In the wake of the previous productions of the Japanese team – we are obviously talking about the two chapters of Nioh – Team Ninja’s Wo Long Fallen Dynasty has never hidden the desire to propose dynamic and very tense clashes, which in fact kept us busy over the course of hours of pure adrenaline spent in the company of a test build. But now no more talk and sharpen your blades: we are about to tell you about the peculiarities of these exciting battles (just a click away you will find our latest test of Wo Long Fallen Dynasty).
It’s not “Nioh 3 in China”
Wo Long Fallen Dynasty is not just a “Nioh 3” set in China instead of Japan, as one might think at first glance. In fact, there are many mechanics inherited from Nioh that have undergone changes, evolutions and improvements. Just like in the previous two Team Ninja games, the character we play is customizable in all respects, thanks to a rich editor that surprises for the variety and quality of the many final results that can be obtained.
Furthermore, unlike other products more intimately linked to the soulslike vein, the development of events is more explicit and told through well-crafted cutscenes. Chinese voice acting is in our opinion mandatory to maximize immersion, but other languages are also available. There is obviously room for lore and environmental narration, as well as for long and detailed descriptions of objects, characters and enemies, enclosed in a diary that can be consulted at any time from the menu.
Just like in Nioh, the artistic direction has been able to surprise us positively, also thanks to the excellent research work on the period in which Wo Long is set, namely the Chinese feudal Middle Ages. Here the first difference with the previous Team Ninja games is very evident in the atmospheres, landscapes, models of armor and characters (both based on real figures of Chinese history and invented) far from the Japanese-themed counterparts characteristic of the aforementioned. On the purely graphic side, a more than good picture emerged from the new build, between excellent particle effects and convincing plays of light and shadow. That said, the visual leap compared to Nioh 2 (here is our review of Nioh 2) is perceptible but certainly not “decisive”, whether you play in performance mode at 60fps or choose to experience the battles at 30 frames per second. second but at maximum image quality (the frame rate seemed granite in both cases). The management of the camera, at least in the current state of things, has proved to be more problematic than expected, with the view behind the protagonist getting stuck with walls and other obstacles, especially during clashes with medium-large opponents .
On the level design front, during our test we appreciated a good verticality of the scenarios, which sometimes proved to be labyrinthine but without exaggerating. In fact, a structure that is at times sprawling has always proved to be legible and never spread out more than it should. In this sense, the inevitable shortcuts also help, which connect various areas of an area to each other. Furthermore, if you wish, a mini-map on the screen will allow you to orient yourself by indicating the direction towards the next objective, or the last enemy who killed and “robbed” you.
In fact, losing your life in Wo Long means seeing both part of the currency with which you level up and part of the “morale” fade, both recoverable by taking revenge on your perpetrator.
The warrior at the center of the story and his opponents are equipped with morale points, which when they increase or decrease affect some modifiers for the statistics, such as the damage inflicted or suffered and the amount of spirit lost/recovered with each blow. Therefore, it is better not to dramatically increase the morale of the bosses by repeatedly losing against them: once you have accumulated 20 points, in fact, some enemies have become so strong that we believe we can no longer defeat them. In reality, every enterprise is possible in Wu Long, just prepare properly before fighting.
“Know the enemy as you know yourself”
Wo Long Fallen Dynasty’s fights require the player to memorize, both mentally and muscularly, various keystrokes and combos without which there is a risk of not continuing smoothly. Basically, our character can always perform a light blow, a heavy blow, a parry, a parry and a dodge. Then some differences with the previous works of the team are revealed, starting with the absence of the “poses” – high, medium and low – replaced with other variations of the moveset, i.e. spells and martial arts.
The former are magical attacks, buffs, or debuffs based on the five elements of Chinese Energy Medicine: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. In a circular system of rock, paper, and scissors, each is more effective against users than another. Martial arts, on the other hand, are unique for each weapon and always highly spectacular and effective. But be careful: once the attack animation begins, the warrior remains completely vulnerable until its conclusion.
Finally, our character can be equipped with a “spirit guide” based on one of the five main elements, with the build in question which allowed us to unlock magical arts linked to all the available branches. In this regard, choosing which path to follow our character is not a trivial decision, since it seems to significantly influence its development.
The system in its entirety will be explored in the review but for the moment we can tell you what changes in the approach to combat we have found depending on the favorite element. First of all, we believe that the level up dynamic through elemental enhancement is much clearer and more accessible than the classic methods based on physical attributes. In fact, by leveling up, we can choose to attribute a point to a given element element, which corresponds to specific refineable statistics.
