Wo Long Fallen Dynasty Review: Crouching Dragon, Scuffed Gem

China is in chaos, and it falls to you to restore peace. Team Ninja has finally come out with its spiritual successor to the Nioh franchise. But will Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty's gameplay and visuals live up to the hype? Find out in Game8's review!

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Wo Long Review and Score Explanation

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Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Score Explanation

Wo Long Review: Crouching Dragon, Scuffed Gem

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is a great Souls-like game in the vein of Team Ninja's previous Nioh titles and Sekiro, but with a heaping dose of Chinese history and mythology. The combat is intense and the visuals are stunning.

However, the story and characters might leave those unfamiliar with Ancient China feeling lost, like a ghost that merely shifts from battlefield to battlefield. Our team has also come across reports of the game's terrible performance on PC, hobbling what is otherwise a great game.

If you own a console, buy it. If you own a PC, wait for both a patch and a sale.

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Full Game Review

Pros of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty

Things Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Got Right
Fast, Flashy, and Thrilling Gameplay Ancient Chinese Influence Makes Game Beautiful and Unique Wide Range of Terrifying, But Fair Enemy Types Non-Combat Gameplay Encourages You To Keep Gear, Companions Up to Date

Fast, Flashy, and Thrilling Gameplay

There are at least two ways to look at Wo Long’s combat. Either you compare it to the combat in Nioh, or compare it to the combat of other games in the Souls-like genre like Elden Ring (or, well, Dark Souls). In my opinion, Wo Long’s combat is a fast-paced and unique take that will find its fans in those who appreciated both gameplay styles.

First off, it’s a lot faster-paced than many Souls-likes, almost like a Chinese Sekiro where your character will do a flurry of strikes at your enemy, and your enemy will most likely do the same. A defensive playstyle won’t do you good. You’ll notice that dodging is tied to the same button used for deflecting attacks. That’s Wo Long telling you to actually learn to deflect the enemy’s attacks, and to use dodging as a last resort.

Why this emphasis on deflecting, you ask? It’s because of the mechanic that sets Wo Long apart from other Souls-like titles I’ve already mentioned in this article: the Spirit Gauge. Think of it as a combined stamina and mana bar that goes either left or right. If you dodge or use magic or martial arts too many times, the bar goes to the left, leaving you open to a Stance Break that leaves you open to attack for a few precious seconds.

But if you spam normal attacks or deflect your enemy’s attacks, the bar goes to the right instead, giving you the space to use martial arts, magic, or dodge without the risk of getting your stance broken. You'll also push your enemy’s Spirit Gauge to the left, eventually leaving them open to a fatal blow from you.

This is the essence of Wo Long’s combat: Go in and strike as much as you can but still be prepared to deflect an enemy counter-attack. Once you deflect, attack again, and when their stance breaks you go in for the final blow. This system provides for intense, no-holds-barred fighting that forces you to “git gud”, especially because the game rewards being a decent player through the Morale mechanic.

The Morale mechanic is basically a damage modifier. The higher your morale rank is, the more damage you deal to enemies, but this goes the same way for enemies as well. If you’re killed, you lose your morale and half of the Qi (your experience points), and the enemy that killed you will get a morale boost. So that means you’ll have to farm your Morale Rank by killing other enemies and planting Battle and Marking Flags throughout the level before facing your killer again.

You don’t want to go through all that trouble? Then you’ll have to become decent at playing the game. You can’t underestimate weak enemies or else you might die and lose your morale, and you’ll have to keep on your toes around stronger enemies if you want to kill them and raise your morale rank.

For me, both the Spirit and Morale mechanics make for the most intense, thrilling, and nerve-wracking combat I’ve seen in a game so far. It makes you think, it makes you focus, and punishes you if you fail to do both. And I haven’t even touched the Wizardry Spells and Divine Beasts yet.

Oh, and because of the Spirit and Morale mechanics, online invasions are wack. If you know when to deflect and keep an enemy’s Spirit Gauge to the left, in combination with competent use of martial arts and spells, then you can give another player a bad day very quickly. Online play is fun in general, though there have been reports of invasion/co-op attempts failing on both consoles and PC. Hopefully this gets patched sooner or later.

Ancient Chinese Influence Makes Game Beautiful and Unique

Wo Long’s graphics are already great, even on the PlayStation 4 version. The lighting, the textures, and the amount of detail put it on the same level as Sekiro and Nioh. But what makes this game’s visuals exceptional is the heavy influence of Ancient China on its art direction and style.

