The Wind Road looks like the Jade Empire sequel of my dreams

To this very day, it baffles me how the greatest genre in pop culture has yet to receive a renaissance in gamin that is well overdue: B-grade kung fu movies! In an industry that riffs regularly on Hong Kong action, modern-day military drama and superhero blockbusters, it’s amazing how seldom we see the glorious fisticuffs of exotic martial arts and bad dubbing.

There have been exceptions in the past, such as Sleeping Dogs translating a gritty action experience into one of the most underrated sandboxes of all time and of course, Bioware’s Jade Empire. Dipped deep in Chinese mysticism, Jade Empire cast you as a plucky underdog on an epic quest. Throughout your journey, you’d grow in power, learn an entire 36 chambers of Shaolin skill and even tangle with an out of control John Cleese.

Since then, few games have willingly embraced the camp fun of a Shaw Brothers kung-fu classic, but there may be a new challenger on the horizon! The Wind Road is its name, and lorious wire-fu swordsmanship appears to be its game:

Billed as an action RPG with martial arts elements, the plot revolves around China’s legendary Silk Road and stars you as the fella who is ready to reclaim it from the hordes of barbarians who have been squatting on it for the last century and making life hell for merchants seeking safe passage. At least that’s what I think the game is about. Here’s the Steam China listing and synopsis, translated by the dodgiest of Google engines:

“Zisai Qiufeng” is an ARPG real-time fighting martial arts game, a martial arts world built on the ancient Silk Road under the background of the overhead era.

Cangwolves and barbarians have invaded the Silk Road Business Road for 100 years! Now that Chen Bingshazhou wants to seek the right of the Silk Road, 100,000 people of Limin are about to fall into dire straits. At this time, “The Great Buddhist Sutra” was born, which became the key to reversing the destiny of the Shazhou and even the entire Longyou Business Road.

The mission of the protagonist was originally to help Jianghu decent escort monks (letter messengers) to complete the mission mission, but after ten days of various setbacks and chance coincidences, the protagonist gradually uncovered the secret of “The Great Buddhist Sutra”! In the end, under the choice of fate, the protagonist had to take up the mission, become a real hero, and take the first step to end the chaotic world …

Plot schmot, the actions in the trailer speak for itself. The Wind Road will be out in the East on July 10, with a proper western dub arriving on our shores shortly afterwards, I hope.

Last Updated: May 27, 2020