Wood is assigned the HP and resistance improvements, while Fire defines the offensive power. Earth increases our defensive parameters while Metal affects our affinity for spells. Finally, Water makes us more stealthy and improves the finishing blows available to the character. Taking advantage of this as elementary as it is in-depth subdivision, even identifying the best weapons and equipment for our protagonist becomes easier. For example, just pay attention to the predominant color in the graph of the single killing tool we want to use. In any case, regardless of the statistics, it is advisable to dress from time to time with the most suitable armor for the boss to face, to be found thanks to a rich but less “inundating” loot system than that of Nioh. In this regard, the demo allowed us to collect objects, armor and weapons, which allowed us to vary the styles and experiment with setups with very different effects. In the test, among other things, the in-game save and return points were distributed carefully, near important junctions or boss fights.
Evidently, aware of the challenges proposed, the developers have rightly opted not to make the fighter retrace great distances before being able to face a powerful enemy. In these places marked by flags – with secondary banners that serve only to recharge the flasks for HP and heal us and our allies only once per mission – we can not only manage the levels and equip spells but also fill up on morale points.
Even without a dedicated selector there is at least one way to adjust the difficulty in Wo Long. In fact, in the area made available by the demo we had an ally controlled by the system at our side. In case you want to face the levels and the bosses alone, however, know that it will be possible for you to “send home” the unlocked NPCs at the checkpoints, but at your own risk.
It is not yet clear to us if and how much the enemies’ aggressiveness, offensive power or HP change based on how many allies we have summoned. Furthermore, we have not been able to call real helpers through the online features – not yet available – but the impression is that there will be no shortage of opponents able to deal with group assaults thanks to ad hoc movesets. Ultimately, for now the cooperation has satisfied us and made the challenges more dynamic and interesting, also giving us some dialogue full of lore in front of specific enemies, or in certain moments of the game.
The best defense is defense
In Wo Long Fallen Dynasty there is no traditional stamina bar but repeating moves remains counterproductive. The combat system revolves around the balance or spirit system as it is called in the game. First of all, actions such as running, dodging, parrying and light blows do not consume this value, indeed they could even recover a part of it.
Heavy attacks, spells and martial arts instead help to fill the dedicated bar which, once it reaches its limit, prevents the execution of specific moves and more. If the protagonist is hit by an attack in this condition, in fact, he will see his spirit “break” and he will be stunned for a certain amount of time.
It will therefore be his concern to bend the spirit of the opponents, also because if he were to succeed in his intent he could make a devastating finisher against the unfortunates. The management of the balance, the rhythm of the clashes and their duration according to our ability to effectively deflect the blows, closely reminded us of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
The parallelism with the From Software action arises spontaneously, but only by facing the complete experience can we be sure of how deep the similarities go. Among other things in the latter as in Wo Long the very convenient system of perfect answers and counterattacks makes dodging an unattractive option for the player. The evasive window provided by the parry is much more efficient in preventing enemies from killing us with a couple of blows, and there would seem to be no attack, including magical ones, that cannot be repelled with a precise deflection.
Not to mention that most of the opponents we met in the tested build were equipped with unsuspected long-range moves, very difficult to avoid using dodging alone. Even against bosses, we jumped into battles we knew were already lost, in order to figure out how to make the most of parries depending on the enemy offensive. Just as happened in the Nioh games, we are faced with a combat system that undoubtedly rewards constancy and patience, yet we have found some really difficult fights, thanks to certain movesets of the opponents with almost unfair speed or range, which may need a rebalancing. We also found the possibility of adopting a more stealthy approach during exploration interesting – and again “close” to Sekiro. Some large groups of opponents will become less dangerous if faced in silence, reducing their ranks with back blow after back blow.
The game itself, through the suggestions provided during the uploads, has repeatedly reminded us that the way of the warrior is not only made up of brutal frontal battles, but also of planning and strategy. Even going so far as to flee if things go badly. The fact is that although the level design encourages you to take advantage of stealth techniques, in Wo Long the only way to be silent is to “walk slower” by adjusting the pressure on the analog.
Furthermore, there are no hiding places or tall grass to conceal our presence, nor the possibility of crouching to become less noisy. However, we had fun finding crevices, ledges or sideways that prevented enemies from seeing us as we decimated them. Also because the level design of some sections is studied with millimeter precision to reward the enterprising who decide not to take the main road.
