new series: Xian Jian Qi Xia Zhuan (w/ an all-star cast)

[pksky]

Is the series avaiable uncut anywhere? Why did China cut the series? Is it what is generally done? Does the director present his final product than whoever goes over it and decides the final cut?

JB

From what I know the series that is uncut is not available any where at the moment. The china cut the series because of some reason - those part for what I know is when xiao yao uses the "Jiu Shen" part. If you play xian jian you should know what is it. Regarding about jiu shen all is cut. Then the part yue ru dies, actually theres a very long scene about her os, but its cut. Then one more i remember is the last part when xiao yao cries - his tears are red, as in blood. There are some more part I couldnt remember but I assure you those are quite minor parts as I've watched the cut version. I join discussion in some chinese and taiwanese forum and most of us believe that its the company that agree to cut the few parts then release the cut version. Which i think singapore will show the cut version too as taiwanese did.

[The Khan]

38 episodes?

The set i bought only has 34 episodes. Ends with Ling er dying and xiao yao carrying his child and talking to Jian Sheng. Is there supposed to be more??!?

[RevanShan]

I wish they didn't make the dungeons and mazes all confusing and the random encounters so unavoidable; many instances I lost my patience due to the confusing mazes littered with tons of encounters with very little exp reward. The same happened to a friend who played it - he got deterred due to the annoyingness in solving the dungeons. In the gameplay department, Softstar definitely lacked talent. In the DOS one the gameplay was more enjoyable if I remember correctly, it was simple and straight-forward and I remember I was addicted it playing through a weekend non-stop.

Also the WinXP one has bugs that will crash the game in some dungeons , which is extremely annoying if you didn't save frequently. The weakness of the remake is agreed by most Xian Jian fans too, most people think the remake is not as good as the original. In my opinion, the graphics is definitely a plus to the remake, now if they'll just get the music (music itself is excellent, but what the hell is with the electrical/synthesized sounds and extremely short tracks? can't they just afford to use that additional ~100mb to make the music... regular song-lengthed?), the gameplay and the bugs fixed, then it would be a perfect game.

Man, what this game does so well is setting the scene. Especially with the awesome hand-drawn graphics of the remake and the music as bases for the story, this game will grasp you right into the scene and make you experience the story first hand. I remember the parts where it's just Li Xiao Yao and Lin Yue Ru in the cities (Suzhou, Yangzhou and then Jing Cheng), that are so damn memorable that I reloaded saves many times just to experience the story again.

I think it would be best if this game is remade again, with the battle engine changed and the bugs removed, dungeons made easier to solve, music remixed with real-life instruments that last at least 1 minute, add voices, some secrets/perks added and with even more improved graphics, released in both Chinese and English. It would OWN.

Yeah, I found the random encounters to be extremely repeatitive and time-wasting. I wouldn't mind mazes and enemies -- I always enjoy dungeon crawling in all those D&D CRPGs -- as long as it's fun. But Softstar obviously didn't know how to make gameplay a fun experience. The remake definitely have larger maze than the original, it's just nightmarish. But still I perfer the remake's dialogue than the original, at least where Yue Ru was concerned, for example in the original version it's Yue Ru who said "Us three will never be apart again" in the Evil-Imprisoning Tower but in the new version it was said by Xiao Yao and Yue Ru told him to stop daydreaming Also after I got used to it I think Yue Ru looks prettier in the remake.

It would be great if they should remake the game with a real-time combat system and a character system that requires more player's involvement than merely slashing enemies and watch the exp meter. I'm also hoping for a full professional voice-over like the two KotOR games.

[RevanShan]

It would be nice to have a sequal to this series and bring lin er back to life since everyone else is dead...

It's Ling'er's destiny to sacrifice herself, a destiny shared by her mother, her grandmother and indeed all her ancestors and descendants. So I would be really mad if they brought Ling'er back to life as it would ruin a central theme of the game series.

