A Story about A Taiwan Robinhood Standing Against Tyranny In The Japanese Colonial Era

The Legend of Tianding is a 2D side-scrolling action game. In the game, you assume the role of the legendary hero Liao Tianding who punishes the profiteers and stands against tyranny. You use your fast-paced and versatile Taiwan Kung Fu to rob the rich assholes and give to the poor.

The story is hot-blooded but delivered in a light-hearted way. Romance is sweet and touching, but no unnecessary extended crying is featured. The humourous storytelling often made me chuckle.

Its early 20th century Taiwan setting coupled with Hong-Kong-style manga cutscene really sucked me in. I was so hooked by the game, and it wasn’t until the birds outside started chirping then I realized the sun had come up and that I had to put down the controller and go to sleep. A night is gone.

Fancy Combats and Smooth Control

The control is very responsive. There are many cool combos and moves you can pull off. In an interview, the developers mentioned taking references from famous action games like Shank, Guacamelee, Dead Cells, Rockman and Hollow Knight. No wonder the actions just feel so dope!

[In-game screen capture from The Legend of Tianding]

One Inch Punch! Hit fly your enemies.

[In-game screen capture from The Legend of Tianding]

Soaring Dragon. Chang~

[In-game screen capture from The Legend of Tianding]

Ground Stomp. Stomp on your head!

[In-game screen capture from The Legend of Tianding]

Flying Kick. It can also reflect back projectiles. Eat your own bullet!

Disarm and Snatch Their Weapons

[In-game screen capture from The Legend of Tianding]

Your red sash is your extended arm. Use Red Sash Bind to rob your enemies!

[In-game screen capture from The Legend of Tianding]

Here are some melee weapons you can steal and wield.

[In-game screen capture from The Legend of Tianding]

Ranged weapons.

[In-game screen capture from The Legend of Tianding]

Movement is agile and in control. It’s all about your skill rather than luck.

[In-game screen capture from The Legend of Tianding]

Your red sash can also pull you up. You just need something to hook onto.

[In-game screen capture from The Legend of Tianding]

Gliding!

[In-game screen capture from The Legend of Tianding]

Wait, you can do that too?

Main quests and side quests

Between each battle, you’d have the opportunity to do stuff in town, which may progress the story, upgrade your equipment, or give you new weapons. Quests include running errands for friends and finding missing items for town people (They always drop stuff in weird places). Not all the quests are mandatory, but some may lead to funny cutscenes (and affect your ending!).

[In-game screen capture from The Legend of Tianding]

Tian-Ding running across 20th century Taipei doing quests. (Look at those magnificent old-time buildings.)

[In-game screen capture from The Legend of Tianding]

This is a very interesting quest about your (maybe) girlfriend. Don’t ignore it.

[In-game screen capture from The Legend of Tianding]

Give money to baggers, and they will, in turn, reward you with treasures(?!).

Hong-Kong-Style manga and radio storytelling device

[In-game screen capture from The Legend of Tianding]

After each battle, a radio show will summarize your actions, mimicking how your heroic story is passed on.

Hong-Kong-style manga is used to illustrate your story during cutscene as well as in-game sequences.

[In-game screen capture from The Legend of Tianding]

[In-game screen capture from The Legend of Tianding]

Hot-blooded But Humourous

[In-game screen capture from The Legend of Tianding]

I just love this face.

[In-game screen capture from The Legend of Tianding]

Why would there be roses? Even the enemies can be so cute.

[In-game screen capture from The Legend of Tianding]

If you die, it will zoom out from a comic page.

Secret Areas

[In-game screen capture from The Legend of Tianding]

Don’t forget to look for secret areas!

It May Be A Perfect Game

Some games are fun to play, some games create aftertastes. This game has it all. Lovable characters, interesting and humorous story, incredible control, super dope moves. What more can I ask for?

Playtime is around 8 hours for the main story. I guess it would take 10+ hours if you want all achievements.

Lastly, after you have beaten the game, you must watch the end game cutscene all the way till the end, even after the credit roll. Don’t miss out on the best content!

An Interesting Taiwan Canned Juice

I noticed this canned juice at the start scene:

[In-game screen capture from The Legend of Tianding]

This canned juice. I have eyed this canned juice when I first came to Taiwan. The woman in swimsuit bending over with a smile on her face really intrigued me. Is she doing push up? Why do they put this picture on the juice can? What kind of juice is in it? I asked Walking Dreams (another owner of this site). She replied thoughtfully, “I don’t know. Maybe it was trendy to use this type of photo in the past. It was a very common drink when I was a kid. We all drank that growing up.”

Because of this game, I decided to try it for the first time.

……

If you ever come across pineapple or banana from Taiwan, you must try them. They are the best in the world. The pineapple here is so sweet and wouldn’t sting your lip. I don’t know how to describe the banana, but just trust me, they are superior to all others I have ever tried.

ENDS