Key Preview Takeaways:
- A dedication to martial arts is a key differentiating factor for this soulslike.
- It’s reminiscent of the wuxia action of the classic film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
- Boss fights should be fairly memorable based on what I’ve experienced so far.
In the wake of this year’s Gamescom, it’s been very clear that a wide assortment of new action titles have been looking to make their mark, especially in the soulslike sub-genre. One game in particular that’s aiming high is the upcoming action-RPG A Whisper of Fall: Jinyiwei, which brings fast wuxia-inspired combat and spectacle-driven set-piece encounters to the historical Ming Dynasty setting.
We recently got some hands-on time with an early build of this soulslike action-RPG, which blends tense, martial-arts style action from the school of Black Myth: Wukong to the parkour-style action-platforming from Assassin’s Creed. So far, A Whisper of Fall: Jinyiwei has a promising hook and serious style that makes a decent first impression, and hopefully it can build on that excitement from here.
The main story of A Whisper of Fall: Jinyiwei follows a mysterious boatman thrust into the political upheaval of the Ming Dynasty, which is in turmoil from encroaching threats both outside the kingdom’s walls and within. Taken on as a new agent of the Ming Dynasty, the protagonist becomes the titular Jinyiwei, an imperial agent tasked with striking down invaders and other threats to the kingdom, while expanding his tools and resources to keep the fight going.
Like recent Chinese-developed games such as Swords of Legends or Phantom Blade Zero, A Whisper of Fall: Jinyiwei is built on Chinese historical settings and mythology, channeled into the framework of an action-RPG soulslike. However, compared to the over-the-top spectacle of the aforementioned PBZ, Jinyiwei takes a less fantastical approach and tilts more toward a blockbuster action-thriller. Yet it still leans into that wuxia-inspired influence, with Jinyiwei using different weapons in martial-arts combat, wall-running, and even fighting while wall-running and streaking through the air. It all makes for a slick, visually exciting approach that feels in step with the 2000 wuxia classic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
As mentioned, the build I played of A Whisper of Fall: Jinyiwei was still very much an early showing, but it laid the groundwork for a fast and captivating action game all about taking out foes with style and grace. It really leans into that martial arts action feel. Still, it goes further by making the engagements you have with enemies more about reading their movements so you can effectively take them out as quickly as you can.
My demo focused on the Jinyiwei’s infiltration of a mountainside bandit base. As I was exploring it, using wall-runs to reach higher vantage points and finding upper ledges to get the drop on enemies, it really reminded me of a type of stealth-action game from the Assassin’s Creed series, and even with the fairly modest level design, I did appreciate that A Whisper of Fall still presented different ways to go about engaging in battles. In one instance, I encountered a group of three foes on patrol. While the direct approach was doable, I found it better to pick off two enemies from above with a leap-down attack, letting me mop up the last enemy quickly.
The flow of these battles matches the pacing of other, more grounded soulslikes. Still, in keeping with the martial-arts action influence, the protagonist can use his intuition to land critical strikes after evading and whittling down defenses. It captures that feeling of being a badass martial artist, using quick reflexes and your ability to read an opponent to effortlessly take down enemies. During battle, the Jinyiwei can also charge up internal energy based on his performance. Along with using that energy to restore health when you are in a pinch, you can use a fully charged meter for a special attack to tear into enemy and boss defenses, which is super satisfying to nail.
Along with getting new armor to deck out his appearance and defenses, the Jinyiwei can acquire new weapons and can carry two in battle, which can be switched off from each other in mid-combo. I used the traditional Chinese straight sword and a curved bandit sword, swapping between them with special weapon attacks that lead into a new combo. In my experience so far, the combat has a satisfying flow. However, I hope the developers can keep refining and polishing the experience, as one recurring issue was disruptive camera angles that reared their ugly heads during some of the tougher battles.
Where A Whisper of Fall: Jinyiwei really goes all in for its spectacle fights is with the boss encounters. Instead of large monsters and other oversized enemies, the boss gauntlet I got to experience was against other equally matched martial artists who had unique fighting styles, such as a rival mercenary who uses his long sword to create razor-sharp gusts of wind and tosses homing darts to pick me off from a distance. The final boss of the demo was the bandit leader, who then revealed his true form as a fiery, flamesword-wielding warlord. It was a tough fight to get through, but it was all about patience and not getting overwhelmed.
As challenging as these bosses were, what really stood out for me was how evenly matched most of these fights were. There was never that awkward dance of having to figure out the big puzzle of the fight to survive – such as which targets to strike first to open their defenses up. It was really about keeping your composure and reading their movement style to stay ahead of them and steadily cut them down to size with carefully laid-out counterstrikes and parries. It has the fundamentals of satisfying boss encounters, and I hope the larger game will keep building that pacing further.
A Whisper of Fall: Jinyiwei does an impressive job of drawing players into its world of martial-arts action, and I appreciated that it really leaned into the vertical exploration. I would have liked to see more open exploration of towns and communities to understand what the larger world of Jinyiwei is about, but the demo I played is a promising start. It does well to capture that experience of being an action hero, and with later stages focusing on battles within crumbling battleships during storms and all-out brawls while wall-running above death-pits, A Whisper of Fall: Jinyiwei has the makings of an action-RPG that can make an impact with its martial arts action-adventure.
While you’re here, check out these recent previews of other big upcoming games we’ve checked out recently!
Alessandro Fillari is a longtime games media professional. Talk video games with him on BlueSky at @afillari.bsky.social.
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