![]() ![]() Genre staples such as bonfire checkpoints, world exploration, and soul collection have been reworked to feel more interconnected while also serving a higher purpose in challenging the player to test themselves. However, Team Ninja takes that Sekiro-like foundation and expands upon it by reworking core elements of the genre to create something refreshing yet familiar. And once players can master this dance, it is a rewarding and enthralling experience. Players will be focusing on parrying, staggering, and Fatal Strikes in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty instead of traditional health bar damage. Enemies are faster and hit harder, and success requires mastery of the core combat mechanics to succeed instead of standard action RPG-based progression. Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty can certainly be considered the first of a budding Sekiro-like sub-genre, as it follows much the same trend. Sekiro stripped back a lot of the core RPG elements of the soulslike genre in favor of split-second reaction times and individual player skill as the driving force of game progression. RELATED: Wo-Long: Fallen Dynasty Trailer Reveals Incredible Combat, Monsters, and Pre-Order BonusesĮver since FromSoftware’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice released in 2019, few games have been able to replicate a Sekiro-like feel in their hack-and-slash games. While these voices could be seen as an homage to martial arts films from the mid-20th century, it certainly struggles to pull off that level of camp and often falls flat as a result. Good guys have a general “good guy” tone, and bad guys have a general “bad guy” tone, with no real distinctive characters anywhere to be found. Heroic characters sound cartoonishly heroic, while the villains are just as caricaturistic. It is worth mentioning that a lot of Wo Long’s story and cutscenes are inundated with generic-sounding localized voices. These cutscenes work well to pick up the slack in places where the narrative starts to feel generic and begins to stagnate throughout the game’s middle sections. However, Wo Long’s narrative really hits its stride in cutscenes containing electrifying set-piece moments of intense fighting, siege battles, and realized Chinese folklore and cultural notes. The main character acts as a sort of straight man to the comedically heroic main characters they encounter across Team Ninja's rendition of Three Kingdoms China. Surprisingly, the main cast of characters is often a lot sillier than expected from a game that is so forwardly dark and brooding. Unfortunately, a lot of these main story concepts are quite vague and confusing at the start, and Wo Long often works best when it focused on the more grounded elements of the narrative, such as its heroes, villains, and battles. Wo Long’s story and setting can best be described as “wuxia cinema meets dark medieval fantasy,” as larger-than-life heroes and generals face off against demonic forces of evil with an elixir of immortality at the story’s center. Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty’s story starts with a clunky exposition dump before the player jumps in, but the narrative gradually gets better as the game progresses. RELATED: The Most Exciting Soulslike Games Coming in 2023 Much like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty may prove divisive due to its focus on individual player skill compared to a fully fleshed-out action RPG experience, but that doesn’t stop Wo Long from being another excellent Team Ninja release. However, the game does stumble with balancing so many moving parts at once and can feel disconnected from the larger picture at times. Team Ninja’s dark fantasy take on Han Dynasty China is an exciting blend of high-octane combat with interconnected and simple progression mechanics that never feel bloated despite being so plentiful. ![]() The end product is a fantastic combination of the two.Īlthough its inspirations are always felt, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty still feels unique in the soulslike space. Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty follows the same trend as previous entries from the studio, offering a challenging action RPG experience with a Team Ninja touch, but this time exploring combat foundations that Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice established four years ago. With games like Nioh and Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, Team Ninja has found itself delivering its own take on the soulslike by mixing genre fundamentals with expertly-crafted combat mechanics. ![]()
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