''The Legend of Sword and Fairy 3'' ( zh, t=仙劍奇俠傳三, s=仙剑奇侠传三, p=Xiānjiàn Qíxiá Zhuàn Sān), also known as ''Sword and Fairy 3'' () or ''Chinese Paladin 3'',Hinet.net
This English title is officially used, as seen from the StarForce protection screen, instead of ''The Legend of Sword and Fairy 3''. is a ''

shenmo Gods and demons fiction () is a subgenre of fantasy fiction that revolves around the deities, immortals, and monsters of Chinese mythology. The term ''shenmo xiaoshuo'', coined in the early 20th century by the writer and literary historian Lu X ...

''/''

xianxia ''Xianxia'' ( zh, s=, t=仙俠), directly translated to 'immortal heroes', is a genre of Chinese fantasy heavily inspired by Taoism and influenced by Chinese mythology, Chan Buddhism, Chinese martial arts, traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese ...

''-themed

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

role-playing Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' offers a definition of role-playing a ...

computer game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

developed by

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

ese game company

Softstar Entertainment Softstar Entertainment Inc. (), abbreviated as Softstar (), is a Taiwanese video game developer and publisher based in Zhonghe District, New Taipei, with Mainland subsidiary branches in Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen. Softstar is famous among the ...

. It is the third installment in ''

The Legend of Sword and Fairy ''The Legend of Sword and Fairy'' (), also known as ''Chinese Paladin'', is a game/media franchise created by Yao Zhuangxian and is developed by Taiwanese company Softstar. The franchise centers on a series of Chinese mythology-based role-play ...

'' video game series and the first to be developed by Softstar's

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

subsidiary, and serves as a

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term " ...

to the original ''The Legend of Sword and Fairy'', set around 50 years before the plot of the first game.

Gameplay

Characters' stats are measured in ''jing'' (精), '' qi'' (氣) and ''shen'' (神). ''Jing'' are

health point Health is an attribute in a video game or tabletop game that determines the maximum amount of damage or loss of stamina that a character or object can take before dying or losing consciousness. In role-playing games, this typically takes the for ...

s; ''Qi'' is the energy required to perform special moves; ''Shen'' are

magic point Magic or mana is an attribute assigned to characters within a role-playing or video game that indicates their power to use special magical abilities or "spells". Magic is usually measured in magic points or mana points, shortened as MP. Different ...

s. The concept of the five elements (Fire, Water, Lightning, Wind and Earth), which works in a way similar to the

Wu Xing Wuxing may refer to: Places in China Counties and districts *Huzhou, formerly Wuxing County, Zhejiang, China *Wuxing District (吴兴区), central district of Huzhou Subdistricts (五星街道) *Wuxing Subdistrict, Mudanjiang, in Dong'an District ...

Chinese philosophy Chinese philosophy originates in the Spring and Autumn period () and Warring States period (), during a period known as the "Hundred Schools of Thought", which was characterized by significant intellectual and cultural developmen ...

, is also applied in the game. Each of the five protagonists have a special attribute based on one of the elements and can use special powers (''xianshu'') of their respective elements.

Plot

Fei Peng, a divine general from Heaven, fights with Chong Lou, the Lord of Demons. Neither of them is able to defeat his opponent and they gradually become less willing to destroy each other out of mutual admiration. Chong Lou challenges Fei Peng to another battle to determine the final victor between the two of them. Fei Peng hesitates, because he will break Heaven's laws if he agrees, but eventually succumbs to temptation. The battle between Fei Peng and Chong Lou lasts several days and draws the attention of the Heavenly Emperor, who sends his troops to arrest Fei Peng. Fei Peng is distracted and loses to Chong Lou. His sword is knocked away by Chong Lou and falls into the human world below. Fei Peng is punished for breaking celestial rules by banishment from Heaven into the human realm. Fei Peng, now an ordinary human being, goes through the cycle of life and death numerous times, and is eventually reincarnated as Jing Tian, a young pawnshop worker in Yuzhou. He acquires a magical weapon, the Demon Sword, by chance. The spirit of Long Kui, the younger sister of Long Yang (one of Jing Tian's previous incarnations), resides in the sword, and she joins Jing Tian in his adventures. At the same time, he meets Tang Xuejian, a girl from the prestigious Tang clan. He is drawn into the internal conflict within Tang's family and the clash between the Tang clan and the Thunderbolt Hall. Subsequently, Jing Tian meets Xu Changqing, an outcast of the Mount Shu Sect, and Xu's fiancée, Zi Xuan. He joins them in their quest to find the five elemental pearls, which can seal all evil spirits and monsters in the Monster-Locking Tower.