If somebody's going to make a sequel it would most likely to be based on the 2nd game of the series, in which the lead male character would be Wang Xiao Hu (Xiao Yao's buddy in his hometown), and the story was set 8 years after the final confrontation with the water demon. By then Xiao Yao had alreay became the grandmaster of Shu Shan (Mt.Zu) and Yue Ru (it hadn't been said explicitly but everything in the 2nd game points to that she and Xiao Yao was already married. There is even a short description of their wedding in the official novelization of the 2nd game) was in a state of deep coma. But the problems with an adoptation would be, first, Wang Xiao Hu's age had been changed in the TV series and after 8 years he would be too old (he's a little boy in the 1st game, not a young adult as in the TV series), and second, there's not scenes showing the revived Yue Ru in the TV version.

There had been rumours that CCTV would make an TV adoptation of the 3nd game, which is in fact a prelude to the 1st game. It was even rumoured Hu Jun and Liu Tao (Xiao Feng and Ah Zhu in DGSD 2003) would play a couple again in this adoptation. But as far as I know, they're just rumours.

[pksky]

38 episodes?

The set i bought only has 34 episodes. Ends with Ling er dying and xiao yao carrying his child and talking to Jian Sheng. Is there supposed to be more??!?

If I'm correct the one you bought must be the dvd version. I've called up to yesasia about it and find out why. They explained that due to the storage of dvd (episodes per disc) they arrange the 38 episodes to 34 episodes. There is nothing more after Ling er dying and xiao yao carrying his child and talking to Jian Sheng...

[pksky]

It's Ling'er's destiny to sacrifice herself, a destiny shared by her mother, her grandmother and indeed all her ancestors and descendants. So I would be really mad if they brought Ling'er back to life as it would ruin a central theme of the game series.

If somebody's going to make a sequel it would most likely to be based on the 2nd game of the series, in which the lead male character would be Wang Xiao Hu (Xiao Yao's buddy in his hometown), and the story was set 8 years after the final confrontation with the water demon. By then Xiao Yao had alreay became the grandmaster of Shu Shan (Mt.Zu) and Yue Ru (it hadn't been said explicitly but everything in the 2nd game points to that she and Xiao Yao was already married. There is even a short description of their wedding in the official novelization of the 2nd game) was in a state of deep coma. But the problems with an adoptation would be, first, Wang Xiao Hu's age had been changed in the TV series and after 8 years he would be too old (he's a little boy in the 1st game, not a young adult as in the TV series), and second, there's not scenes showing the revived Yue Ru in the TV version.

There had been rumours that CCTV would make an TV adoptation of the 3nd game, which is in fact a prelude to the 1st game. It was even rumoured Hu Jun and Liu Tao (Xiao Feng and Ah Zhu in DGSD 2003) would play a couple again in this adoptation. But as far as I know, they're just rumours.

Well said! Great player of xian jian
Here's my opinion. The only part of xian jian's drama that I'm not so happy about was the Yue Ru's part. There aint any scene showing that she came back to life... I think ceihk did it purposely to put an end to any direct sequel to xian jian 1. Also Xiaohu's part RevanShan mentioned, he's already an adult in this TV series. And another reason I thought that ceihk wouldn't make xian jian 2 is likely to be because of how poorly xian jian 2 was made as in how badly the story was structured. At first, after watching the preview/trailer of xian jian 2 after the Xing Jian Xian Qi Xia Zhuan, which softstar made for microsoft windows... I thought it would be a great direct sequel! Me and my sister waited for long for xian jian 2 to finally lanuch and in the end? I would say that the worst game I ever played. Forgive me for my harsh words, but its hard to explain the feeling of seeing ling-er again but found out that she's just a illusion by the demon trying to trick xiao yao. My sister cried so badly when she complete the game... except for the CG part where ling er appear, nothing about her anymore...
We do understand that it's ling er's destiny to sacrifice herself, but the trailer at the end of xing xian jian gave us so much false hope.. so much that it's so disappointing to play xian jian 2...

[tyrantashen]

Yeah, I found the random encounters to be extremely repeatitive and time-wasting. I wouldn't mind mazes and enemies -- I always enjoy dungeon crawling in all those D&D CRPGs -- as long as it's fun. But Softstar obviously didn't know how to make gameplay a fun experience. The remake definitely have larger maze than the original, it's just nightmarish. But still I perfer the remake's dialogue than the original, at least where Yue Ru was concerned, for example in the original version it's Yue Ru who said "Us three will never be apart again" in the Evil-Imprisoning Tower but in the new version it was said by Xiao Yao and Yue Ru told him to stop daydreaming Also after I got used to it I think Yue Ru looks prettier in the remake.

