The Bustling World: Freedom in Ancient China
For two days, I’ve been talking about hidden gems, and speaking of GEMS, this is undoubtedly one of them! I’m talking about The Bustling World, an open-world RPG that surprises from the very beginning for several reasons. To start, it’s set in Ancient China, and its artistic design is simply stunning. With a mix of isometric views that at times look real, featuring textures and graphics crafted by hand. Personally, I couldn’t help but notice details like the movement of the city dwellers’ clothing and the fluidity with which everything moved on-screen, simply flawless.
Even though the developers, the Chinese company FireWo Games, define it as an open-world RPG, we could actually classify it under several other genres or even compare it to games that seem far from being RPGs. I’d say the concept of this game is so “unique” that it simply shines on its own. And yes, it has similarities with various games, like the early GTA titles, some of the Commandos games, or Shadow Tactics, or even The Sims or the old Sim City. Do you think we’re exaggerating? We invite you to check out the 4-minute video below for yourself:
A Unique Concept
The Bustling World places us in a real, historical world set in Ancient China and offers us the freedom to do literally whatever we want, exactly, WHATEVER WE WANT. From leading a peaceful and ordinary life, settling down, having a family, working, or dedicating yourself to trade and living a completely tranquil existence, or you can break away from that static life, think outside the box, explore, seek allies, fight, discover stories and the people behind them, and even become the next leader of the region.
Did we mention The Sims? Yes, in this game, you can build your home from the ground up, down to the smallest details. And yes, the similarities with GTA are also present, as you can completely shift gears and become a man of action or even a strategist planning regional dominance as if it were a strategy and resource management game. FireWo Games aims to make the game’s complexity directly tied to our choices, which we all know greatly enhances the immersion achieved by a well-told story.
Unique Features
There are many aspects of this beautiful game worth highlighting, so obviously, we won’t be able to mention them all. Still, we’ll emphasize some features the developers themselves have highlighted. Among other things, they’ve mentioned that each NPC has unique personality traits and well-defined family ties. In addition to making their own decisions, they are free to stay at home, go out, or even move to another city. They will react realistically to world events, leading peaceful lives, starting their own businesses, panicking or fleeing from nearby explosions or an impending war, or even embarking on a path of vengeance if something terrible happens to their loved ones.
When we talked about freedom earlier, we meant it seriously. In this game, we’ll be able to work for a living, with options that are quite typical of the era, such as performing agricultural or livestock-related tasks. So far, there are over 60 types of plants and more than 30 different creatures, each species designed with an incredibly high level of detail. These designs take into account their individual habitats, considering factors like soil type, ambient temperature, and water levels required for planting. Similarly, there will be animal breeding and training, giving us the option to even use some of them in combat.
Did we talk about running your own business? The possibilities are endless. You’ll be able to hire employees, compete with other businesses in the same field, and even play dirty if necessary. Whatever path you choose, your profits can lead to building your own home with over 2,000 components and 1,000 different objects at your disposal. The editor will allow you to design every structural detail to make the building habitable. Don’t want to live in it? Rent it out or sell it. In this world, as in the real one, real estate business opportunities abound. If you’re good at it, you might even work on overseeing architectural projects for other citizens. The possibilities are infinite.
Are you more into action and adventure? Go for it. Head out to explore and become an adventurer, a bounty hunter, a lone warrior, or join one of the existing factions, or even create your own. You can either follow the law and act in good faith or embark on adventures outside the law, rob a carriage, flee from authorities, use stealth to infiltrate a settlement and steal, or even kill. You can cooperate with others or recruit heroes and mercenaries to form your own army and start establishing your dominance over the region.
It will be possible to establish your own domains and participate in assaults on neighboring cities. Obviously, you won’t just depend on your combat skills at this point but also expand your control through politics, the economic, cultural, and military aspects of your organization. Eventually, you’ll be able to manage your own city or even a cluster of cities, deciding and setting the political rules for your community to follow.
This world will be yours to do as you please. If nothing we’ve mentioned so far interests you, just hit the streets and sow chaos like you’re in Los Santos. The choice is yours.
As we mentioned at the start, the artistic design is more than worthy of being highlighted. In The Bustling World, everything feels like a moving oil painting. The isometric view is perfect and intentional, designed to give us a unique perspective on life in Ancient China, with over 5,000 hand-rendered elements that reference the typical culture of the time, based on extensive research and documentation that undoubtedly reflects a profound and beautiful passion for Chinese culture and history.
The Sad Note
Unfortunately, The Bustling World still doesn’t have a release date, and it’s unclear whether one will be defined anytime soon. When it was announced on Kickstarter, it barely raised $10,600 of its $80,000 goal, the amount required to move forward. So, in addition to contributing to the cause, the best we can do is cross our fingers and hope this project materializes someday. That said, we can affirm that it’s still moving forward, maybe slowly, but steadily, as the video accompanying this article was made public just a month ago. We may still receive a pleasant surprise, and let’s hope it’s soon.
On our end, we’ve done our part in bringing this news to your attention. You’ll find the link to its Kickstarter campaign in the links at the bottom of this article. Now it’s your turn, my friend, to drop by the comments and share your opinion on this marvelous game. If you’ve read carefully, you undoubtedly know ours. You know it, gamer, we’ll be reading you! 😉
The Bustling World on Kickstarter
Images Source: IGN Official YouTube Channel, The Bustling World Official Website, The Bustling World on Steam