Endings

The five possible endings to the game are: * Long Kui's ending: Tang Xuejian jumps into a pit of fire to fix the Demon Sword. Jingtian fights with Chonglou and loses. Jingtian lives with Long Kui in the end. * Tang Xuejian's ending: Similar to Long Kui's ending, but Long Kui jumps into the pit of fire carrying a useless sword, preventing Tang from making contact with her. The sword becomes powerful again after it enters the pit of fire. Jingtian fights with Chonglou and loses. Jingtian lives with Tang in the end. * Zixuan's ending: Chonglou saves Zixuan and in doing so loses his powers. Jingtian settles in the same village as Zixuan. * Hua Ying's ending: Chonglou and Jingtian make an agreement to duel 10 years later. Hua follows Jingtian and they travel together. * Perfect ending: Jingtian fights Chonglou and wins. Chonglou revives one girl and the other three live together in Jingtian's new pawnshop. This is the ending where '' Chinese Paladin 3 Plus: Wen Qing Pian'' picks up eight years later.

Adaptions

In 2009, the game was adapted by

Chinese Entertainment Shanghai Tangren Media Co. Ltd. (), formerly known as Chinese Entertainment Shanghai Limited (), is a Chinese entertainment and media company established in 1998 that provides investment, production and publishment of films, TV series, and cartoons. It ...

into the television series ''

Chinese Paladin 3 ''The Legend of Sword and Fairy 3'' ( zh, t=仙劍奇俠傳三, s=仙剑奇侠传三, p=Xiānjiàn Qíxiá Zhuàn Sān), also known as ''Sword and Fairy 3'' () or ''Chinese Paladin 3'',Hu Ge Hu Ge (, born 20 September 1982), also known as Hugh Hu, is a Chinese actor and singer. While studying at the Shanghai Theater Academy, he was invited to play the leading role Li Xiaoyao in the 2005 television series ''Chinese Paladin'', and ...

Yang Mi Yang Mi (, born 12 September 1986) is a Chinese actress and singer. She made her acting debut in historical television series '' Tang Ming Huang'', and later received recognition for her leading roles in various television series such as ''Wang Zha ...

Cecilia Liu Liu Shishi (; born 10 March 1987), also known as Cecilia Liu, is a Chinese actress best known for portraying Long Kui in the television series ''Chinese Paladin 3'' and Ruoxi in the Chinese time-travel drama ''Scarlet Heart'' and '' Imperial Doc ...

Wallace Huo Wallace Huo Chien-hwa (, born 26 December 1979) is a Taiwanese actor, singer and producer. He is known for his roles in ''At Dolphin Bay'' (2003), ''Chinese Paladin 3'' (2009), ''Swordsman'' (2013), '' Battle of Changsha'' (2014), ''The Journey of ...

and

Tiffany Tang Tang Yan (, born 6 December 1983), also known as Tiffany Tang, is a Chinese actress and singer. She graduated from the Central Academy of Drama in 2006. In 2007, she was nominated for the Best Actress award at the Shanghai Television Festival for ...

References

External links

*
Official The Legend of Sword and Fairy website
*
Softstar's website
*

{{The Legend of Sword and Fairy series 2003 video games Windows games Windows-only games Role-playing video games Action role-playing video games Video games developed in Taiwan Video games set in Imperial China Chinese-language-only video games Fantasy video games 3 Video games with isometric graphics Video games with alternate endings Interquel video games Single-player video games Video games based on Chinese mythology