Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty welcomes you to the Three Kingdoms period, one of the bloodiest in China’s history.
March has just started, and this is the month for great games. And believe it or not, one of them so happens to be the long-awaited Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. It’s been a rather amazing start to 2023 and you can bet there will be many more arriving later this year. Arguably, Xbox players may benefit more from this – especially Xbox Game Pass members, seeing as some of the most anticipated games will be on the service.
Now, if you recall, about five months ago, not only were you shown glimpses of the game, but you were also given the opportunity to experience it a little from a beta that was available to the fans. Displayed promising signs of meeting its potential. Albeit, it exhibited several noticeable bugs – which you can let slide, seeing as it was only in the preliminary stages.
Inevitably, it is expected that from then to now, they would’ve had ample time to rectify, at the very least most of them. Furthermore, it was still relatively playable, an enjoyable teaser, and I had gotten acquainted with several of the controls – and for that, I couldn’t wait for the finished version. Now that it is here, it is, indeed, another action soulslike game to garner your attention.
Developer – Team Ninja is best known for iconic franchises, including Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive. In case you didn’t know, they are due to release Rise of the Rōnin next calendar year, which is also expected to be another sheer brilliant project in their catalogue. It’s fair to say that they have an exceptional background in making action games.
At present, they have gained some experience in the soulslike genre. Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty still has its identity, but at the same time, you shouldn’t necessarily be surprised if you were to identify a portion of elements from one of their previous but also positively reviewed games, Nioh.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty directs you through a story based on actual events – but with supernatural twists to it. The Later Han Dynasty with a dark fantasy version, set in China 184 AD. Faced with a conspiracy encompassing a powerful elixir with a peculiar force, your primary objective is to take your nameless militia soldier to confront it whilst battling for survival against an army of monstrous creatures, demons, and enemy soldiers during the Three Kingdoms period.
Enchanting and beautifully artistic and vibrant environments and characters all-round that are too good to ignore – attaching many imaginative designs whilst respectfully portraying China’s tradition. This goes without saying, but if you were wondering if Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty has an open world, the answer is no, it doesn’t. Instead, it is primarily linear – filled with main missions, contrasting levels, explorative areas, dispersing battle flags, and plenty of other content to enjoy.
And because of the real historical concept, you will also clash against the time’s most prominent figures such as Li Bu, Zhao Yun and Zhang Liang. The gameplay of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is at least 25 hours – that’s more than enough time to transform your character from a zero to a hero.
Speaking of character, firstly – you are required to create one in order to get going. Your warrior should be fighting but in fashion. The second you enter this phase, you will automatically appreciate the phenomenally abundant player customisation, comprising of exorbitantly alluring physical, facial and bodily selections, simply too much for anyone to handle. Gender, skin colour, hairstyle, makeup, tattoos, aging, you name it, it has it all.
Ideally, take as much time as you need during this process, as he or she is a representation of yourself. So, wouldn’t you try to assign the perfect look? That way, you look good whilst causing a massacre. Showing off your creativity to other people on social media is just a bonus.
When you hear the game Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, the first thing that inevitably comes to mind is the combat. Introducing a stimulating fighting system consisting of an array of moves involving Martial arts, light and heavy attacks, and executing brutal combos and catastrophic finishers that will have you starving for more.
Furthermore, the large, saucy variation of weapons just oozes class, and using them as the cardinal source of inflicting excruciating pain, takes things to the next level. Stealth is featured, and it does have a place for it. However, this shouldn’t be your knee-jerk go-to tactic, as it works best only against more difficult enemies and at specific times.
Fundamentally encouraging players in strategising, when combat is the subject matter. That means you can’t just spam buttons and hope for the best – in fact, you’ll be severely punished for doing so. It’s hard to emphasise enough the importance of learning and practicing how and when to attack, dodge and more vitally, deflect, as this game’s combat feature is built based on it.
Improving on these skills makes it much easier to defeat the Yellow Turban soldiers. As well as imperatively levelling up and upgrading your character and equipment such as wizardry spells, to influence the fight to your advantage. Not to mention focusing on mechanics like the spirit gauge – which is undoubtedly the most critical aspect to being victorious in battles.
Without a doubt, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty can be very intimidating, largely due to the enemies, especially the bosses that await you. They are immensely challenging, and you will learn the hard way if you don’t take the previous paragraph into account.
Interestingly though, when you think about it, you could argue that the one major flaw is that the game pretty much adheres to one play style and basically demands all players to go by it to stand a chance. It doesn’t help when the game fails to provide competent tutorials – resulting in players having to stand on their own two feet. Moreover, the checkpoint system respawns you from where your last battle flag was raised, meaning you have to start the fight over – even if you come close to defeating foes.
It is clear that the game strongly borrows from other related titles, such as Nioh and Sekiro. So, if you are looking for pure originality – then you have come to the wrong place. But despite the lack of innovative features, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is still very addictive for you to bother too much about that, and Team Ninja can proudly add this to their long list of great projects.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty proves to be fast-paced and imposes a historically intriguing and magical adventure. No question, you are guaranteed one of the most ruthless action role-playing experiences in modern gaming, and some of the bosses can tempt some into quitting and never coming back. But, if you love a challenge, then this is one you simply cannot miss out on. And the fact that you can just download it on Xbox Game Pass, what more can you ask for?
Although it isn’t perfect and far from it, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty inspires players to enter a perseverance mentality, channel their inner warrior, and fight until they’ve achieved their objectives. If you feel you need some backup in taking down the bad guys, there is a co-op option available for you to benefit from. And also our Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty early game guide.
