Wo Long: Fallen Dynastyis an upcoming action RPG published by Koei Tecmo and developed by Team Ninja - the very same studio that createdNioh. Whileit shares a lot in common with theNiohfranchise, this gameis a brand-new IP set in a dark fantasy reimagining of the Three Kingdoms period in China. As a customizable protagonist, players fight against humans, demons, and creatures alike to bring order to a savage land.
As is customary with Souls-like games like these, players are generally curious about the core gameplay loop. The standard light attacks and heavy Spirit attacks are present, as well as magic-based Wizardry Spells and special Martial Arts for specific weapons. Those who tryWo Long: Fallen Dynasty’s demo can spend a good chunk of the early game figuring out the flow of close-range combat, but luckily the first boss is there to help them out.
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Enemy Attacks Come Out Fast And Strong
The enemies found in the early parts of theWo Long: Fallen Dynastydemo are brutal.The members of the Yellow Turban bandit gangthat attack the Village of Calamity may seem docile at a distance, but they come out swinging just as soon as players enter their aggro range. Apart from being quite damaging, the Yellow Turbans' attacks can easily stunlock players who haven’t familiarized themselves with blocking and deflecting. This holds true for the game’s beast-like foes. Enemies like the Changgui and Zhuyan may not strike as frequently as lesser enemies, but the damage they dish out can kill players with just a couple of hits. Thankfully, these larger enemies are scarce during the demo’s earlier parts.
Enter The General Of Man
While players can get through most of the first stage by keeping their distance and taking foes out with a couple of well-thought-out attacks (much like howDark Soulsis played), the first boss teaches them to adopt a different fighting style. Zhang Liang is a massive human who uses his giant mace both for strong close-range strikes and wide sweeps - both of which leave players little breathing room to plan their moves. Once players defeat him for the first time, he adopts a demonic form and begins to attack more aggressively. Players might assume that they are supposed to lose to a two-phase boss like Zhang Liant this early in the game, but the demo is adamant that this be their first real hurdle to overcome by themselves. To make a long story short, players have to beat him fair and square.
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Aggression Is The Name Of The Game In Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty
Because of his size and imposing attacks, players would be forgiven for thinking they should approach this boss cautiously and react to his attacks. What they should be doing instead is getting right up in Zhang Liang’s face and wailing on him with as many light and heavy Spirit attacks as possible. At the center ofWo Long: Fallen Dynasty’s combat is the Spirit Gauge. All the characters in the game possess a Spirit Gauge that allows them to perform certain actions like deflecting, blocking, heavy Spirit attacks, Martial Arts, and Wizardry Spells. Getting constantly hit or using too many Spirit Gauge-draining actions in succession can cause a character to become staggered and open to strong counterattacks, making it somewhatsimilar toSekiro: Shadows Die Twice’s Posture mechanic.
The Spirit Gauge works both to players' advantage and disadvantage. While successfully hitting and deflecting enemies' attacks leaves them open to a strong counterattack called a Fatal Stike, getting hit by enemies and using too much of the Spirit Gauge can leave players open to stronger hits. Because of this,Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty’s combatrevolves around aggression and properly managing the Spirit Gauge.
Going back to Zhang Liang, the boss teaches players to be aggressive and deal just as much damage to his Spirit Gauge as to his health.The Spirit Gauge is placed under a boss’s health barfor a reason. It shows how close players are to breaking their defenses and dictates how they should be approaching combat. In addition to enemies' standard moves, players should be on the lookout for attacks with a red glow that, when deflected, can leave foes wide open to counterattacks. Jumping and blocking are inWo Long: Fallen Dynasty, but the former is mainly used for traversal and the latter is more of a last-ditch effort to mitigate some of the damage from enemy attacks (blocking also drains a lot of the Spirit Gauge). Because of this, players should look to adopt aggressive play styles that suit their builds while always keeping an eye out for enemy attacks that they can deflect.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynastyis quickly shaping up to be its own thing, and the combat is at the center of its individuality. There are a lot of similarities between the game and FromSoftware titles likeDark SoulsandSekiro: Shadows Die Twice, but the flexibility Team Ninja’s new action RPG provides makes it so that those who foundDark Souls' combat too slow orSekiro: Shadows Die Twice’s katana weapon too restrictive can find a nice middle ground where they can express themselves. If all goes well,Wo Long: Fallen Dynastymight just be another dark fantasy hit from Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynastywill release on March 3 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