First, let’s talk about how the story is presented. It drips with style, showing us dark cutscenes of villages being burned to the ground by bandits and epic battles between Podao-wielding warriors and cavalrymen wearing lamellar armor. But we also see narrated cutscenes drawn in the style of ancient Chinese art, with striking images of heroes, demons, and divine beasts (though sometimes it just looks like the 3D models are being presented through a filter).

Secondly, the environments you fight in, varying from the aforementioned ruined villages to burning capital cities to snow-covered fortresses, are so painstakingly detailed. The terrain is covered in swords, torn battle standards, and corpses, though sometimes it’s also covered in bamboo and lush greenery. But on the whole, they really give off a dark fantasy vibe that drives home how close to ruin China is getting.

Lastly, the character designs look exactly like how you expect people in a historical epic are supposed to look. There’s Cao Cao with his magnificent blue armor and knot top, the wide and boisterous Zhang Fei, the enigmatic Lu Bu with his peacock-like mask, the beautiful Lady Zhen, and a host of other historical Chinese figures.

Your protagonist isn't behind in the fashion department either. There’s a variety of armors ranging from the dowdy Nameless Warrior set to the dazzling Zhuque set with its flaming mask and feathers. It only gets better with a transmog system, allowing you to keep both the look of your favorite armor and the stats of your most useful armor.

Aside from Dynasty Warriors and Total War: Three Kingdoms, I don’t recall a lot of other games that highlight Ancient China as a setting in video games, so it’s great that the look and feel of it is once again getting a spotlight in the mainstream.

Wide Range of Terrifying, But Fair Enemy Types

This is the part where I talk about the enemy designs and bosses because boy they look as terrifying as they are tough to fight.

Most, if not all enemies in Wo Long are inspired by either Chinese history or mythology. Of course, you’ve got your run-of-the-mill soldiers, backed up by bigger and fatter soldiers, and officers who are quite deadly with their blades. But then you get your monsters – the white apes called Zhuyan, the hulking bull called the Aoye, and the Fengxi boar are just some of the monsters you’ll have to put down as the game goes on.

Then you have your demonic enemies. The undead fanatics, the tall demonic officer, and the magic-wielding warlock are all tough opponents that you’ll have to keep your guard up against. But they’re nothing compared to the bosses. Almost all bosses in the game unique twists so that their fights don’t devolve into slash-fests, making you keep an eye out for any openings to deal with them.

Case in point, the first boss Zhang Liang, the General of Man. By the time this review comes out, many have already complained about how tough and unfair his fight is (being two stages and all). But as long as you know how to deflect his attacks, keep close, and use your wizardry and martial arts, his fight becomes rather easy (especially in the second stage when you just have to summon a Divine Beast to insta-kill him once he's at half health.)

That’s the thing with Wo Long’s bosses and enemies in general. They’re not too tough, but not too easy either, and you’re given ample chances to prepare for them through the sub-missions and just plain farming for Qi and better gear. Kind of like how having a high morale rank lets you deal more damage to enemies, if you believe that you can win against them, you will. That’s why I also think this game is an excellent gateway for anyone who wants to get into Souls-like games in general.

Non-Combat Gameplay Encourages You To Experiment

Outside of combat, there’s a lot of other stuff you’ll have to take care of in Wo Long to have an easier time playing the game. On the whole, I found them all right though I didn’t find much need to optimize until I got to certain bosses (yes, you’ll have to fight Lu Bu, and he makes Zhang Liang look like a cakewalk).

You’ll have to plan out what kind of weapons you’ll be using. There’s a lot to choose from: swords, glaives, spears, halberds, Podaos, anything you’d find in Ancient China. Each weapon will have one or two martial arts attached to them, which are the ‘fancy’ moves you can pull on enemies in battle. It’s great that you can choose whatever weapon suits your playstyle – just keep it upgraded and you’ll be fine. But know its limitations too. For example, swords are faster than Podaos, but have a shorter reach, etc.

There’s also picking out your armor, or rather keeping your chosen armor upgraded all the time (by grinding out the necessary materials from different levels). I’ve already mentioned the transmog system, so it’s really just a matter of choosing an armor set with great stats and making it look like any other armor you want.

Both armors and weapons can also be upgraded through Embedding, where you can take the properties of one piece of gear and have it applied to another (usually better) piece of gear. Say, for example, a sword increases your Spirit Attack Damage (how fast your enemy’s Spirit Gauge goes to the left). You can take this sword apart and put this property into another piece of gear you’ll actually use. It’s a nice little mechanic, though I didn’t have much motivation to use it all too often.

I find that the Wizardry Spells and Divine Beasts are more important, if only because it’s not much of a headache to use them. Both spells and Divine Beasts can be used in an offensive manner (to damage enemies) or in a more passive manner (giving you and your allies stat buffs), and can often spell the difference between life and death. Just don’t forget that they drain your Spirit Gauge, and you’ll find them very useful.

