Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is the latest hardcore Soulslike from the makers of Nioh at Team Ninja, which will have some folks rubbing their hands in glee and others sweating in fear. The Nioh games were a punishing challenge, perhaps even more than From Software’s games, so what can we expect from Wo Long? More punishment, that’s what. According to producer Masaaki Yamagiwa, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty will present a “really intense obstacle,” with no difficulty options. That said, like From Software’s games, there will be multiple ways to tackle obstacles…
“We’re thinking it’s ‘good’ to have one set difficulty so that everyone has the same experience of overcoming a really intense obstacle and they all have that feeling of achievement, like I did it. But the caveat there is giving players all different ways that they can do that.
Wo Long is not an easy game by any means but we’re working to give players as much freedom and agency to play it as they want, overcome obstacles in their own way. One thing that comes to mind is the morale system. You have a morale rank and as you keep increasing it you get stronger and you can use that to choose which enemies to fight, or raise it up so you can take on a harder enemy and maybe they’ll be a little bit easier now that you’re stronger. You can also level up your character like a traditional action RPG and get stronger that way. There’s multiplayer as well, so you can get online with your friends, two other people so a total of three online and then take on bosses as a group. We’re really giving players their own ways to be able to tackle all these things, that’s really important to Wo Long’s game design.”
Haven’t been keeping up with Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty? Wccftech’s Francesco De Meo found the game’s demo to be exhilarating, if somewhat unfriendly.
“Multiple playthroughs of the demo have sold me on Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, but some of the gameplay mechanics, such as the streamlining of the combat and the major emphasis on parrying, can put some players off. As Team Ninja is gathering feedback with the demo, however, I expect some things to change in the final release, but even if things do not change that much, I do not doubt that Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty will be among the finest action games coming in 2023, even with its lack of broader appeal.”
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is slated to arrive on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, and PS5 in the first half of 2023.
