Developed by Tencent's Saroasis Studios, the open-world RPG 'Rewinding Cadence' showcased its gameplay at ChinaJoy via the 4399 booth, following its first CBT in May. Having already caught the eyes of global subculture fans with a trailer released on Bilibili and YouTube in June 2025, the title stood out among the many games featured on the 4399 platform.

Typically, the 4399 booth is sparsely populated, as it lacks flashy stage events and simply displays the games slated for release on its market platform. Because of this, it was a natural destination for those wandering around ChinaJoy who happened to spot a mobile game booth with a long line. It was usually a place where you could comfortably test out games without having to wait. However, 'Rewinding Cadence' was a bit different. Some users who were just loitering around the 4399 booth to avoid the crowds were so drawn in by seeing others playing 'Rewinding Cadence' that they naturally started lining up behind them.

Usually, a game grabs attention instantly for one of two reasons: great graphics or fun gameplay. 'Rewinding Cadence' offered both. The character modeling—the bread and butter of subculture games—was exceptional. In a market already crowded with strong open-world RPG competitors, it is difficult to draw a crowd with standard character design and modeling. Yet, 'Rewinding Cadence' managed to attract global attention, with its initial YouTube trailer surpassing 160k views.

That potential was clearly evident in this demo. The intricately crafted characters, which lean into a cel-shaded aesthetic, did not clash with the somewhat dark fields. In such environments, lighting must be precisely engineered to prevent the cel-shaded outlines from being swallowed by shadows; the developers succeeded here, creating a striking contrast between the dark, dreamlike fields and the vibrant characters navigating them. Furthermore, the skill effects were flashy without being garish, delivering a sense of exhilarating, fast-paced combat that was palpable even on a small laptop screen.

Beyond graphics, the gameplay fundamentals were solid. As 3-man tag-team action has become a staple of collectible action RPGs, it is hard to leave an impression without excellent impact in dodging, attacking, and skill execution. While 'Rewinding Cadence' is still in early development and occasionally suffered from slight input lag on dodges, it demonstrated a smooth flow between perfect dodges, counters, skills, and ultimate skills. The camera work, which zooms in on characters during key moments to ensure they aren't lost in the flashy effects, also helped avoid the monotonous feel of mindless skill-spamming.

Furthermore, a major challenge for new titles is showcasing their own unique systems. Nowadays, existing games have already refined console-style action, including perfect dodges, counters, parrying, and finishers for staggered enemies. 'Rewinding Cadence' has adapted these fundamentals into its own style, unifying parrying, finishers, and even power struggles into a single 'F' key QTE system. While this is arguably more casual than in titles that pioneered such mechanics, it maintains a fast, flashy tempo that highlights the hero's performance in the darkness.

The addition of a 'Familiar' system, distinct from dedicated weapons, was also notable. Familiars are NPCs that fight alongside each character and can be summoned once a gauge is filled. In the dark battlefield, the flashy skill chains of two characters instead of one doubled the excitement. Moreover, since the buffs applied upon summoning vary based on the chosen Familiar, tailoring them to your party's characteristics is a key strategic point. Additionally, ultimate skills triggered alongside a Familiar feature unique follow-up inputs for each character, keeping the action relentless. The move away from traditional set-based artifacts toward intuitive, effect-oriented card settings also helped the game stand out.

However, as a 'tag' action game, the lack of depth in tag-based combo chains was a bit disappointing. While there are switch-in moves, it was difficult to discern what specific effects they triggered. Fire-based attacks showed a slight burning indicator on enemies, but other elements lacked such visual feedback.

The open-world fundamentals, such as field composition and freedom of movement, also felt underdeveloped. Only one region was available, but because everything was dark, there wasn't much distinction between areas. While wall-climbing was supported, there was no gliding; instead, players summon a mount by pressing 'T'. Even that felt a bit plain, as it currently just involves riding a hoverboard.

Despite being in an early stage, the intent behind the combat was clear. Most content expected of this genre—from standard battles to boss fights and periodically resetting challenge dungeons—was already playable. The boss fights, in particular, showcased a variety of patterns, including ground-based AOE attacks and Familiar summons, clearly demonstrating the fun of clearing content even at this early stage.

Having just finished its first test and demo, 'Rewinding Cadence' still has a long way to go. As mentioned, it needs to improve its open-world fundamentals and find a way to appeal to users through character backstories and narrative. While the character designs are certainly up to par, the bar has been raised recently, and it will be hard to leave a lasting impression without a compelling narrative to draw players in. At the very least, it has firmly established the satisfying 'feel' of its flashy combat, and I look forward to seeing the developers refine the game based on feedback to create another captivating world.