Tale of Immortal Review (Crimsonlady34)
If you are having trouble/your game does not open anymore, do this: Open Windows Settings --> language and time setting --> language tab --> administrative language setting --> Change system locale --> enable (need to restart after setting). This is the current workaround to get the game to launch.
I expected this game to receive backlash when the aformentioned launching problem happened with the latest MOD update, and I also believe the fact the problem is still present and no patch has dropped yet in at least *an attempt* to fix it is extremely unprofessional; and despite those things, I still recommend this game.
As a fan of Wuxia/Cultivation novels, this game is the only one I have played that gets the closest to actually replicating the experience of being a protagonist in one of those settings, going along the struggle of making a place for yourself in this world, your objective being nothing but reach the peak; no matter if you go down the path of a Righteous or Demonic cultivator, what matters in this world is having the strength to live in it.
On a more technical angle, this game is the epitome of grinding; you need Spirit stones (money) for whatever you want to buy, even if its just Teleport talismans to reduce travelling time. If you join a Sect to buy juicy, stronger Skill books, you are gonna need Contribution tokens earned by doing sect missions. Heck, if you want to level up a skill without throwing yourself at combat like a cannonball, that in itself is gonna need Soul stones, and Comprehension sands to upgrade their rarity, as well as a couple of Days in-game. To put it briefly; there is a lot of things to do, and the world will not stay still waiting for you to finish them.
Before you get a Genshin Impact induced ptsd from the words you just read, bear in mind there is a "Main Storyline" that awaits in the world, with a ton more side-stories that really makes the world feel alive; from simple things such as "save girl from crab, then be asked if its alright to escape from your sins" to "please get me a feather of a Phoenix so I can become a beautiful bird and confess my love to the girl I fell in love with". What I am trying to say is, there is no paimon waiting to treat you like a 5 year old, and you can very much betray the people you offered your help to if the rewards are tempting enough; on the path of cultivation, all that matters is strength.
I do have gripes with the game; systems such as the Sect not really making sense on some of the finer details, because you ended the month doing like 15 missions, basically putting the same effort of 30 cultivators on your own, and then "silent criticism" just takes 90 points of Prestige away from it at the end of the month because F you, thats why. The higher difficulties fall into the same old song of "your damage same, enemies now have 8 times the amount of HP", and the fact *only* the highest difficulty offers something to balance/make things fairer is simply outrageous. And god forbid you actually kill a Cultivator, because it just so happen their Step-Aunt is 4 realms higher than you, and she is coming at Mac 5 at your location with nothing but the purpose of burying you alive. (yes I know that its very common in Wuxia novels, but since this game has a limited live system, you cant exactly get killed 3 times in a row and get away with it). Also, f*ck Heaven-Chosen.
Since this game native language is Chinese, expect some of the newest things added to the game to have unfinished or lack an official English translation on release; all core systems and most of the game has been succesfully translated, and stuff will get properly translated over time. It is still on early access for a reason.
I can keep going for hours talking about anything, even if its just mentioning stuff like "hey, your Furnace can explode while doing Alchemy" moments before my furnace does, indeed, explode while trying to make me some potions/Elixirs that heal me from more than 30 health... and I have 500. Point being, I like the game, and I think on its current state, despite the fact its not finished yet, I would recommend it. I think the game has a lot to offer, and unless you are prone to heart attacks due to the fact you must *grind* for stuff, I think it will suprisingly grab you, just as it did for me. Also, forging an Artifact just to have the Snow Fox waifu be linked to it and talk about how she will protect you its an extremely valid reason, and let no one tell you otherwise. #MengyiMyWaifu
Before I end it here, I also want to bring up the matter about MODs; as I understand things, apparently the company has sadly taken a page from Blizzard, and is currently taking the stance of "whatever mod you put on the workshop is now ours, and we can do whatever we can with it, even if its marketing", to put in a simplified way. I am no content creator of any kind, but I think thats a really fucked up thing to do, and they deserve every single piece of backlash for it; thats a wrong thing to do, and they deserved to be chastized for it until they change it so. For any interested, as of writing the Workshop seems to only have Chinese content, but there are English mods being published on nexusmods.
TL;DR the game can be a grind, some stuff take time to be translated, and the fact the community had to come up with a temporary fix for something as impactful as "I cant open the game" is worrisome, but as someone that has had the game for a while, I trust that while not immediately, the game will head in the proper direction and fix what needs to be fixed on the long run. (also, Stockholm Syndrome)