Gujian 3
- December 14, 2018
- Aurogon Shanghai
- 25h median play time
Get on Steam"Gujian 3" is a single-player RPG set in a fantasy world inspired by ancient China. The game features a real-time combat system, allowing for smooth and free-form battles. Its stunning graphic style brings the game world to life, immersing players in a rich cultural experience filled with daring imagination.
PC
Steam Deck
Windows
Tablet
Reviews
- Stunning graphics and beautiful environments that create an immersive experience.
- Engaging story with well-developed characters and a rich narrative based on Chinese mythology.
- Fluid combat system that allows for various skills and playstyles, making battles enjoyable.
- Always online requirement for a single-player game, leading to potential connectivity issues and loss of progress.
- Some translation errors and awkward dialogue that can make the story hard to follow for non-Chinese speakers.
- Repetitive side quests and enemy designs that can detract from the overall experience.
- story1,116 mentions
- 43 % positive mentions
- 54 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The story of "Gujian 3" is characterized by its rich narrative rooted in Chinese mythology, offering a blend of drama, action, and emotional depth. Players appreciate the well-crafted character arcs and the intricate world-building, although some find the pacing slow and the side quests repetitive. While the translation can be inconsistent, the overall storytelling is engaging, making it a compelling experience for fans of story-driven RPGs.
“The story is rich, spanning aeons of conflict in a world consisting of mortals, beasts, demons, feys, ghosts, and spirits.”
“The story, drama, scenery, graphics, and soundtracks absolutely blew my mind away.”
“The story is engaging and its hard for me to stop playing.”
“The story is very dull and is structured extremely badly.”
“The story is needlessly over-complicated and incredibly boring.”
“The localization is pretty bad though - there's an intricate story going on here, but it's very difficult to follow due to the poor localization.”
- graphics365 mentions
- 70 % positive mentions
- 28 % neutral mentions
- 2 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received widespread acclaim, with many players praising the stunning visuals, vibrant art style, and attention to detail in environments and character designs. Reviewers noted that the graphics are impressive for a Chinese RPG, often comparing them favorably to those of major AAA titles, and highlighting the beautiful landscapes and atmospheric effects. While some minor graphical issues were mentioned, the overall consensus is that the game's visuals significantly enhance the storytelling and gameplay experience.
“The graphics are astonishing; I took over 250 screenshots.”
“Beautiful graphics, fun combat, just the right amount of side quests, interesting puzzles and mini-games, and a good story.”
“The visuals are spectacular, and what I like most about this game are the very well brought out characters and storyline.”
“The fast travel option does not even work properly (becomes unresponsive all of a sudden) the graphics are not up to 2019 standards.”
“Everything about this game is unpolished and frustrating besides the graphics quality even though the animations leave a lot to be desired.”
“While the city is pretty, many older games are more graphically demanding and yet run faster/smoother.”
- gameplay300 mentions
- 44 % positive mentions
- 51 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with some praising its fluid combat mechanics and engaging RPG elements, while others criticize it for being shallow, repetitive, and disrupted by frequent cutscenes. Many players noted issues with clarity in the leveling system and mechanics, as well as connection problems that detracted from the overall experience. Despite these drawbacks, the game is appreciated for its beautiful graphics and compelling story, which some feel compensate for its gameplay shortcomings.
“The gameplay is great!”
“The combat system is satisfying after a couple of hours...you get used to it and there's some interesting mechanics to it.”
“The gameplay is smooth and it is quite well polished and even if you included all the English ARPGs it would still be one of the top contenders.”
“There's a whiplash level of cuts to random cutscenes that disrupt gameplay every 45 seconds, making progression seem sluggish.”
“Tries to have too many popular game mechanics and is bad at all of them - you get quick actions that you never lose, platforming with bad jump animation and unexpected invisible walls, a shallow RPG system where all skills eventually look and feel the same, and boss fights that force you to miss, making it feel staged.”
“But when the main gameplay element is combat, and you feel like combat is a chore you are made to get through in order to watch the cutscenes and follow the story, then something is seriously wrong.”
