Having played Nioh 1 & 2 Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty was on my radar the minute it got announced. I loved what Team Ninja did with Nioh, so I wanted to see if they could keep the magic going with Wo Long. The trailers for this game look sold and I love a good action-role-playing game. After three years since Nioh 2 got released I couldn’t wait to dive into the latest title that Team Ninja and Koei Tecmo have brought to ourselves. This coverage is of the PlayStation 5 version of the game.
It’s 184 A.D. China at the end of the late Han Dynasty, the world is infested with demons and the dynasty is on the verge of collapse. The Yellow Turban Rebellion led by Zhang Jiao’s Way of the Taiping is causing chaos. It falls upon you a militia soldier to stand up against the Yellow Turban Rebellion and put a stop to their destruction and chaos. The game takes place across different stages which allow the player to complete story quests as well as side quests. Like Nioh, the game is quite linear and as you progress through each level you will come across Battle Flags that act like save points, at these points you can replenish your health pots as well as spend your Genuine Qi. Using a Battle Flag will in turn respawn enemies like when using a bonfire in Dark Souls. This is a good way to farm enemies to get more Qi to level up your character.
One of the things I really enjoyed about Wo Long was the ability to customise your own character. The customisation system that was in place is incredibly detailed and feels like you could make a truly unique character. I personally feel like it is a lot better than the one we got in Elden Ring, it allowed you to edit and change pretty much every part of the body. Once I spent around half an hour confirming my character it was onto the game.
I was taken aback at first and it did take me a while to come to grips with the mechanics and combat. I did find myself dying a lot in the early hours of my play but by about stage 2 and a few stressful boss fights I found my groove. The combat is based around Spirit strategies, by raising your spirit, you are able to use the Qi stored up to unleash powerful attacks and Wizardry Spells. Though be mindful of your Spirit gauge as if you go in the red it puts you at a disadvantage and could lead to your character getting stunned.
Timing is everything in Wo Long as a perfectly timed deflect will neutralise the enemy’s attacks, briefly flinching them and decreasing their Spirit gauge while increasing yours. It took me a while to get a hang of the deflecting feature but once I did it made combat really enjoyable and epic. If you manage to lower an enemy’s Spirit gauge or sneak up on them you can perform a Fatal Strike which is like a finishing blow that gets a cool little animation when performing it. using these can drastically increase your upper hand on enemies and bosses and also lowers their Morale Rank. You can convert your Spirt into Martial Arts, these moves differ depending on the weapon you are using but are cool little flourish attacks that can deal out some heavy damage but can be easily countered so timing them is essential.
There is a good array of weapons in Wo Long and each comes with its own play style. Finding the play style that fits you is one way to success. I started off using the sword and glaive but now use dual sword due to its speed. I have gone back to previous stages multiple times to try out other weapons but ultimately set my sights on the dual sword. I love the Bow and Crossbow in Wo Long as they are good ways of killing off weaker enemies to make a fight more manageable. I also like getting the Legolas vibes when you pull off an incredible bow shot. Wizardry Spells are a fun addition to your arsenal, you get the power of the five phases that allow you to unlock spells of different elements to use against enemies, they range from shooting lightning from the sky to covering your sword in ice or fire. Enemies have weaknesses and you can exploit them more by using Wizardry spells but you aren’t able to just spam them or else your Spirit Gauge will drain.
One of my favourite fighting mechanics is the Divine Beasts, these are mythical Spirits that you can use when you have filled up your great power meter. One of my favourites is Qinglong As when summoned it heals you and keeps your health up as long as you stand in the circle and Qinglong is active. It has become a godsend during boss fights and also comes in handy when I have joined other players online.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty works on a Morale System. You become stronger the higher your Morale Rank. Enemies can have higher ranks than you and by killing them you can make your Morale Rank rise quicker. Simply by killing enemies your Morale Rank will rise which gives you access to better items and make you stronger. If you die through your loss your Morale Rank and must build it up again. This can be super frustrating at times but it makes you more cautious in your play style. The online is a nice addition as you can either join or request people to join your game to aid in completing certain missions. If you are struggling it’s nice to have the option to call upon a friend to aid. You do get AI companies, but they aren’t as good as real players in my opinion.
You can upgrade your character, armour and weapons at various points in the game to make you stronger and unlock better Wizardry Spells. You can go back to previous stages once complete and farm enemies so that you can get Qi to level your character, I haven’t had to grind too much as I have been doing all the side quests along the way to not just concentrating on the main story. This allows you to level your character up at a steady pace and unlock new items, weapons and spells.
Graphically Wo Long looks brilliant and I love the Three Kingdoms period that the game is set in, the character designs are awesome, and it is what you’d expect from Team Ninja and Koei Tecmo. Personally, I prefer the Nioh games, but this still has a solid storyline and loveable characters, the voice acting is good, and I love the fact that you can customise your own character. Koei Tecmo seems to like making games set in the Three Kingdoms period and it seems like a setting they truly love shining a light onto.
Wo Long is a fantastic game and I have enjoyed playing it, though I’m not sure how much I will replay it after finishing all the side quests. Sure, if I wanted to trophy hunt there is enough content there to keep me playing after the story but in terms of going back through it again, I’m not sure. Though because there is an array of different weapons in the game, there is the potential to play through the game multiple times with different builds and weapons, kind of like replaying Elden Ring over and over. You could also jump on and play online co-op which adds to the fun big time. The AI characters that you can have to help you are good, but they are nothing compared to another player.
Conclusion
Team Ninja has done a brilliant job with Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty but it did feel a tad bit repetitive towards the late hours of the game. A lot of the enemies you came across are recycled and when you learn their fight patterns it makes a lot of the game a breeze to get through. The combat is the best thing about Wo Long and for me, I loved using all the different weapons and spells to pull off amazing combos. I’m not sure whether I enjoy this more than the two Nioh games but it is definitely a game I would recommend to people who have played previous Team Ninja games. It is a good rendition of the Three Kingdoms story with a Nioh-styled souls flare thrown into the mix, I wouldn’t say it is as hard as the soulborne series but it has a challenging element to it. it’s a beautiful-looking game and is enjoyable and for those reasons, I’m giving Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty an 8 out of 10.
Grab your copy here https://store.playstation.com/en-gb/concept/10004116
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