The Twin Heroes II An Incredible RPG ~ written on 25 Nov 2000
Category PC RPG (in Chinese).
TTH2 is a Chinese RPG game released by User Joy Tech and has been available in Singapore for the past 2 months. The add-on comes with a walk-through that covers all aspects of the game for both TTH2 and the add-on. It was just released early last week and is available at most Popular outlets (Not that we’re advertising for them!)
Xiao Yu'er
Hua Wu Que
Hua + He = Best ending…
Let me count your lice my dear
Hua + Lian = Gross!!!16 yr old + 48 yr old… and I thought Xiao Long Niu + Yang Guo was bad.
Hua + Tie = Very nice and sweet ending
Xiao + Zhang =
Ultimate Combi
Speak no evil…
Xiao + Su = Till death do us part???
Xiao + Tie = Can’t she make up her mind???
I guess any Singaporean will know who the Twin Heroes
are since the release of Streats last month… Yes, it’s the Taiwanese game
of these two popular heroes (shall not start any Taiwan bashing over the
SIA incident :) The game is in Chinese and has been in the market for at
least a month or so… (surprised?) There has been an increased following of
this game since the release of the first game a year ago…
The game follows the original story by Gu Long quite closely (maybe Magus can start commenting on the TCS’s latest adaptation of Lu Xiaofeng… Personally it feels like the black comedy of the year but I digress).
Gamers can choose
to use either Hua Wuque or Xiao Yuer in this sequel… The story begins from
Hua’s youth in Ying Hua Gong and all the way till his final showdown with
Xiao. As for the other lead, the story picks up from where the first game
ended after his fierce battle with Yan Wang (quite difficult to explain
who unless one has read the story :)
The gameplay is basically similar to TTH1 (The Twin Heroes 1) with a maximum of three characters in a party but the interfaces have been greatly improved. It’s a lot less complicated and should be familiar to all fans of Chinese RPG games. Game still follows the Nei Li (Internal Strength) system common to all Chinese RPG and there has been great improvement in terms of skills that each character can learn. Also there have been newer and additional Jing Lui Zhao (Lovers’ Skills) to learn.
The graphics are also greatly improved since TTH1 but newbies to TTH will be disappointed as the characters are rather cartoonish (but CUTE) and are a far cry from the drawings in Streats. Fans would be glad to know that the main characters have been given total face-lifts from TTH1 though not all would agree that it’s for the better. (Xiao has changed from his ‘street rat’ outfit to a more heroic dressing but Hua seems to have downgraded to a more Jiang-Hu-wanderer look.) TTH1 fans would be elated that the saved games from TTH1 are exportable into TTH2 and important items can be carried forward into this game.
The graphics for the skills (both alone and for pairs) have been improved and some of them do come with 3D-animation. I was a little disappointed with the overall graphics of the game after the release of the 3D Chinese RPG game, the Legendary Swordsman, earlier this year. TTH2 has managed to redeem itself with the addition of 3D-animation scenes for certain skills though it may prove to be an irritation after a while. Learning of skills is relatively easy and should be familiar for hardcore Chinese gamers. Basically, skills are acquired mainly on an item-based system and gamers may have to spend time getting the more elusive ones. However, the more important skills (Lovers’ Skills etc) are acquired as the story progresses.
On the whole, this game has managed to keep me glued to my PC even though I have been playing it for the past 1½ months, as there are so MANY side quests. Fans would be glad to know that there has been an addition of a quest journal (absent in the first game) and can be accessed at anytime to check for any outstanding tasks. In addition, there are a total of about 12 endings for this game and generally depend on the options the gamer makes throughout the game. TTH2 also allows the gamer to switch between the two leads at certain points of the game. The story for each lead has now been limited to one CD and gamers no longer have to search and juggle two CDs while playing the game as compared to TTH1. The gamer can also choose whom Hua or Xiao ends up with and this contributes to at least 7 different endings!
Hua + Tie Xin Lan (Ending in original story)
Hua + He Lu (Hua’s maid from Ying Hua Gong. Most beautiful girl for Hua :)
Hua + Lian Xing (The 2nd Princess of Ying Hua Gong. Unbelievable!!!)
Xiao + Tie Xin Lan (Xiao was her first love)
Xiao + Zhang Qing (Xiao’s companion since TTH1. Most beautiful of the three)
Xiao + Su Ying (Ending in original story)
Xiao + all three girls (Trigamy?)
This game does have its faults. User Joy Tech (the company) is very fond of leaving several lose ends so that gamers would be tempted to buy the add-on, which usually comes with a walk-through manual, to their games. TTH2 is not an exception in this aspect. Dialogue may be a chore especially since the words are in Fan Ti. However, dialogues can be skipped by holding down the CTRL key but gamers are at risk of missing important info. The dubbing is less than superb though the game has both a Chinese and a Cantonese soundtrack. The Chinese dubbing, at least, sounds rather coarse and unrefined, especially for Hua. Luckily these exchanges are kept at a minimal and gamers have to resort to reading the subtitles during the normal gameplay.
All in all the game should prove to be enjoyable for newbies and fans of Chinese RPG alike regardless of whether you have played TTH1. The more-than-real characters, like Black Spider, Murong Jui, Yan Nan Tian, prove to be engaging and more colourful than the main ‘cast’. Even the add-on, which I bought less than a week ago, has proven to be superb and have extended the gameplay by increasing both the number of side quests by 18 and endings by 3!
Hua + Murong Sisters (1 + 2 = 3? And they’re supposed to be married women!)
Hua + Daughter of Taoist priest (Guy seems to have all the luck!)
Xiao + Wei Jing Ling (Xiao’s childhood friend)
TTH2 will always be one of my favourite RPG games and I hope yours too. Will definitely wait and hope for TTH3!