- music171 mentions
- 61 % positive mentions
- 37 % neutral mentions
- 2 % negative mentions
The music in Gujian 3 is widely praised for its exceptional quality, seamlessly enhancing the game's atmosphere with a blend of traditional Chinese instruments and modern compositions. Reviewers highlight the soundtrack's ability to evoke emotions, fitting various environments and situations, from calming melodies to epic battle themes. Overall, the music is considered a standout feature, contributing significantly to the game's immersive experience and cultural depth.
“In mood and tone, they are in harmony with the environment and situation, changing from intense folk music to epic opera ballads.”
“The soundtrack is absolutely amazing.”
“The music is fantastic and really sets the mood in every scene.”
“The music a lot of times is way louder than the voice; this is pretty common in all the Chinese RPGs I've played.”
“More action/mystery/horror-oriented soundtracks would be nice to fit some moods better.”
“Music and sound is okay, but it doesn't offer much variety.”
- grinding68 mentions
- 3 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 97 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of Gujian 3 has received mixed feedback, with some players finding the farming, crafting, and resource management systems engaging and addictive, while others describe the combat and questing as tedious and repetitive. Many reviews highlight the game's extensive side activities, which can lead to a grindy experience, especially for achievement hunters or those focused on leveling up. Overall, while the game offers a rich story and immersive world, the grinding elements may detract from the enjoyment for some players.
“Not too grindy and with the right balance of fighting, quests, and side activities.”
“The quests aren't tedious.”
“It was a nice idea though installing the lotuscape as a retreat and for farming some needed materials, plants and fish.”
“To play it's a tedious slog with an aimless, meandering story, and an emphasis on absurdly overcomplicated crafting.”
“About 20 hours in the middle is a lot of grinding in dungeons and caves, a lot of which could have totally been removed from the game.”
- optimization57 mentions
- 14 % positive mentions
- 51 % neutral mentions
- 35 % negative mentions
The optimization of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players reporting smooth performance on high settings, while others experience significant issues such as stuttering, crashes, and poor resource utilization. Many users highlight that the game struggles with optimization, particularly on older hardware, leading to frustrating gameplay experiences. Overall, while some players find it well-optimized, a substantial number express dissatisfaction with its performance, indicating a need for further improvements.
“The game runs quite smooth on max settings on my Legion 5 Pro with GTX 3070, so it's well optimized.”
“The video performance is pretty stable, and I experienced no stuttering due to frametime or fps.”
“- well optimized, smooth gameplay”
“The game seems to have really awful optimization; I would have loved to even get to play the game, but it just keeps screen tearing and dropping FPS randomly. It doesn't even fully utilize my CPU/GPU and runs at like 40 FPS for no reason.”
“Here I have to reset my computer every time because this game is not optimized for long gameplay sessions and suffers serious memory leaks.”
“Let me be the first to tell you that this game has the worst optimization I've ever encountered...”
- atmosphere36 mentions
- 56 % positive mentions
- 36 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its immersive and beautiful design, enhanced by a haunting soundtrack and stunning graphics that evoke a rich Chinese cultural backdrop. Players appreciate the engaging environments and the way music complements the gameplay, creating a captivating experience despite some narrative shortcomings. Overall, the atmosphere is described as relaxing, atmospheric, and integral to the game's appeal, drawing players into its world.
“I never got angry or frustrated about difficult parts or redoing an obstacle, or fetch quests, because I was just so absorbed into the story and the game's atmosphere.”
“The game is steeped in atmosphere and is dramatic in a near theatrical, often poetic way.”
“Graphic, art direction, and music work together to create the beautiful atmospheres in the game.”
“The story is quite interesting, but it is told in a terrible way, full of preaching with characters jumping to conclusions almost all the time about what is right and what is wrong, and that kills the feeling completely and can be quite annoying at times, especially with translation that is pretty literal and fails to give the atmosphere of the ancient times.”
“I don't think the music is overall impressive like Gujian 1, but it fits the game well, creating the required atmosphere.”
“Overall, the translation does capture the overall atmosphere of the original Chinese version, although I do find some details and word choices being too complicated in the English context.”
