Experiencing the outlandish Chinese genre of Wuxia, through the PS2 classic, Bujingai: The Forsaken City.
Hong Kong, with its unique architecture and street culture, provides the perfect setting for video games. In my previous mini-series, I described how the ex-colony was vividly brought to life in the 2012 United Front masterpiece, Sleeping Dogs.
Triad and gangs are hardly the only things associated with Hong Kong, though. There’s also the fascinating storytelling genre of Wuxia (武侠). A world in which medieval pugilists effortlessly scale walls and leap atop tall buildings using qinggong, and accomplish miraculous feats such as instant healing through the cultivation of inner energy.
In fact, it was Hong Kong, not mainland China, that popularised this genre of Chinese writing, a task accomplished through half a century of Wuxia movie and television series. In the case of video games, Hong Kong, Chinese and Taiwanese developers have been churning out hundreds of Wuxia game titles since the 90s. This is in stark contrast to productions from other countries such as Japan. While the genre is reasonably famous, there just haven’t been that many faithfully “Wuxia” games from non-Chinese studios. Even titles like Shenmue, Heavenly Sword, and Jade Empire, could only be described as loosely Wuxia-inspired.
PS: Puritan Chinese players like me consider games such as Jade Empire to be of the Xianxia (仙侠) genre. Strictly speaking, Wuxia stories have no supernatural elements. Qinggong, internal healing and the likes of are not considered as supernatural under Wuxia. (It’s baffling, I know.)
Bujingai: The Forsaken City. A Wuxia Inspired Adventure.
Like the other titles I’ve mentioned above, Bujingai: The Forsaken City, isn’t a true Wuxia game. It has way too many supernatural bits. The story is also set in the distant future, with characters that are on the whole, too Japanese in portrayal.
But in short, the adventure is about Lau Wong, a mythical swordmaster who returns to Earth to battle Rei, his former fellow disciple who has turned to the dark side. Centuries ago, most of Earth’s population was killed by a nuclear disaster. In the aftermath, survivors acquired special abilities by harnessing the energies of the earth.
Meanwhile, monsters have also appeared all over Asia, as well as taken over the city of Bujingai. (Or the island of Kenkisoukendo in the Japanese version). As Lau battles the forces of Rei, he discovers the reason for his former friend’s descent into darkness. All seems to revolve around a mysterious woman named Youfa.
The Story
Bujingai: The Forsaken City is a hack ‘n’ slash. Its story is hard to summarise because it’s non-linear and some parts completely don’t make sense. To further add to the confusion, there are also differences between what’s written online and what’s printed in the Japanese manual.
But in short, the adventure is about Lau Wong, a mythical swordsman who returns to Earth to battle Rei, his former fellow disciple who has turned to the dark side. Centuries ago, most of Earth’s population was killed by a nuclear disaster. In the aftermath, survivors acquired special abilities by harnessing the energies of the earth. Meanwhile, monsters have appeared all over Asia, taking over the city of Bujingai. (Or the island of Kenkisoukendo in the Japanese version). As Lau battles the forces of Rei, he discovers the reason for his former friend’s descent into darkness. Everything seems to revolve around a mysterious woman named Youfa.
Our Guide for this Wuxia Adventure: Lau Wong (劉 王羽)
All screenshots are owned by Taito Corporation and Red Entertainment.
Japanese pop icon Gackt provided the motion captures for the creation of Lau Wong. While this doesn’t sound like a big deal nowadays, remember that Bujingai is near 15-years-old. This was a big thing in the PS2 age.
Hong Kong Inspired Stages in Bujingai
Come to think of it, Bujingai would make for a great open-world game. If remade for today’s consoles.
Other Stages
That’s all for this brief Wuxia adventure!
If you’ve enjoyed it, and your PS2 is still working, consider getting a copy of Bujingai: The Forsaken City!
Read my other Video Game Tourist posts.