Combining all of these non-combat mechanics, Wo Long becomes a rather complex game that indulges those who enjoy experimenting with a game’s systems, but at the same time gives more casual players the option to just play.

Cons of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty

Things That Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Can Improve
Spirit System Can Be Divisive Amongst Souls-like Fans Winding Story May Not Appeal to Casual Players Enemy Types Can Get Repetitive Near the End Reports of Performance Issues With PC Port

Spirit System Can Be Divisive Amongst Souls-like Fans

I mentioned that the Spirit System provides for thrilling combat, though I can also see that some players won’t like it either. For one thing, I wouldn’t blame players for thinking it’s ridiculous that magic spells drain a glorified stamina bar.

Others might also be turned off by how the game seemingly throws out defensive gameplay in favor of spamming normal attacks to break an enemy’s stats (though, to be fair, you can learn how to deflect attacks and have an easier time playing).

The Spirit Gauge isn’t perfect. We suggest that, maybe in the next game, Team Ninja could consider not tying wizardry to it. However, having to watch both the Spirit Gauge and a faux mana bar might be a headache of its own.

Winding Story May Not Appeal to Casual Players

Romance of the Three Kingdoms might be one of the most influential pieces of literature in East Asia. However, though I’ve said that Ancient China is a unique setting for a video game to highlight, it can also be too obscure to those aren't familiar with the book, or Chinese history and mythology in general.

To those unfamiliar with Romance of the Three Kingdoms, you may find that characters in Wo Long just appear out of nowhere left and right, and leave just as quickly. You might also feel that the game’s story is dragging itself on for too long with battle after battle after battle, and find the characters themselves rather cheesy (if it’s the English voice acting that’s making you feel this, I suggest you switch the voice language to Chinese with English subtitles).

Wo Long is great for really going hard with the Ancient China setting, though this direction could also limit its potential audience to those who are both into Souls-like games and know a thing or two about Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Hopefully this isn’t a small demographic.

Enemies Can Get Repetitive, Hobbled by Sometimes Dumb AI

With a story that the unfamiliar might find to be dragging on for far too long comes more game levels. With more game levels, it’d be great if they had more enemy types to fight. Unfortunately, that’s not the case.

Get ready to hack and slash your way through mobs of demonized soldiers, officers, and warlocks, because they’re among the most common enemy types you’ll encounter in Wo Long. Though the game throws some new enemies at you now and then, you might feel like you’ve been cutting down the same soldier over and over for the past day or so.

On top of this, the enemy AI can sometimes be cheesed, removing some of the challenge. Wo Long has a stealth system, which means you’re invisible to enemies until you show up within their vision cone and fill up their sensor gauge. Unfortunately, this vision cone is very small. So if, for example, you ambush an enemy that’s walking in front of another enemy, you can kill them without raising the other’s suspicion. Even if you’re just three meters away.

This is an issue I’ve found with other Souls-like games as well. Maybe this could be fixed by better enemy placement and level design in the future. So if a player finds another situation similar to what I’ve described, the room would be small enough for all enemies to see the attack within their vision cones.

Reports of Performance Issues With PC Port

Ah, yes. What is a game from Koei Tecmo without performance issues on the PC? Sorry, it’s just that we remembered what happened during our Wild Hearts review and are getting flashbacks. To be honest, we played Wo Long on the PS4 and ran into no issues at all. But we still can’t help but feel for those who wanted to have a good experience on the PC.

As of writing, Wo Long has gotten “Mostly Negative” ratings on Steam. Users cite performance issues, as well as issues with playing the game with a keyboard and mouse. According to these users, the keyboard control layout is too tough to use, and the game camera does not move with the mouse sometimes.

We’re getting the sense that the PC market is not exactly KT’s priority, considering that this has happened in the past with Wild Hearts. Again, we’ve got another case of an otherwise amazing game plagued with performance issues on PC. And just after they were able to make Nioh 2 work okay on computers…

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Story Plot

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is an Action Role-Playing Game developed by Team Ninja, the people behind the Nioh series and Ninja Gaiden. It’s more or less a spiritual successor to Nioh but the setting's been switched from Feudal Japan to Ancient China… along with a few other things we’ll get to further in the review.

It is 184 AD, and there's big trouble in Ancient China. The Yellow Turban Rebellion is in full swing, and the declining Han Dynasty is unable to deal with the chaos. You are a nameless militia soldier who struggles to fight off a rebel attack on your village. In the process, you save a blindfolded boy, whose lineage and dragon-shaped medallion will soon send you on a quest to bring peace back to the land.

