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Demo Guide - Version 8 vs Version 9
Aug 16, 2026, 04:39 PM
Added the studio's clarification that the demo's opening impression was misleading and the full context arrives by the end of Chapter 1; applied the game's new title
Aug 26, 2026, 01:04 AM
Added a lantern festival screenshot to the demo locations section
11Overview22Ahead of the full release of Hero's Adventure: Another Tale, a free demo let prospective players try the game before launch. It was offered as a separate listing from the main game and was free to download during Steam Next Fest in February 2026. It has since been removed from Steam and can no longer be downloaded. This page explains what the demo was, what it offered, and how to think about it as a preview of the game rather than the finished product.44The Basics66DetailInformationCostFreeReleasedFebruary 23, 2026Approximate LengthRoughly 1.5 to 2 hoursWhat It IsA slice of the full game, not the final product88The demo arrived ahead of the full game and runs somewhere in the range of one and a half to two hours, depending on how you play. It is best understood as a curated sample: a vertical slice meant to give you a genuine feel for the experience without showing everything the full release will hold.99What the Demo Lets You Try1111The demo is built to showcase the core of what makes the game tick. During your time with it, you can expect to:1313Sample the turn-based combat. The demo gives hands-on access to the Combat System, so you can experience the classic turn-based flow for yourself rather than reading about it.Meet companions. You get to encounter some of the Companions who populate the world, the allies of diverse backgrounds and temperaments who can join your journey.Experience the story opening. The demo covers the beginning of the story, letting you step into the role of the young man leaving home for the open jianghu and get a sense of the narrative's tone and setup.1515Together, these pieces give a rounded first impression: how battles feel, who you might travel with, and where the story begins.1717What the Demo Includes1919The demo is a focused slice taken from the opening of the game, released on February 23, 2026 as part of Steam Next Fest. It covers the prologue and part of Chapter One's main and side storylines. One thing to note up front: the demo is in Chinese only (Simplified and Traditional). English localization is still in development and is planned for the full release, so the demo itself does not include English.2121Confirmed Demo Contents2323ElementIn the demoStoryPrologue and part of Chapter One (main and side stories)Explorable locationsFive: the protagonist's home, the ruined temple, the tea stall, Panshe Ridge, and Qixia TownCompanionsFour meetableGame eventsMore than 50Internal arts8Martial arts19Weapons15Combat additionsA five-element system, plus Shield Break Combos and Team SkillsLanguagesSimplified and Traditional Chinese only (English in development)LengthAbout 1.5 to 2 hours2525Locations and Characters2626Five areas are open to explore in the demo: the protagonist's home, a ruined temple, a tea stall, Panshe Ridge, and Qixia Town. A workshop known as the Qianji Workshop also appears, tied to an in-game Lantern Festival. The demo introduces named characters, including a recruitable ally named Shen Qianqian and a character named Xiao Cui, and it features a system for hiring allies to fight alongside you. Fuller details on these characters have not been published yet. Patch notes for the demo also name Baili Tayun, a fighter whose Pickpocket skill can steal items in combat, and Lu Xiaokui, whose personal quest is completed at the Qianji Workshop.2828Combat and Build Variety3031Combat in the demo adds a five-element system, based on Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, on top of the returning turn-based battles. The demo includes 8 internal arts, 19 martial arts, and 15 weapons to experiment with, and the studio has said the full release is expected to be about ten times that scale. The demo also reworked the interface toward a cleaner, more heroic wuxia layout, including an All tab added to inventory categories. See Combat System and Martial Arts for more.3233Before the Public Demo3435The Steam demo was not the first time anyone outside the studio played this game. Two earlier windows opened in November 2025, both much smaller.3637A closed test of roughly a hundred players. The studio announced its first recruitment test in mid-November 2025, describing it as a deliberately small, confidential test of about one hundred people drawn from the game's official player group. It framed the build as an early stack of the core loop rather than a polished slice, and said it wanted feedback while the design was still moving. The producer confirmed at the end of that month that he had finished going through the test build.A playable booth at a Shanghai trade show. The game was shown in person at the WePlay Expo held at the Shanghai Expo Exhibition Hall on 22 and 23 November 2025, with the producer on the floor talking to players and collecting notes. He described coming away with a good deal of useful feedback, which then fed into the next round of development planning.3839Both windows sit between the September 2025 announcement and the February 2026 public demo, and the demo that eventually shipped was substantially reworked from the build shown earlier. The full sequence is on the Development History page.4041How to Approach It4243A demo is a preview, and this one is no exception. A few things are worth keeping in mind:4445Final content may differ. Because the demo is a slice taken from a game still in development, the full release may refine, expand, or change what you see. Treat the demo as representative of the direction rather than a locked-in promise.Reception has been mixed. Early impressions of the demo have been varied, with some players enthusiastic and others more reserved. That mixed early response is worth noting, but it reflects opinions on a pre-release slice, not the complete game. Even so, the demo drew a sizable audience, ranking among the fifty most-played demos of the Steam Next Fest it took part in.The opening reads differently in full context. The studio has said the impression that the protagonist's whole family dies at the start was an artifact of the demo's limited length: the full game is not a clan-wipe story, and the real context of the opening is revealed by the end of Chapter 1.It is a starting point, not the whole picture. The demo is short by design. Systems that are only hinted at here, or not present at all, may play a larger role in the full game. If something feels limited, it may simply be outside the scope of this sample.4647Should You Try It4849If you are curious about Hero's Adventure: Another Tale, the demo was a low-commitment way to get a feel for the game. It cost nothing, took only a couple of hours at most, and touched the three pillars most likely to inform a decision: combat, companions, and story. It has since been removed from Steam and is no longer playable, but the details above record what it offered as an early window into the finished game, which is still on its way.5051For more on the systems it samples, see Combat System and Companions. For an orientation to the game as a whole, see Getting Started.