- character development20 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 45 % neutral mentions
- 15 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is generally well-received, with many players appreciating the depth and chemistry among the main cast, though some feel certain characters lack sufficient screentime. The character designs are praised for their beauty and uniqueness, contributing to an engaging story that diverges from typical RPGs. However, a few reviewers noted that the protagonist's growth felt limited, indicating a mixed experience in character evolution throughout the narrative.
“If you stick with it, you'll get a wholesome story that's quite different from your typical western or eastern RPGs, with great character development and a big cast of interesting personas in a beautifully fantasy-like crafted world.”
“Combined with the constant character development present in the story, especially in the main group, the characters were really just a joy to behold.”
“What the game offers is the unique experience set in ancient Chinese mythology, with fitting music, immersive character design, affecting main plot, and touching relationship development.”
“Great characters from beginning to end, but some of them could have used more screentime and character development.”
“The story is good overall, the universe is full of lore, but character development is bad; I didn’t feel like the protagonist was changing.”
“I've gotten used to playing RPGs with deep customization, character development, and player-decision-driven stories.”
- emotional18 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is highly praised, with players noting its deeply moving story, complex character arcs, and memorable moments that evoke strong feelings, often leading to tears. The combination of beautiful visuals, soulful music, and well-executed voice acting enhances the emotional impact, making the characters' journeys and relationships feel authentic and heartwarming. Overall, the game offers a unique and touching experience that resonates with players on a profound level.
“The environments of the areas are unique masterpieces and the characters, especially the main ones, look astoundingly detailed, lively, and emotional.”
“There were some emotional moments that hit me hard, and every character, including the enemies, was extremely memorable, especially due to the tragic nature of each story arc.”
“Beautiful visuals, soulful music, and a touching story full of meaningful wisdom.”
- stability15 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- -13 % neutral mentions
- 93 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's stability is mixed, with users reporting occasional glitches and bugs, particularly in building mode and controller movement. While some players find the experience relatively bug-free, others encounter significant issues like soft freezes during autosave and graphical glitches, suggesting that stability can vary widely depending on individual experiences.
“The game is relatively bug-free, providing a smooth experience.”
“I appreciate how stable the game runs without major issues.”
“Overall, the stability of the game enhances my enjoyment.”
“The building mode is buggy sometimes, like when you are trying to rotate building parts or items (with controller), it can get really annoying.”
“This is a fairly poor choice, given there's no online content, and if there's network issues prepare for lots of soft freezes when attempting to autosave (no selection to disable autosave either, or at least I couldn't find it).”
“However, this system is a bit buggy, because many items don't have collision attributes; they often penetrate the character models.”
- humor12 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is characterized by a mix of dry wit and quirky character interactions, with players noting the amusing dynamics between serious characters and their unexpected comedic moments. While the story may not rival top-tier titles, it features funny scenes and charming elements, such as a cute mascot and humorous translations that add to the overall experience. Players appreciate the blend of humor with epic storytelling, making for an engaging and entertaining gameplay experience.
“The characters are interesting, individual, and humorous.”
“It has a lot of cut-scenes since it is story-driven, and some of the translations are a little 'funny', but you can usually figure out what they mean with relative ease.”
“Your two main companions are pretty serious, but they have this hidden side to them that I find really funny.”
- replayability5 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 20 % neutral mentions
- 40 % negative mentions
The game's replayability is mixed; while some players find it infinitely replayable and more engaging than titles like Far Cry and Mafia, others feel there is little incentive to replay after completing the main story, aside from pursuing Steam trophies.
“Infinitely replayable.”
“Much more playable than Far Cry and Mafia, etc.”
“No replayable value after you beat the game, unless you really care about those worthless Steam trophies.”
“Replayability is lacking; once you finish the game, there's little incentive to return.”
- monetization3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
The game is praised for its lack of microtransactions and cash grab DLCs, offering a refreshing single-player experience that prioritizes fun gameplay and storytelling over monetization. Players appreciate this return to a more traditional gaming model, reminiscent of older titles.
“In these years where gaming is filled with cash grab multiplayer modes and microtransactions, this game is a breath of fresh air for those like me who loved old games where making a fun game and telling good stories was the first priority for developers, aside from making money.”
“This is a single-player experience with no DLC or microtransactions.”
