In 2015, Tencent Games released Moonlight Blade or Tianya Mingyue Knife (天涯明月刀) on PC in China which is considered “Tencent’s answer to World of Warcraft.” In 2020, Moonlight Blade launched an iOS version, making $50 million in just one week. Finally, the Moonlight Blade NA release is here. making its Western debut on iOS, Android, and PC via INFINIPLAY on December 18, 2023—just in time for the holiday season.

Moonlight Blade is a free-to-play MMORPG that features a rich and immersive martial arts world that combines PvE and PvP in a breathtaking open world. Choose your fate with the choices you make—from your alliances and friends to your career path.

Story of Moonlight Blade

Moonlight Blade is a visually stunning wuxia MMORPG that takes place in ancient China during the Song Dynasty. Players start as young students ready to leave their sect to explore the world to become heroes. Players can join one of six sects or schools—each clan having their own unique story, skills, and style, ranging from the righteous Shenwei to the free-spirited Beggars Sect.

The main quest takes you on a journey to gain more experience in the world through training, making friends, and helping others. In Moonlight Blade, there are two factions or camps, The Heavenly Pinnacle and The Azure Dragon. Like the Horde and Alliance of World of Warcraft, players must join one camp. But they can switch camps anytime. Players do, however, must join a guild that aligns with their camp.

Character Customization

Before customizing their character, players choose one of six classes (sects):

• Guardian (Shenwe 神威i) – Melee defense, using a long spear and bow

• Fairy (Tianxiang 天香) – Healer using martial arts dance rejuvenation

• Enchanter (Tangmen 唐门) – Ranged damage using puppetry and ranged weapons

• Swordsman (Taibai 太白) – one-handed sword melee damage

• Flutist (Yihua) – Healer using a flute and quick, evasive maneuvers

• Beggar (Gaibang 丐帮)– Close combat, bare-knuckle fighting

The character customization is pretty standard. Everyone knows I love a game where I can create Black characters or characters with my complexion. And while most Chinese games I’ve played recently allow this, including Moonlight Blade, there’s one issue with that. The darker skin tones are all cool undertones, leaving darker skin to look ashy. If developers could add some warmer undertones, that would be great.

Gameplay

For an MMORPG, Moonlight Blade has a lot going on in addition to main and side quests. Luckily, everything is easily displayed and easy to locate on the main screen.

Moonlight Blade has a UI that makes playing and navigation easy. The PC client is the same as the mobile game so the UI is the same, buttons are the same, except you can either mouse-click on them or use key input.

On mobile, navigation to quest destinations is easy; just tap on the quest on your left side. You can find new objectives wherever the red dot is.

Gameplay Features

Moonlight Blade has something for everyone, especially fans of both wuxia and historical Chinese dramas. Some of Moonlight Blade’s features include:

• Enormous World: The game world is bigger than Skyrim and offers a lot of exploration opportunities. You can find Inspiration Points that give you experience and rewards for discovering new places. The game also has dynamic weather changes and full HD support for stunning visuals.

• Meridian System: This is a unique system that allows you to customize your character's abilities and skills. You can manually distribute Cultivation Points in a sphere-grid system, like Final Fantasy X, and unlock different effects and bonuses. You can also switch between different meridians depending on the situation.

• Martial Arts Classes: The game has eight different martial arts schools that you can join, each with its own style and skills. For example, you can choose to be a spear-wielding Shenwei or a puppetmaster Tangmen. Each class has its own story and quests, as well as special Qing Gong skills.

• Qing Gong Movement: Qing Gong refers to the ability to move swiftly and freely across the landscape, using techniques such as jumping, gliding, and flying. The game has a fluid and realistic Qing Gong system that lets you traverse the world in style and speed. You can also use Qing Gong in combat to dodge attacks and reposition yourself.

• Action-oriented Combat: The game has a fast-paced and responsive combat system that requires skill and timing. You can use the Composure System to defend yourself from enemy attacks, and then unleash powerful combos with your Breath (stamina). The game also has a cinematic camera that enhances the combat experience.

Career Paths

Players can choose one or multiple career paths. There are seven career paths:

• Bounty Hunter

• Chef

• Ranger

• Skystar

• Scholar

• Constable

• Escortmaster

How to Get Player Housing

When you hit level 41 Homeland system will become available in the menu. Complete the Homeland mission. Once you complete Homeland, you will be able to claim your new home.

Player housing in Moonlight Blade is completely customizable, allowing for construction inside and outside of the house. There are also 1000 pieces of décor for the home.

How to Take a Photo in Moonlight Blade

Moonlight Blade makes taking photos of beautiful scenery so easy on both PC and mobile devices. For both Mobile and PC, go to Menu. At the bottom of the menu is the Take Photo icon. On PC, you can also take photos via Print Screen, and by default, photos on PC are saved to Documents\WuxiaMobile\ShareImage.

Quick Review

So far, Moonlight Blade is a delight to play. From beautiful scenery and wuxia and xianxia-inspired hanfu and other skins to immersive and captivating storytelling with accompanying musical scores, it’s a delightful martial arts MMORPG. For those missing Swords of Legends Online after being discontinued in the West, this is the game to give you your fix! I can’t wait to see what else Moonlight Blade has in store.

Note: Only download the game’s PC Client from Moonlight Blade’s official website.