Yaoling: Mythical Journey is a creature collector RPG developed by RAYKA STUDIO. After being rescued from a ruined village, you train to become a Yaoling Keeper. Humans coexist with monsters known as Yaolings but something is disrupting that balance. It’s up to you to journey around the region and unite the Yaoling Keeper factions together. Demons are encroaching on the land and you must train your Yaolings if you want to stand a chance.
Recruiting and training Yaolings is a fun experience with many types to collect. Exploring the world at your own pace is fun without the restrictions of the story. Combat is also quick and allows you to figure out your chances of success before you dedicate resources. Learning to play is tricky and using a controller isn’t recommended. Yaoling: Mythical Journey has some rough edges but manages to deliver a great experience regardless.
The story begins as your old mentor finds you in the ruins of a destroyed village. After raising you for several years, he trains you to become a Yaoling Keeper. Your new home doesn’t have many residents and other Yaoling Keeper factions are separated. It falls to you to venture around the region and unite the Yaoling Keepers while fighting a newly risen demonic invasion. Along the way, several allies assist you to give you the resources to succeed.
This isn’t a remarkable story and there are plenty of variations. You are the main character going around bringing peace to the world by fighting demons and uniting factions. It’s not bad, but it isn’t unique. Fortunately, you aren’t railroaded into specific actions and can explore the world as you wish. The story must follow a series of events, but that doesn’t prevent you from reaching new areas to find different Yaolings. That freedom works because it lets you take the story at your own pace. Some story objectives ask you to defeat certain demons but you can fight them in any order you wish. As long as you are in the required area and are strong enough, you can take on the challenge. It gives you some control over your experience and immerses you in the role of a Yaoling Keeper. There is a major storyline, but you don’t have to address it to unlock content.
The Yaolings also have unique designs that look cute regardless of the intention. On the other hand, the demons are dark and intimidating. This matches the overall art style of the world; everything looks cozy and inviting until the demons’ influence darkens everything. Seeing their corrupting effects on a Yaoling is also chilling but it’s necessary. When you evolve a Yaoling into a demon (which isn’t mandatory), it’s a sign you’re doing something horrible.
The clash in styles applies to the soundtrack as well. The world is calm and inviting even during combat, with everyday struggles being part of life. When you engage a demon or walk into their world, the music changes and the tension ramps up. It’s an effective way of showing how unnatural the demonic influence is and how it doesn’t belong. This also gives you an internal motivation to defeat the demons, immersing you in the game even more.
Combat is mostly automatic, though you can intervene with seals for capturing or general utility. Your Yaolings fight the enemies and use their skills automatically, moving around the battlefield as necessary. If you think someone needs help, you can use a seal to heal a Yaoling or damage an enemy. Should an opposing Yaoling make a good addition to your team, you can use a capture seal to obtain them.
Automating combat has one big advantage: battles are fast. Even if they take more than a few minutes, you know in a few seconds whether you are successful. While there are exceptions, you can mostly tell when a battle is or isn’t going your way. It is weird to give up control at first, but it also reinforces the concept that Yaolings aren’t servile creatures; they have their own behaviors, traits, and autonomy. Your role as Keeper is to ensure they are safe and friendly. This also cuts down on time wasting in case you don’t know how a battle ends. If you are successful, you don’t need to do much. Should failure be the outcome, it’s clear you must run. There are battles where intervening can change the outcome, but they are the exception. This lets you figure out what you need to do before going into the battle or if your team isn’t ready. It also speeds up training times, though you still have to grind at some points.
However, the game isn’t easy to learn which isn’t helped by the fact that it was built for mouse and keyboard. If you play with a controller, you lose a significant amount of functionality because many options require numerical or alphabetical inputs. There aren’t enough buttons on a controller to substitute and it feels weird to have controller compatibility. Playing on a keyboard and mouse isn’t bad but if you allow a controller, the experience shouldn’t be vastly different.
Some concepts aren’t explained well either, like enemy weaknesses or the benefits of getting different colored Yaolings. This often leads to frustration when you are figuring out how to configure your team or do something important. While it’s not impossible to pick up, the game’s tutorials don’t go in-depth on subjects and aren’t always clear. This leads to mistakes being made that could have been avoided with better instruction.
For all of its flaws, Yaoling: Mythical Journey still provides a solid creature collecting experience that immerses you. You control your Yaoling Keeper journey in a world that doesn’t bind you to the narrative. It’s not easy to play and you should stick with a keyboard and mouse. But if you find the patience for this game, you are rewarded with lots of fun.
