Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is a dynamic action RPG inspired by the soulslike genre. The game revolves around over-the-top combat requiring agility and strategy. It was developed by Team Ninja, the developers of NiOh and Ninja Gaiden, known for their high difficulty.

Plot

In the year 184, the reign of China's Han Dynasty comes to an end. Widespread corruption, persecution and increasing taxes prompt the people to revolt against their rulers. This results in the Yellow Turban Rebellion, one of its most important leaders being the charismatic Zhang Jiao. This internal conflict plunges China in chaos, which bloodthirsty demons immediately take advantage of.

With the era of Three Kingdoms approaching, the game's protagonist, a militia soldier, is sent out into battle against the rebels. An unexpected meeting during his travels eventually drags him into an intrigue much larger than the rebellion.

Mechanics

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is a third-person game, which starts with us creating our character. Afterwards we must choose our weapon from a diverse arsenal (including sabers, glaives or others) to fit our playstyle - we can use one-handed and two-handed weapons or dual wield two blades at once.

Throughout the game we encounter human enemies and mythical monsters, often gargantuan in size. The key to combat is the Spirit meter, which shows how much Qi we have and can be used to execute special techniques. Its level rises with each attack and perfect deflect, dropping when we play defensively.

With enough Qi we can use powerful attacks based on our weapon's martial art. It can also be used to cast spells representing five elements of the Chinese philosophy (wood, fire, earth, metal, water). These let us strike enemies with lighting, set them aflame or increase our weapon damage.

In the most difficult battles we can summon a Divine Beast to damage our enemy and temporarily increase some of our stats. These include characters known from Chinese mythology, such as the White Tiger Baihu, the Azure Dragon Qinglong or the Vermilion Bird Zhuque.

An important aspect of the game is Morale, which affects both our character and the enemies. It increases with each victory, making us stronger. We can lower enemy morale in many different ways, such as ambushing them. Defeating an enemy with higher Morale than ours, however, makes our own Morale grow much faster.

Online modes

The game offers online co-op for up to three players, letting us face monsters and demons known from Chinese mythology together. We can also face off against other players thanks to the option of invading other worlds.