It would be great if they should remake the game with a real-time combat system and a character system that requires more player's involvement than merely slashing enemies and watch the exp meter. I'm also hoping for a full professional voice-over like the two KotOR games.

Yeah Yue Ru is prettier in the remake but I think that is brought up to the gamers especially because of the facial expressions they added to the portraits of the characters. I couldn't remember exactly, but I think the remake does feature some changed/additional dialogue. And as for the remake, I think they should remake it to make the gameplay better, but I lost hope in Chinese developers. I'd rather if this job was given to an American/Canadian developer with a person who knows/loves this game as the director; this way the feeling and the story of the original game would be retained while the quality and gameplay of the game would be constructed on-par with current American games.

As for Dungeon Crawling.. For some reason I enjoy them first, and then get bored after about 2 hours of gameplay. And I'm talking about the D&D, Wizardry, and old school games type of insane dungeons where you're screwed if you didn't have a map. Unless it's MMORPG, I usually don't go for dungeon crawls because in MMORPGs you can gain *nice* items from dungeon crawls. On a side note, as I was playing a premium module for Neverwinter Nights, I found out the music was composed by Jeremy Soule as well, I guess he's fond of creating PC RPG musics. And he also created the upcoming GuildWars music.

To get back on track, yes my friend who lives in China told me that they cut a crapload of good stuff off of the Mainland version of Xian Jian TV. So without torrent you are pretty much screwed out of the some better scenes.
And rumors has it that another company is going to do Xian Jian II TV, even with the actors chosen. My mom showed me the website and the information, like who is going to be Wang Xiao Hu and such, but she is not here and thus I can't get you the website. One thing my mom was mad about is that Li Xiao Yao's no longer going to be the main character.

IMO I think Xian Jian II is a good game and that the decision to use Wang instead of Li as the main char is a good choice; The story of Li is complete at the end of Xian Jian I, no need to destroy it or "add snake feet" to it. And also how are you supposed to use and level Li? He is like level 98 with the best skills at the end of Xian Jian 1, it just doesn't work. I dislike how Lin Yue Ru is only mentioned by not actually shown in Xian Jian II. ARGH, how dare they ignore her like that? I demand a remake again.

[FairySword]

Hi everyone... new member here.. but actually already reading this forum for quite long liao... anyway i am a Xian Jian fan too.. i have play the MS-DOS version and the CD version xian jian.. but this recently in feb 2005 a new sort of drama XP version with the game cover printed with the drama character.. i would like to ask whether is there any diffrences between this and the one release few yr back with 4CD version?? will the XP version game be following the drama story which is quite diffrence from the original game?.. thks...

[funnybunny]

hi new member too...um does anyone know the viet title to this serie, thanx in advance

[nodrog]

I finished watching it yesterday, it was pretty good but confusing at times. It was worth my time ahah.


Liu Yi Fei is so pretty and cute ahah but yeah her acting at times were terrible but at other times it was perfect for her character.

[pksky]

Hi everyone... new member here.. but actually already reading this forum for quite long liao... anyway i am a Xian Jian fan too.. i have play the MS-DOS version and the CD version xian jian.. but this recently in feb 2005 a new sort of drama XP version with the game cover printed with the drama character.. i would like to ask whether is there any diffrences between this and the one release few yr back with 4CD version?? will the XP version game be following the drama story which is quite diffrence from the original game?.. thks...

Though I haven't finish the xp version, I can confirm with you that the xp version would be the same as the window version. It is just the same game with different packaging... But one thing I'm not too sure is the ending, the window xian jian has got two different version - Ling Er's Version and Yue Ru's Version. According to a china friend, a secret ending can be unlocked to each version. Like example, if you bought ling er's version you can unlock her extra ending provided you reach the criterias. For this XP version xian jian, it is said that you can unlock both Ling er's and Yue ru's secret ending. But im not really sure about it cos the xp version kept freezing my laptop...

