Sword Sage: Awakening feels like a breezier kind of Soulslike, and it's not just the adorable tea-serving panda that's got me intrigued

Amazingly, the thing that's sold me on Sword Sage: Awakening's potential isn't the adorable red panda deity who poofs out of thin air to serve you restorative tea whenever you rest up at its cheery Soulslike bonfire equivalent - although I'll admit it comes close. As its silly tea-stop interludes suggest, Sword Sage - which joins the rising swell of China-developed Soulslikes drawing inspiration from the country's rich folklore - is doing things a little bit differently. But its most interesting ideas go deeper than mood.