Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Reviews
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty sets itself apart from Nioh, Team Ninja’s other soulslike series, with plenty of inventive mechanics that thrust you into the midst of a war. But by spreading the action out over various disparate battlefields in second century China, with plenty of chatty characters to meet along the way, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty loses a little bit of its magic in the process.
If you're new to Soulslikes, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty might be the most fun and accessible one yet thanks to a number of features it implements.
While I wasn’t jazzed with Scars Above and the way it tried to incorporate Soulslike elements, Team Ninja has certainly found its groove in Wo Long Fallen Dynasty. It’s very familiar, yet not, and with combat mechanics and a storyline that’ll keep you going. Those new to the genre as fans of Elden Ring might find more instant gratification with the likes of Dark Souls, but Wo Long could certainly cater for a player with time constraits. If you’re uncertain as to whether or not you’d find enjoyment within, don’t forget that this is a day one Xbox Game Pass launch title; a demo is also available on other platforms should you not have instant access.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty doesn't reinvent the wheel, but what it does, it does right and continues Team Ninja's trend of delivering well-polished action games that reward their player base for sticking with it when things get tough.
Wo Long is a good starting point for soulslike newbies and some needed breather for more experienced players. They won't break a sweat, but their time won’t be wasted. Wo Long has a really well-designed combat system. Pity that nothing else is as good.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is a fantastic spin-off of the Nioh series, and while it feels like Team Ninja had a checklist of features it wanted to copy from other games, in the end, everything feels fresh and exciting. Outside of the performance issues, and the sometimes annoying AI-controller players, I found myself playing the game for hours. Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is more than a Soulslike, more than an action game; it's a fun and enjoyable game.
Team Ninja has created a challenging and engaging action game in a fantasy version of Three Kingdoms China. The combat mechanics are intuitive and all work together, making strategy and consideration of each next big boss fight vital. However, those same systems can be overly complex with a flurry of gauges, ranks, and stats to consider all at once. Even with a few difficulty spikes and balancing issues, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is still a fun adventure with creative bosses and exciting battles.
Despite Team Ninja falling into the same pitfalls suffered by prior titles, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is another deeply satisfying Souls-like. A steep learning curve and frustrating amounts of loot don't do much to keep Wo Long back from offering another finely tuned combat system, blended with a unique setting and new systems that break new ground in the subgenre.
Wo Long is fun and well made, but the features that allow it to shine aren't quite as developed as they should be.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is fast, frenetic and frustrating and makes no pretences about the kind of game that it is.
Wolong: Fallen Dynasty is a powerful action game that introduces a new gameplay experience with its core combat mechanism of parrying. This game reinterprets the history and characters of the Three Kingdoms period, providing a surprising experience for Chinese players. However, the game's map design has some flaws, and the endgame content is also lacking. These issues prevent Wolong from being a perfect gaming experience. However, we hope that future DLCs will fill these gaps and address the shortcomings in the game's content.
Review in Chinese | Read full review
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is sure to satisfy Team Ninja and Nioh fans in the combat department, but some aspects are not quite as good as the Nioh franchise. Recommended for console players itching for satisfying action, but a wait for patches for PC players due to performance issues.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty seems like a Nioh spin-off: same game structure, same issues and same assets. Despite that, the introduction of new gameplay elements like Morale Rank, Spirit Gauge and Wizardry Spells helped Team Ninja to make another compelling game.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Wo Long is another solid entry into the hardcore hack and slash RPG genre, but some wonky difficulty and questionable enemy AI spoil some of the design nuances and mean it doesn't quite hit the heights of Team Ninja's previous efforts
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty shares some elements with Team Ninja’s Nioh games, such as randomised loot and challenging combat, but ultimately it feels very much like its own game. It’s faster-paced, has a unique morale system, and pushes players to deflect enemy attacks in order to succeed. What lets it down ever so slightly is that some of these new features often feel poorly explained and a little underdeveloped. Otherwise, this is fresh take on the Soulslike formula.
Team Ninja ups the ante and the difficulty from the Nioh series.
An overwhelmingly positive experience. Combat is satisfying from start to finish, with a large variety of content for the player to dive into. A fun and unique take on the typical Three Kingdoms setting, with plenty of familiarities drawn from KOEI's other games. While it has its flaws, they're mostly minor and really does nothing to diminish the overall experience. Team Ninja clearly learned from their mistakes, so anyone hesitant because of Nioh has nothing to worry about here. It's time to grab a weapon and fight for the future of the Three Kingdoms.
With a little bit of loot system reduction, refinement to the morale system in regards to player level, removal of sociopolitical nonsense, and tweaks to make spirit attacks a bit more useful, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty could have a sequel that goes from pretty good to superb. Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty isn’t perfect, but it sets a great baseline for what could become a terrific franchise much like Nioh did before it.
Wo Long: Dynasty Fallen is pretty much a more approachable version of Nioh, but with some very interesting twists on the formula. Despite the fact that many of the mechanics and the gear might seem intimidating at first glance, you’ll do just fine strapping on the armor with the highest stats and disregard any of the suffixes and bonuses they provide.