine. As Xiaoyao went down to get the food he was stopped by his aunt. His aunt was once again yelling, but not at Xiaoyao this time — a beggar was lying in the doorway. His aunt told Xiaoyao to shoo the beggar away, which did not work. The beggar, who was actually a badly drunken, poorly groomed Taoist monk, said that if Xiaoyao could bring him just a gulp of beer then he would leave. Before he could do anything, Xiaoyao was then called into the kitchen.
His aunt, busy cooking, told Xiaoyao to take the tray of food up to the tribesmen. When Xiaoyao brought the tray, however, the two tribesmen (their leader is off in another room) were furious when they found how tasteless the wine was. They then sent Xiaoyao away, saying they got their own wine. It turned out that Xiaoyao's aunt watered down the wine to save money (their inn didn't have much business). Not wanting the wine to go to waste and also to get the Taoist away, Xiaoyao gave the wine to the Taoist. He then knew how one "gulp" was different depending on who said it, as the Taoist drank the entire bottle in one gulp. Xiaoyao then started to shout at the Taoist for drinking the entire bottle. The Taoist promptly told him that there was barely even a quarter cup's worth of wine in the bottle (which promptly shut Xiaoyao up). The Taoist told Xiaoyao however, that he would teach him a few sword tricks as repayment for the wine. He then recited a poem, and disappeared into the air without a trace.
As Xiaoyao was trying to figure out what just happened, his aunt called him again. Apparently she needed shrimp for her dish and was out of stock, so Xiaoyao was sent to go into town and get some. On the way into town Xiaoyao met up with some old friends. Wang Xiaohu, a young boy who idolized Xiaoyao as his hero, told Xiaoyao that his father, who was recently sick and on the verge of death, was completely cured by a magical pill given to him by a beautiful maiden on Xian Ling Island. Xiaoyao also bumped into the two daughters of his neighbor, who invited him to dinner the next night.
After wasting the whole day wondering around town listening to folk tales, Xiaoyao ended up not getting any shrimp. The local fishermen told him that they were unable to catch anything due to a bad storm. When Xiaoyao got back, he was informed that his aunt suddenly fell deathly ill. The local doctor was unable to do anything beyond saying "take this and we can only hope for the best". Unable to accept losing his aunt, Xiaoyao then turned to the story told to him by Xiaohu earlier. As he was about to leave, the leader of the three tribesmen (from earlier) told him that a special pill was needed to penetrate the powerful aura on the island, and gave him a special hammer that was needed to destroy the stone guardians and open the way to the island. Xiaoyao then quickly thanked them and took off.
When he arrived at the docks, however, he found that no one would take him as the storm out in the sea is too dangerous. Taking a dangerous gamble, he hired a ship from a friend and braved a storm to reach the island. Upon arriving he found the island's fauna to be very hostile. When he chased them off he found himself at a small pool, where the only method of travel was floating on large waterlily leaves. In the pool were 11 large statues — these were the guardians. He patiently hopped from one lily to another and shattered all 11 statues, breaking the hammer in the process. Large flowers started to emerge from the water and formed a road to the island.
On the island he found a very beautiful maiden... taking a bath. To get the medicine he needed Xiaoyao stole the maiden's clothes, offering to trade them for the medicine. With few options, the maiden agreed to help him, but then pointed out that she couldn't get the medicine if she was naked. It seemed that a deal was done, but as soon as the maiden got her clothes back she disappeared. Lightning bolts then started to strike down around Xiaoyao, and he was knocked down paralyzed with fear. The maiden then reappeared flying in the air, scolding Xiaoyao as a pervert. Xiaoyao begged and explained that he did this out of desperation to save his aunt. The maiden was touched by his confession, and agree to help him. The maiden then introduced herself as Zhao Ling'er.
Ling'er took Xiaoyao to the palace to get the medicine. They were lucky that her grandma (who was rumoured to hate outsiders very much) was away. As Xiaoyao got what he wanted and was deeply grateful, Ling'er made him promise that one day he would take her to the mainland to play (she was bored staying on the island all the time). When he was about to leave, he bumped into a ferocious-looking old women — Ling'er's grandma was back! Upon seeing Xiaoyao, Grandma immediately became furious, and transformed into a half-snake, threatening to devour Xiaoyao. Ling'er intervened, and was forced to tell how Xiaoyao got her to help him. Grandma transformed back, and gave Xiaoyao three choices: marry Ling'er (as he had seen her naked), go home without his eyes and tongue, or die. Xiaoyao had no choice but to accept the first one.
