On September 1, at 'Bilibili First Look' held in Shanghai, China, hands-on time was made available for 'Tianji: Shadow of the Ancients', a turn-based RPG slated to be published by JustDan.
Set in the Tang Dynasty, the turn-based RPG 'Tianji: Shadow of the Ancients' exudes a classic atmosphere from the very first screen. As players roam hand-drawn 2D backgrounds reminiscent of landscape paintings and encounter enemies, the game transitions to a separate combat screen where players select attacks or skills whenever a party member's turn arrives. Anyone who has played recent turn-based RPGs will find it familiar.
However, playing the game firsthand changed that impression. Players can exploit weaknesses to break enemy guards while using two skills in a single turn. Real-time elements that require direct button prompts during both attack and defense also carry significant weight.
A Secret Organization Created by Emperor Taizong? The Story of the 'Tianji Guard'
The setting of 'Tianji: Shadow of the Ancients' is the Tang Dynasty. Rather than reproducing actual history verbatim, it is best understood as adding fantasy elements to the institutions and atmosphere of that era.
According to the in-game lore, in the early Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong Li Shimin founded the "Tianji Guard," a secret organization dedicated to protecting the dynasty with the help of individuals with extraordinary abilities. The protagonist, Shangguan Shuo, was also a member of the Tianji Guard.
The incident where Shangguan Shuo lost his memory involves a suspicious organization called the "Xuanxin Sect." Wearing bizarre masks, its members dominate people's minds through a specific ritual. Those subjected to the ritual lose their sense of self and become members of the Xuanxin Sect, and the protagonist also gets caught up in this ritual.
Before the ritual is fully completed, Li Ling, a fellow member of the Tianji Guard, rescues Shangguan Shuo. Although his mind was not stolen, he lost most of his past memories in the aftermath. He does not even remember that he once belonged to the Tianji Guard.
The clue that led Shangguan Shuo to discover his own name was a fish-shaped tally worn at his waist. Members of the Tianji Guard carry intricately carved fish tallies as identification markers. Seeing this, Li Ling realizes that Shangguan Shuo belongs to the same organization. This setting recalls the "yufu" (fish tally) used in the Tang Dynasty to indicate an official's identity and affiliation.
Thereafter, Shangguan Shuo sets out with Li Ling to pursue the Xuanxin Sect and reclaim his lost memories. According to official lore, as the investigation deepens, his memories gradually return, revealing a deeper connection between Shangguan Shuo himself and the Xuanxin Sect than expected. Even an unidentified voice in his head grows progressively clearer. His true identity appears poised to serve as the central mystery of the narrative.
The Core of Combat: Weakness Attacks and Chain Skills
Combat in Tianji: Shadow of the Ancients follows an encounter system where contacting enemies roaming the field or being attacked first transitions to a separate combat screen. Attacking before enemies notice grants initiative, and a feature is supported to instantly eliminate field enemies whose level is significantly lower than the player's.
The UI at the top of the combat screen displays the turn order for each character and enemy. When an icon reaches the far left, that character's turn arrives. Strategic management is possible, such as accelerating turn cycles through stats or equipment and delaying enemy turns with specific skills.
When a character's turn arrives, players can choose between a standard attack or a skill, and because skills require resources, powerful attacks cannot be used repeatedly. When resources run low, players can mix in normal attacks or use skills that refund resources under specific conditions to replenish them.
"Chain Skill," which is also central to combat in Tianji: Shadow of the Ancients, is a system that allows players to execute two skills back-to-back in a single turn as long as 2 or more resources remain. Players can concentrate firepower on a single enemy or attack different targets to respond to the situation.
Enemies possess Guard Points in addition to health. Guard Points decrease by one with each attack matching their elemental weakness, and depleting them entirely forces the enemy into a "Vulnerable" state, temporarily rendering them unable to act. This design encourages players to prepare elemental affinities matching enemy weaknesses and sequence attack orders rather than simply picking the highest-damage skills.
Additional skill effects are designed to interlock with this system. Certain skills gain greatly enhanced effects when used on Vulnerable enemies, while others grant additional effects when attacking enemies inflicted with specific status ailments like Burn. Because synergies that set up a specific status first and leverage it on the next attack significantly impact combat efficiency, deciding which skills to chain together proved crucial.
Real-Time Controls Added to Turn-Based Combat: 'Guard' and 'Chase'
While Chain Skills were interesting, the real-time inputs woven between turns caught even more attention. In the turn-based combat of Tianji: Shadow of the Ancients, players can press RT on a controller to perform "Guard" and "Chase."