If the setting hasn’t clued you in already, Wo Long is set in the early part of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, where famous figures like Liu Bei, Sun Quan, and Cao Cao are still building their names before their rise to lead the eponymous Three Kingdoms.

But this setting is smashed together with elements of Chinese Mythology, leading to a story rife with magic, divine beasts, the undead, and demonic powers. You’ll have to fight for survival as chaos rampages throughout China, using martial arts, wizardry spells, and the aid of divine beasts to ensure victory over your enemies. You level your character up based on the Five Phases Theory (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water), and upgrade them further by getting better gear and weapons.

Will you be like a crouching dragon, a hero that will rise to greatness amid a dark period of madness, or let China be swallowed by darkness?

Who Should Play Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty?

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is Recommended if You Enjoy:

• Nioh 1 & 2
• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
• Dynasty Warriors

Wo Long has the style and fast pace of Nioh 1 & 2 and the sometimes unforgiving combat of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Just like other Souls-like games, you will die to even the weakest opponent if you don’t pay attention to battle and actually learn how to play the game properly.

At the same time, Wo Long also has the pomp and flashiness of Dynasty Warriors. See the protagonist decked out in a variety of costumes from Ancient China and hack away at your enemies with martial arts, wizardry, and divine beasts. The gameplay not only plays great, but the game looks great too.

Is Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Worth It?

Buy It if You’re an Ancient China Fan or You Want To Do Multiplayer

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is a unique and beautiful game you can finish between 18 to 24 hours, providing loads of playtime, especially if you want to grind out armor sets by raising Companion oath levels.

That said, the Ancient China setting might not appeal to other players, so we suggest you play it for combat and multiplayer. If you’re not interested in Ancient China or multiplayer, then you could wait for a sale instead. You can also try out the demo and see if you’re willing to pay full price for it. Have fun with Ziang Liang.

If you’re playing on the PC though, don’t buy it. Wait for a patch, then see if you can get the game on sale.

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How Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Matches Up to Recently-Released Games

Games That Came Out Recently	Pros	Cons
Wild Hearts	Both games have strong East Asian themes, though Wo Long focuses more on balancing your spirit meter and using skills, while Wild Hearts focuses on preparing for the hunt and using Karakuri to your advantage.	Players may find that Wild Hearts is more accessible compared to Wo Long since it uses more popular Japanese-style aesthetics and mythology, instead of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms used in Wo Long.
Bleak Faith: Forsaken	Wo Long is much more polished than Bleak Faith, especially in terms of gameplay and UI.	Bleak Faith’s lore is more accessible than Wo Long’s (if only because Bleak Faith’s lore is more barebones, so there’s less learning required).
Resident Evil 4 Remake	Wo Long is much more fast-paced than Resident Evil 4 Remake, and does not need much resource management. It’s also way less scary.	Then again, Resident Evil 4 Remake is a much more well-known game and also features gunplay – a feature that’s not in Wo Long.

How Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Matches Up to Similar Games

Games Similar to Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty	Pros	Cons
Elden Ring	Wo Long has a more focused narrative and progression. The stages are linear, and the level design guides you to where you need to go.	Elden Ring has much more content than Wo Long, and some players may like its classic stamina bar better than Wo Long’s spirit gauge.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice	Wo Long focuses on Chinese mythology and literature, while Sekiro is focused on Japanese history and aesthetics. Wo Long may come off as more unique.	Though Sekiro and Wo Long are both focused on parrying attacks rather than blocking or dodging, Sekiro’s posture gauge does not get used up when using magic unlike Wo Long.
Dynasty Warriors 9	Wo Long requires more focus in combat rather than the mass hack-and-slash gameplay of Dynasty Warriors 9.	Dynasty Warriors 9 is much more ‘epic’, pitting you against entire armies, while Wo Long is more focused on single combat.

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Product Information

Title	WO LONG: FALLEN DYNASTY
Release Date	March 3, 2023
Developer	Team Ninja
Supported Platforms	PS4 & PS5, Xbox One & Xbox Series S/X, PC
Genre	Action RPG
Number of Players	1-3
ESRB Rating	Mature
Official Website	https://www.koeitecmoamerica.com/games/wo-long-fallen-dynasty/

Michael Mendoza Ab..

Reviews video games by day, tries to write novels by night. He's a sucker for open-world games (Bethesda Fallout titles, Mount and Blade Bannerlord, Grand Theft Auto), CRPGs (Planescape: Torment, Disco Elysium), and First-Person Shooters (Call of Duty, Battlefield, and immersive sims like Bioshock..