When I was a kid, I played a chinese RPG on PC called “The Legend of Sword and Fairy” (仙剑奇侠传) also known as ‘Chinese Paladin’. It was awesome, still is.

One of my favourite games of all time. It just had everything: you visit all kind of places, fight a huge variety of enemies, learn and use all sorts of magical spells and skills. It was in Chinese and my Chinese sucked (still does). So even though I had a general idea of the story with my limited Chinese and just from seeing things happen on screen, when I heard about a drama adaption of the game that was actually faithful to the game, I knew I had to watch it. You can watch all the episodes with English subtitles here.

I just finished watching a few days ago and this is my review (there will be spoilers of course)

Overall: I really enjoyed it. Casting was just perfect: everyone looked like characters from the game. Music was fitting and beautiful: you can hear some music recreated from the game which was awesome. Fight scenes were very flashy, maybe too flashy. Sometimes I couldn’t keep up with what was going on. Story was generally good. They changed some things which is fine. Some of it were great additions but some of it just didn’t make any sense. Pacing / video editing in my opinion was a mixed bag. It was mostly fine but then sometimes you get some scenes dragging on for ages, some scenes seem pointless and then some scenes that seem somewhat important just never happen on screen.

I’m a weird person. When I watch movies or anything I like to point out / talk about inconsistencies or story elements that don’t make sense to me because those things are what I notice and take me out of the story. As a developer I like to think about things like this :) so I’ll be pointing out things like that below even though I enjoyed the drama as a whole.

Episode 1

I really liked the “first boss” bad guy. He looks like such a friendly guy :D Anyways so they did this thing where some people remember Li Xiao Yao, the main character from 10 years ago. I don’t know if this happened in the game but sure. The ‘password phrase’ thing is pointless because the current Xiao Yao would never know it. All it did was make Ling’er not believe Xiao Yao.

Episode 2

Xiao Yao has only ever had a wooden sword but “this is definitely my handwriting” on the rock. Sure. The scene where they kill all the people on the fairy island was tough to watch. The drunk master was given a much bigger role in the drama and it just makes him even more likeable. Though when I think about it now, the drunk master knew the person who went to the past was called Li Xiao Yao and that the kid who grew up is also called that… odd. Aunty taking out the men in her inn was great.

Episode 3

Elder Shi is introduced and I really liked how they changed him to be loyal to the King and Queen while still keeping him serious and cool. Anu is also introduced and she’s the main character who got turned into a minor character, barely adding anything to the story. I also find her annoying here so I don’t really care for her. Tang Yu I don’t mind and even though it’s kind of basic, has more of a story than Anu. Yueru is also introduced and she’s great… but where is her signature move :p

Episode 4

Yueru’s cousin Jin Yuan (I will just call him cousin) is introduced and a great example of how to turn a minor character to a main character. He’s likeable and funny. I didn’t really care for him much in the game because he didn’t do much. Him participating in the combat for marriage was a great addition.

Episode 5

I personally just found a lot of this episode to be pointless filler that dragged on for way too long. Yueru finds the couple buying something and has an argument. She follows them to a restaurant and they have an argument. The couple have some noodles at another place and don’t really talk about anything of interest. They go back to the Lin fortress and talk some more… Later they go watch a show, play some chess like game, followed by a meaningless scene with Anu and Tang Yu…

Episode 6

The scene with Yueru and her father was really sweet. I feel pretty bad for her dad after thinking about everything that’s going to happen to his daughter. This also begins the repetition of Xiao Yao and Ling’er promising they’ll never leave each other and then separating again and again that it starts to become a bit of a joke.

Episode 7 – 8

The undead arc begins. The main characters get captured by “bandits” who were going to kill them. When you later find out they aren’t bandits but protectors of the Baihe village, it doesn’t make any sense why they would do any of this. At the end the “bandits” take Xiao Yao to see their chief and one of the members, after looking through the door says “she’s here” before throwing Xiao Yao inside. But she can’t be inside because when Ling’er and the doctor go to cure the chief they would have seen him. Also, Baihe fort people, please learn to close your gates at night XD

Episode 9 – 11

Little Stone is introduced and feels just like the character from the game. He even does a bit more in the drama which is nice. I couldn’t even tell Xiao Yao’s sword broke during the fight with the Red Ghost King because it happened so fast. But hey, it’s fine. He gets given a new sword right after the battle. I really liked the changes they did to the doctor, making you not sure if he’s good or evil. Then when the truth comes out later, it fits in perfectly with the theme of interactions between humans and non humans.

Episode 12 – 13

The thief arc begins. So many questions. This sacred spiritual bead knows the direction that the wind bead is in but can’t tell if it’s inside the treasure pavilion? Why do Xiao Yao and the others need to go into the treasure pavilion? They don’t care about the bead. They just care about finding Ling’er. They can just wait at the entrance. I might be dumb but I wasn’t clear how they got the invite because it wasn’t shown on screen. Why did the thief steal Ling’er’s hair tie and keep it with her the whole time. It can’t be valuable. Why didn’t Xiao Yao ask the thief about the hair pin when he saw it on her at the pavilion? A lot of what happened makes no sense to me.

Episode 14 – 15

Cousin is really the hero of this arc and another great change that makes sense with his status. So Xiao Yao and cousin smell some fragrances at a store because it’s a clue but don’t find anything. Then they go into a random brothel and happen to find the lady they’re looking for? I liked the rat path more, it makes more sense and they again talk about the relationship between humans and non humans.

Episode 16 – 17

Golden-winged Phoenix is introduced here but she’s a very minor character so whatever. I thought it would be the end after capturing the thief and didn’t expect the Governor to be stealing as well. Even though the thief sounded like she knew Xiao Yao’s father (which makes sense since they’re both thieves), she doesn’t have any extra information about him other than what the public already knows.

Episode 18 – 19

So Xiao Yao finds out the “truth” about his and Ling’er’s parents. I was wondering how he was going to recover from this. Then they go to the capital and find the only person in the entire world that knows the real truth: Huangfu Ying (I will call him Mr Eagle). How convenient. I thought Mr Eagle was his dad at first. He really should have told them the real truth when they first met but they left him just to drag it on and add a really bad rescue scene. Yueru gets kidnapped then instantly rescued and the rescue scene was very badly done. So “a beggar” comes with Yueru’s whip and asks for the cousin. I thought it was the kidnappers asking for money. Then Xiao Yao and cousin follow a kid beggar to where she’s held captive. They bust through the door… and then it cuts to Mr Eagle inside fighting off the kidnappers. Later we get told it was Mr Eagle who I guess sent the kid to them. Like wow, what the heck is going on. Anyways, then cousin gets sick but doesn’t show anyone his hand. Xiao Yao runs off… even though he doesn’t know where the Marsh is.

Episode 20 – 21

The frog lady scene was short but still important in my opinion. I guess Xiao Yao passed the test? So, Ling’er and the others are in the desert. Mr Shi: “Go and change clothes in this sandstorm, please” lol. Well I did not expect an alliance between Mr Shi and Gai Luojiao. Tang Yu’s betrayal was a surprise but in the end it kind of amounted to nothing so wasn’t that important. Xiao Yao just joins the group with no issues even though people like Mr Shi opposed it. Ling’er meeting her mum was nice.

Continue to part 2.