To use "Guard," players must press the button the instant a red indicator flashes right before an enemy attacks. While it reduces incoming damage, evasion—which relies on probability—will not trigger instead. Thus, it functions as a tactical mechanic that gives players room for decision-making, such as using it when evasion stats are low or in emergencies.
Timing button presses also applies to offensive actions. This is the "Chase" system, which allows players to gain turn advantage by leveraging pre-equipped Chase skills. A Chase opportunity is granted for each attack. If a player uses two skills via Chain Skill and successfully triggers a Chase on both, they can deliver up to four consecutive attacks in a single turn.
Because this hands-on demo was played in English, the mechanics of Chase were not fully grasped early on, making combat feel tighter than expected. It reached a point where all available healing and revival potions had to be consumed just to defeat a mid-boss enemy.
However, once the Chase system was actively utilized, the game's difficulty shifted dramatically. Executing follow-up attacks with each strike increased damage per turn and depleted enemy Guard Points much faster, making it far easier to create openings.
As mentioned above, players can customize which Chase skill each character uses. Skills with a resource cost of 1 or less can be registered as Chase attacks in the menu, allowing players to formulate elemental combinations even with a single character.
For example, if Shangguan Shuo follows up Li Ling's fire-attribute arrow with a water-attribute attack, an elemental combo effect triggers that deals additional Guard Point damage. By using the Chase system effectively, a main attack can break the final Guard Point to trigger Vulnerable single-handedly, while the following Chase attack can be assigned a skill with enhanced potency against Vulnerable enemies to optimize turn strategy.
Day and Night: An HD-2D World Full of Adventure
The adventure portion of Tianji: Shadow of the Ancients adds a few twists to classic 2D RPG structures. Towns feature day and night cycles, with available NPCs and accessible services shifting based on the time of day. For example, merchants open shop only during daytime, and side quests received in the day sometimes require waiting until night to progress. In the demo, sleeping at an inn allowed players to switch between day and night.
Similar to exploration seen in recent HD-2D RPGs, players can roam the field to open treasure chests and find items. However, Tianji: Shadow of the Ancients incorporates movement and interaction mechanics somewhat more aggressively.
Shangguan Shuo uses a grappling hook to traverse terrain unreachable by ordinary movement. At times, he can swim directly through water. Simple puzzles also appear, requiring players to clear blocked passages or utilize surrounding structures. The developers explained that by adding action mechanics such as climbing, swimming, and contraption-based puzzles, they aimed to make traversing 2D maps enjoyable right from the start.
Hidden bosses and side quests were also visible on the map. Finding hidden paths off the main story destination rewarded players with character-building accessories, channeling the flavor of classic RPGs of the past.
In the demo section, a hidden path in town led to a treasure chest guarded by a villager who turned out to be a hidden boss (?). Overconfident because the villager held only a pitchfork, I charged right in, only to see the Game Over screen within seconds.
According to the developers, companions in the official release will do more than serve as battle party members, contributing to exploration and progression. Each companion possesses their own personal story and specialized ability. Recruiting new companions allows players to further develop characters through weapon enhancement, cooking, and more.
A Classic RPG Heightened by Real-Time Engagement
Tianji: Shadow of the Ancients, played at Bilibili First Look, can be summarized as a classic turn-based RPG with solid fundamentals. Its fantasy narrative set in the Tang Dynasty and landscape painting-inspired visual style will easily catch the eye of players who enjoy Chinese history or wuxia themes.
Unsurprisingly, combat stood out the most. Chain Skills, weakness exploitation, and the Vulnerable state alone offered plenty of strategic depth. Incorporating manual inputs for Guard and Chase between turns significantly cut down on the static downtime typical of turn-based games.
However, because the power gap between using and ignoring Chase is substantial, this mechanic may divide player preferences. For players who enjoy real-time timing inputs, it serves as a strength that delivers tactile combat satisfaction, but those who prefer making decisions at their own pace in turn-based RPGs might view it as an essentially mandatory extra control to master.
Korean players will also need to brace for language barriers. Korean is not listed among the currently announced supported languages, and because this demo was played in English, time was needed initially to grasp character names, skill effects, and the Chase system. Especially for an RPG with a heavy narrative focus, language support will be crucial to fully enjoying the story.
Tianji: Shadow of the Ancients is currently targeting a release in 2027. As such, various elements—including supported languages—could change down the line. Yet its direction is already clear: a world blending the Tang Dynasty with fantasy, hand-drawn 2D graphics, and turn-based combat enhanced by tactile, hands-on button inputs. Players who love the mood of classic RPGs while craving a bit more active engagement in combat will want to keep an eye on it.
