The game that takes covers and has become the fastest growing title on Steam in recent days is called Tale of Immortal (Steam), it is a 2D open world RPG and the only language available is Simplified Chinese .
Only a cat that has looked death in the eye would dare to let his curiosity run to try to discover why Tale of Immortal reached 183,985 simultaneous players yesterday. I’m not a cat, but I admit I have a weakness for doing stupid things.
Tale of Immortal, the latest Steam sensation
Despite not having the remotest idea of Chinese, the idea of delving into an oddity like this is hopelessly tempting. On the one hand, I think it’s going to be a disaster. On the other hand, I remember that, at an early age, I aired the Game Boy’s Final Fantasy Legend 2 without understanding any of its perfect English.
Of course, when I say ventilated I mean to advance what most likely was nothing and less, but the memories are there to keep them as beautiful as possible, so let’s not put our finger on the wound.
The point is, I was going to play Tale of Immortal because I love watching the world burn even though I’m in it.
The thing begins with an endearing character editor in which to make up our protagonist. So far so good. Arrows to one side and the other make it more than clear how far the different options for each part of the body go and, from there, it is time to jump to the attributes.
Giving thanks to the god of the dice, I click on the six-sided cube that is in charge of randomly placing the different attributes of my long-haired hunk. It seems that everything is ready and, finally, it is time to get the game rolling to see what all the fuss is about .
With the arrow keys I move my avatar, which appears flat on the stage as if the game had the intention of replicating a classic drawing. Sold as a 2D open-world RPG , the first bars are more suited to the action-RPG tag. It could well be classified as a cross between a very decaffeinated Diablo and a Nuclear Throne flash top down shooter.
His strength may be in the narrative, but hardly in the playable
You have to move with WASD and shoot with the mouse while dodging enemies and performing special attacks that range from magic to sword cuts. The phases with clone enemies, which can contain several areas, are reduced to a square screen with some obstacles, jars to break to collect objects, and the aforementioned thugs from Chinese mythology who want to spoil you.
Overcome a fight, it is time to continue with the story. Luck wants the map, a kind of board that acts as a world map and that takes you to other areas when you stop in special squares – nice euphemism for the 2D open world -, to constantly have arrows that tell me where I have to go and what should I press.
You arrive in a city, talk to people, buy something – blindly, clearly – and fiddle with the available upgrades or add new attacks to your repertoire. It has its point, the boss fights are fun, and surely understanding what the hell each other is telling you will hide part of the grace.
I promise that the next step will be to play it with someone who can translate for me what is happening and how far its possibilities go, but frankly, I find it difficult that nothing can make me change my mind too much. At least during first impressions, I see no reason for Tale of Immortal to be part of our discussion or to claim our attention.
It may be that, due to its mythology and history, in China the game can cause a sensation, but make no mistake, it is not that there is a culture shock here that we do not understand.
Tale of Immortal has catapulted to fame as any other indie of greater or lesser quality could have done. The luck that has smiled on others in the past – and a good handful of Chinese players – has smiled on this one today.
You can continue calmly with your lives. If this is a great game, of course it is not something that shows at the first change. Nothing to do with the other recent success of Steam , a Dyson Sphere Program -also of Chinese origin but much more recommended- which is a little gem capable of being understood in simplified Chinese, in Russian and whatever you throw at it.