I bought this game ages ago but never had time to actually play it. Finally got around to finishing it recently. Same familiar flavor as when I played Zanghua: Anhei Taohuayuan (葬花·暗黑桃花源), but improved in a lot of places. Overall it left me genuinely pleased, and even surprised me a few times. Let me state my stance up front: Efu: Mingmo Qianlixing (饿殍：明末千里行) is a very good game. Building on its predecessor Zanghua: Anhei Taohuayuan, it fixes a lot of the weak points, and honestly it’s the most “correct” game I’ve seen this year in terms of production choices. The studio has found the right approach, and sticking with it will definitely lead to bigger success.

I actually downloaded this game a long time ago, and I honestly don’t remember why. I just saw someone upload it on Nyan. I had no idea who made it, where it came from, or when it released. Then I downloaded it and, like most of the visual novels gathering dust on my hard drive, never touched it again. Not out of burnout—just a total lack of interest. I’d say I’ve played quite a few so-called “Chinese text adventure” games, and most of them left me disappointed. It’s like China’s music industry: full of copycats with nothing of their own. What made me finally play this one was when the game’s producer posted a “blind date / fishing expedition” on the “Save the Older Otaku” account. He pulled off a piece of performance art in the most absurd way possible, and I instantly thought: this guy’s got ideas. Fine, he’s legit! So I decided to give his game a shot.