[The Khan]

WHAT??! there's a secret ending??!? oh geez.. looks like i'll have to spend hrs going through the game again.

[FairySword]

Though I haven't finish the xp version, I can confirm with you that the xp version would be the same as the window version. It is just the same game with different packaging... But one thing I'm not too sure is the ending, the window xian jian has got two different version - Ling Er's Version and Yue Ru's Version. According to a china friend, a secret ending can be unlocked to each version. Like example, if you bought ling er's version you can unlock her extra ending provided you reach the criterias. For this XP version xian jian, it is said that you can unlock both Ling er's and Yue ru's secret ending. But im not really sure about it cos the xp version kept freezing my laptop...

thanks... izzit true that there is a secret ending?? i got the Yue Ru version and the ending is juz the noramal where xiao yao walk up to Yue Ru with Li Yi Ru in her hand... if any1 know how to get the secret ending pls share coz i will be replaying the game if there is any... btw the 4CD version also always boot out from the game suddenly during the maze arrrgs ....

[FairySword]

From what I know the series that is uncut is not available any where at the moment. The china cut the series because of some reason - those part for what I know is when xiao yao uses the "Jiu Shen" part. If you play xian jian you should know what is it. Regarding about jiu shen all is cut. Then the part yue ru dies, actually theres a very long scene about her os, but its cut. Then one more i remember is the last part when xiao yao cries - his tears are red, as in blood. There are some more part I couldnt remember but I assure you those are quite minor parts as I've watched the cut version. I join discussion in some chinese and taiwanese forum and most of us believe that its the company that agree to cut the few parts then release the cut version. Which i think singapore will show the cut version too as taiwanese did.

it is real sad that the drama have been cut off of some part esp part then concern Yue Ru Dying part i personal wan a longer flashback or so for remembering Yue Ru.... anyway ppl in the official forum is all trying to "push" them to release the uncut version but they say that the 38esp is already the whole liao... but indeed there are some proof that it have been cut and scene is not play in whole show like: During the ending song there is a raining scene showing Jian Yuan holding a umbrella sitting with Yue Ru...

[pksky]

thanks... izzit true that there is a secret ending?? i got the Yue Ru version and the ending is juz the noramal where xiao yao walk up to Yue Ru with Li Yi Ru in her hand... if any1 know how to get the secret ending pls share coz i will be replaying the game if there is any... btw the 4CD version also always boot out from the game suddenly during the maze arrrgs ....

I know the xian jian sg forum just updated their forum of the xian jian secret ending, translation might be coming soon...
yeah the window version itself has been very buggy to me also...

[funnybunny]

Hey...um does thiz serie have any good reviews do you recommend it?

[tyrantashen]

The XP version, so far as I can tell, has some little added scenes to the intro and is in Traditional Chinese, thus unreadable by many such as myself.

The secret endings in the Win version of XinXianJian were a pain in the *** to get so I just got saved games from a friend.
If you want to see it, you don't have to do anything special, you can watch the FMV by going into the videos folder and find the two secret ones. This is for the movie only though.

[FairySword]

The XP version, so far as I can tell, has some little added scenes to the intro and is in Traditional Chinese, thus unreadable by many such as myself.

The secret endings in the Win version of XinXianJian were a pain in the *** to get so I just got saved games from a friend.
If you want to see it, you don't have to do anything special, you can watch the FMV by going into the videos folder and find the two secret ones. This is for the movie only though.

oh i have try be4 to view the game video folder last time to see some of the clip(still not knowing abt the secret ending haha) but dunno why my window media can`t open those clip format.. does real player or any other player then can straight away play this clip??

[FairySword]

I know the xian jian sg forum just updated their forum of the xian jian secret ending, translation might be coming soon...
yeah the window version itself has been very buggy to me also...

can i have the xian jian sg forum address pls? If it is not approriate to post the address here then can u message mi the address.. thnks

[pksky]

can i have the xian jian sg forum address pls? If it is not approriate to post the address here then can u message mi the address.. thnks

http://xianjiansg.forumer.com

i think it's alright to post the links... it's quite new but the host there offer great help..

yup the secret ending are tedious lol..