{"id":68878,"date":"2026-06-26T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=68878"},"modified":"2026-06-26T18:03:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T09:03:17","slug":"chinese-soulslike-rpg-sword-sage-awakening-ditches-standard-dodging-to-force-players-to-learn-its-martial-arts-based-counter-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/chinese-soulslike-rpg-sword-sage-awakening-ditches-standard-dodging-to-force-players-to-learn-its-martial-arts-based-counter-system\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese\u00a0soulslike\u00a0RPG Sword Sage: Awakening ditches standard\u00a0dodging\u00a0to force players to learn\u00a0its\u00a0martial arts-based\u00a0counter system\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AUTOMATON\u00a0China\u00a0recently got hands-on time with Sword Panda\u2019s\u00a0upcoming\u00a0soulslike\u00a0action RPG\u00a0<strong>Sword Sage: Awakening\u00a0<\/strong>at the BiliBili Game First Look in\u00a0Shanghai,\u00a0and\u00a0was able to\u00a0interview\u00a0game and art director\u00a0Sam Wu. While\u00a0this title&#8217;s\u00a0mechanics\u00a0share common points with\u00a0other games in the genre,\u00a0such as spells and weapons with ultimate abilities, the way it handles dodging is a bit different.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sword Sage: Awakening\u2019s combat uses an &#8220;Evade Cyan, Strike Red&#8221;&nbsp;counter&nbsp;system, which was inspired by a technique from the real Chinese&nbsp;Emei&nbsp;Swordsmanship style.&nbsp;It involves evading&nbsp;high, middle, or low&nbsp;attacks (color-coded cyan) while simultaneously striking your opponent\u2019s body (color-coded red). While pressing the evade button at the right time allows you to dodge, you can only counterattack if you choose the correct height of the incoming attack. When faced against certain powerful attacks, like those from a boss,&nbsp;you must input the correct height,&nbsp;otherwise&nbsp;the evade will fail and you will take damage.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260626-452082-003-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-68882\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260626-452082-003-1.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260626-452082-003-1-380x214.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260626-452082-003-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260626-452082-003-1-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wu says&nbsp;his team&nbsp;didn\u2019t&nbsp;want the game to have a traditional dodge&nbsp;input&nbsp;as it would detract players from learning the&nbsp;stand-and-fight nature of the&nbsp;system.&nbsp;While initial gameplay feedback was positive, play testers consistently pointed out that they would often be surrounded&nbsp;by enemies&nbsp;with no way out.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rather than providing an easy out&nbsp;by adding a dodge input, Sword Sage\u2019s level progression, items, and abilities&nbsp;will help players grow accustomed to gameplay.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Unlike the demo AUTOMATON&nbsp;China&nbsp;played, the&nbsp;early stages&nbsp;of the full game will rarely put you in situations where you are surrounded. This gradually changes as you progress, and&nbsp;you\u2019ll&nbsp;find yourself fighting several enemies at once by the mid to late game.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sword Sage also includes powerful items and abilities that will help you escape tight situations. These boons activate instantly without long animations or recovery&nbsp;times, but&nbsp;are tied to cooldowns to prevent abusing them.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If those&nbsp;mechanics&nbsp;aren\u2019t&nbsp;helpful enough, the game introduces two pieces of equipment after three deaths. The first piece of equipment allows you to ignore the high\/mid\/low directional inputs and focus solely on evading and attacking. The second piece is even more&nbsp;forgiving, and&nbsp;automates&nbsp;evades&nbsp;and attacks by pressing the guard input.&nbsp;While Sword Sage is meant to be a challenging experience, the&nbsp;devs&nbsp;want to make sure that anyone can finish it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1522\" height=\"850\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1522px) 100vw, 1522px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260626-452082-004.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-68883\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260626-452082-004.jpg 1522w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260626-452082-004-380x212.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260626-452082-004-768x429.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sword Sage: Awakening\u2019s story is rooted in&nbsp;Xianxia,&nbsp;a Chinese fantasy genre inspired by Taoism, Chinese mythology, and martial arts. As novice&nbsp;disciple&nbsp;Pei Sanniang, you face supernatural threats released by the drunken&nbsp;Supreme White Gibbon Sage.&nbsp;Armed with several weapons, artifacts, and Taoist spells, you fight to restore peace to the land of&nbsp;Guannandao.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sword Sage: Awakening is currently in development for Windows (<a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/3846900\/Sword_Sage_Awakening\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Steam<\/a>).&nbsp;You can find more information on the game on its&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.swordsageawakening.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">official webpage<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sword Sage: Awakening is a Xianxia-style action RPG coming to Steam.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":68880,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[{"did":"did:plc:uzrrhkfyjrfdsynj2voztcf2","date":"2026-06-26T13:00:08+00:00","uri":"at:\/\/did:plc:uzrrhkfyjrfdsynj2voztcf2\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3mp6ys4b4bm2m","response":"{\"uri\":\"at:\/\/did:plc:uzrrhkfyjrfdsynj2voztcf2\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3mp6ys4b4bm2m\",\"cid\":\"bafyreiac5o6xe5556c6oix7huat6y45fry5rfes4hjmw3bevp64dwrsste\",\"commit\":{\"cid\":\"bafyreiagltlwyg44ow6xq4yyabcvhb5fmhfigyr26db67qvhnp77h6kpzi\",\"rev\":\"3mp6ys4bd4e2m\"},\"validationStatus\":\"valid\"}"}],"autoblue_post_url":"","autoblue_publish_document":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[18],"class_list":["post-68878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-global-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - 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