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[edit] Characters
- Li Xiaoyao
- Zhao Ling'er
- Lin Yueru
- A Nu
[edit] Versions of The Legend of Sword and Fairy
[edit] DOS version
First released in 1995, it is often cited as the most successful video game in China.
[edit] Windows 95/98 version
A re-release for the Windows 95/98 platforms.
[edit] New version
This is a remake of the DOS version, with minimal changes to the original storyline. Two alternate endings are dedicated to the two female protagonists of the story.
Initial release was in 2001, titled in Chinese as Xin Xianjian Qixia Zhuan (Traditional Chinese: 新仙劍奇俠傳; Simplified Chinese: 新仙剑奇侠传) (The Legend of Sword and Fairy Neo). It was re-released again as the New LSF XP version for the Windows XP platform.
[edit] Sequels and Prequels
[edit] The Legend of Sword and Fairy 2
This is the Sequel to the original, set 14 years after the original storyline. The story evolves around the adventures of Li Xiaoyao's daughter Li Yiru, his childhood friend Wang Xiaohu, an avenging vixen fairy named Su Mei, and a girl called Shen Qishuang.
[edit] The Legend of Sword and Fairy 3
This is a prequel to the side story game The Legend of the Sword Fairy 3: Proposal and also the original game. Utilizing a 3D game design, it is rumored to set either a few decades or 1000 years before the start of the original game. There are minor relations to the side story game and the original game. In this chapter, the protagonist starts as a poor servant and later on becomes a rich merchant. He acquires a magical sword in the beginning of the story with a spirit possessed in it. The spirit is a teenage girl Long Kui (actually she died decades ago) who may change her characteristics suddenly. Continuing his journey with the sword, he meets Xue Jian, another teenage girl from the rich city of Tang. She travels with them and continuously passing uncountable obstacles. There are three kinds of ending which are:
- Xue Jian runs into a pit of fire carrying the useless sword into a powerful sword.
- Same as Long Kui, walks to the pit of fire carrying a useless sword, preventing Xue Jian from making contact with her, she jumps down the fire pit and becomes powerful again.
- Both of them live and it's a happy ending.
[edit] The Legend of the Sword Fairy 3: The Proposal
This is the prequel to the first game of the series. Set after the war between Jing Tian (The protagonist of the 3rd game of the series) and the Guard of Hell Chung Lo. This side story of the third game takes place a few decades later. In this game, many questions are answered from the first game. Also, the father of the original game appears in the beginning with the protagonist of the game and a few times later on. This, however, still left many questions to be answered in the end.
[edit] The Legend of Sword and Fairy 4
Currently in the making. Proposed release date is set for summer 2007.
[edit] Spin-offs
[edit] Xianjian Kezhan
A simulation game released in 2001.
[edit] Chinese Paladin Online
A new MMORPG is in the making and to be released in Winter 2007.
[edit] TV series
The 38 or 34-episode TV series (depending on where it was broadcast) based on these games is called "Chinese Paladin" in English.
[edit] Cast
- Hu Ge (胡歌) as Li Xiaoyao (李逍遥)
- Liu Yifei (刘亦菲) as Zhao Ling'er (赵灵儿)
- An Yixuan (安以轩) as Lin Yueru (林月如)
- Liu Pinyan (刘品言) as A Nu (阿奴)
- Peng Yuyan (彭于晏) as Tang Yu (唐钰)
- Bryan Wong (王禄江) as Liu Jingyuan (刘晋元)
- Zhen Peipei (郑佩佩) as Lao Lao (姥姥)
- Xie Junhao (谢君豪) as Jiu Jianxian (酒剑仙)
[edit] Trivia
- A spin-off game titled Xianjian Kezhan was released in 2001 that involves doing meanial tasks trying to please your Aunt, almost as a parody of the original Xianjian Kezhan.
- The game was so successful that it was adopted to different platforms. It was officially adopted to Sega Saturn and released in both Chinese and Japanese. Third parties had unofficially adopted the game to J2ME, NES, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance.
- An unofficial English translation of the demo version of the game titled The Legend of Swordsman and Fairy was made by fans in 2005.
- All voices in Chinese Paladin were professionally dubbed.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- (English) Zhao Ling'er and Li Xiao Yao Fansite
- (English) Xian Jian Forum
- (English) Xianjian Qixia Zhuan series at MobyGames
