Just released into Early Access, Yaoling: Mythical Journey is an RPG adventure with strategy elements and an absolutely beautiful art direction. Yaoling: Mythical Journey could be compared to Pokemon in the fact it involves catching the titular Yaolings and commanding them in battle, but simply calling it a Pokemon-like would be a disservice to its unique identity.
Yaoling: Mythical Journey sees you play as a Yaoling keeper attempting to fight against roaming demons and the darkness spreading through the Lands of the Ancients by any means necessary. In practice, this involves defeating and catching Yaolings in the vast overworld to later be commanded in battle. Rather than a turn-based gameplay style like that of Pokemon though, this RPG game instead proposes battles using strategy-based unit placement mechanics.
Your own team of Yaolings will be placed against enemies, with your success rate being decided by unit placement, the type of Yaolings you employ and the synergy of those Yaolings – for example, mixing Yaolings that utilise melee attacks on the front lines with healing Yaolings to keep the attackers going.
After just one day on release, Yaoling: Mythical Journey has already earned a coveted ‘very positive’ rating based on user reviews – 89% of responses from players so far are favorable. It’s also accumulated a very respectable initial player count, with more than 6,000 people logging in to play it simultaneously on the first day alone.
Even if strategy isn’t entirely your thing, the artstyle of the game is enough to recommend it on alone, combining Eastern fantasy with a vibrant pastel colour palette. If all of this hasn’t convinced you to give it a try, Yaoling: Mythical Journey also has a free demo available to dip your toes into the Land of the Ancients without commitment, which you can find here.
For more like this, check out our guide to the best action adventure games, and read through at our guide to the best JRPGs to stick with this Eastern aesthetic.
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