Xuan-Yuan Sword Dance of the Maple Leaves

Dance of the Maple Leaves is a 1995 turn-based RPG by Softstar (Daewoo) and the first spinoff entry in the long-running Xuan-Yuan Sword series. The Steam release is Chinese-only, with no English translation included — players without Chinese reading will struggle, since the story and dialogue carry most of the weight.

The story is set in the Warring States period and built on real historical figures rather than pure fantasy. You play Fu Ziche, a disciple of the philosopher and engineer Mozi, sent out to investigate a conspiracy by Shu Sangzi — a disciple of Guiguzi — that threatens to plunge the era's fragile peace into open war. Along the way Ziche meets Sang Wenjin, Shu Sangzi's own daughter, and Zhushizi, a former Mohist now running a Robin-Hood-style brotherhood for the dispossessed. Historical figures like Gongshu Ban, Guiguzi, Sun Bin and Pang Juan appear across the story.

The game's signature contribution to the franchise is its take on ancient Chinese mechanical engineering: bronze-masked automata built by master craftsmen, controlled by tonal vibrations on a key device. This conceit set the worldbuilding tone for later Xuan-Yuan Sword games. Side quests dig into Hundred Schools-era thought, marriage customs, sericulture, medicine and folklore, which gives the world unusual cultural texture for an RPG of its vintage.