After spending a handful of hours in the opening two chapters ofWo Long: Fallen Dynasty,it’s safe to say that Team Ninja’s new take on theNiohformula will be likely to satisfy. Few studios can craft such a brutal yet exhilarating experience as Team Ninja can, andWo Long: Fallen Dynastycontinues the trend, albeit with a few key changes. However, in keeping with theNiohfranchise,Wo Longmight be a bit too steep for some gamers compared to other Soulslike games. It’s certainly not for the faint of heart.
In its first two chapters,Wo Long: Fallen Dynastyproves to be fast, ruthless, and incredibly stylish. Team Ninja is known for constructing some ofthe most brutal Soulslike gameson the market, constantly asking players to grit their teeth and try again until they get it right.Wo Long: Fallen Dynastyseems to be taking that philosophy to heart with its parry-heavy combat system and challenging foes. Its bosses are tough, its world design is fascinating, and the character-building should be enough to keep gamers hooked for the long haul. At the end of this preview run, however,Wo Longseemed less like a total upheaval of what made theNiohformula great and more like a remix of the formula’s core pillars to offer a tighter experience.
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Wo Long: Fallen Dynastytakes place in a beautifully realized dark fantasy twist on Three Kingdoms era China circa 184 AD. Much likeTeam Ninjadid withNiohand its historical Japanese setting and mythology,Wo Longis drawing upon Chinese mythology and weaving fantasy elements into its historical setting through the use of dragons, mythical creatures, and elemental-based magic. Throughout the first two chapters, historical factions like the Yellow Turban rebels could regularly be found in both living and undead forms, creating that compelling mix of history and fantasy. Surprisingly, whileWo Long: Fallen Dynastydoes lean into a dark fantasy setting, these opening chapters were actually quite lively.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynastylooks more colorful than its Soulslike contemporaries, splashing brighter tones and more sunlight onto its grim, battle-torn settings. Its color palette and world seem more welcoming thanNioh’s monochrome tones orDark Souls’ brooding medieval environments. What’s more,Wo Longfeels like a much less lonely game than the standard Soulslike, thanks to each chapter containing an NPC that will tag along and help the player as they make their way through each chapter. Both of the NPCs that tagged along throughout this preview had plenty of personality and offered an interesting new dynamic to the usual solo Soulslike challenge. But players shouldn’t be too relieved at having some help because whileWo Long: Fallen Dynastygives players an edgewith a co-op partner, it then bumps up the difficulty to compensate.
Combat inWo Long: Fallen Dynastyis as unforgiving and challenging as ever but is also notably different fromNioh. This time around, Team Ninja seems to be taking notes from FromSoftware’s critically acclaimedSekiro: Shadows Die Twice, giving a bigger emphasis to player skill than before while still retaining the RPG elements from previous Team Ninja games. Much likeSekiro,Wo Long: Fallen Dynastyrelies heavily on breaking an enemy’s poise and whittling down their defenses rather than focusing solely on health bar damage.
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Players can break poise by deflecting enemy attacks or using heavy Spirit attacks to damage the enemy’s poise meter directly. Essentially,Wo Long: Fallen Dynastyasks players to master the art of the deflect if they want to be as efficient as possible. Sure, players can keep using standard attacks to damage an enemy’s health bar directly, but learning to break poise is where players will get the most bang for their buck. It’s the difference between a boss taking 10 minutes or 2 minutes; however, it’s not easy to learn.Wo Longstill takes every opportunity to punish a player’s mistakes, and it doesn’t help that the deflect button is the same as the dodge button, leading to some awkward moments in the heat of combat.
So far, though,Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty’s combat system is a joy. Each fight has a rhythm and groove that feels incredibly rewarding to master once everything clicks in place.Wo Long’s combat is all about budgeting a player’s Spirit meter, as all actions can either build negative Spirit, leading to a staggered state, or build positive Spirit that can be redeemed for Spells and Martial Arts. Once players learn how to balance their move sets, it feels likeWo Longis crafting a brilliant combat system. As is the case withTeam Ninja games, the path to achieving this nirvana is not an easy one; the learning curve inWo Longcan be a lot to take in and may put off many players right from the start.
Boss fights inWo Longare equally as great. Throughout the preview window,Wo Longshowcased three bosses that were just as challenging as any Team Ninja fan would expect and then some. Because ofWo Long’s heavier focus on parrying and poise-breaking, these bosses seemed far more aggressive and way more prone to demolishing the player right from the start than ever before. Delayed attacks, critical hits, and crazy wind-up animations keeping players tense are just the tip of the iceberg withWo Long’s boss fights; however, once a player is in the game’s groove, what was once overwhelming is now an opportunity, and it feels great to see through that challenge.
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Wo Long: Fallen Dynastyseems to be stripping back much of the former sprawl ofNioh’s level design. These opening two chapters were quite linear, only featuring branching paths offering dead ends with higher-level enemies and more loot instead of any sort of long-winded detours. This preview also didn’t feature much in the way of shortcuts for Metroidvania-like backtracking besides opening one or two paths meant for speeding right to the boss door. While Team Ninja has never had the same pedigree for massive intertwined levels as other Soulslikes, the general openness in level design fromNioh 2doesn’t seem as present inWo Long: Fallen Dynasty.
The RPG character-building mechanics from previous Team Ninja games are back forWo Long: Fallen Dynasty,with some deviations. Characters now spec into elements like Water, Earth, Wood, Fire, and Metal instead of the usual slate containing attributes like Strength and Dexterity, making for less cut-and-dry character building. Each element has its own stat boost, like Earth boosting the character’s HP while Water boosts the character’s Stealth stat, but they all overlap in some capacity and also offer new Wizard Spell unlocks the more players progress a tree. In the brief time spent with the game, there seemed to be plenty of great directions to take a build, and some of the mid-to-end game Spells looked quite compelling.
Loot is also a big factor inWo Long: Fallen Dynasty,but it seems to have been significantly toned down compared toNiohand especially overStranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin. Throughout chapters one and two, loot drops were spaced at specific intervals rather than having enemies constantly drop gear, as was the case in previous Team Ninja games. Additionally, any weapon or armor that did drop generally boosted one of the player’s stats significantly, leading players to consider the repercussions of every piece of gear instead of putting on whatever had the best defensive stats. It’s clear that Team Ninja wants to take a more focused approach to loot and character building, as a lot of fluff is now gone, and players have to decide if this newly acquired piece of gear truly fits the build they want to create.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynastywas a joy and a challenge over the course of its introductory hours. Team Ninja’s Soulslike take on Three Kingdoms era China feels familiar but is also making logical changes to keepWo Longfeeling fresh while also responding to some ofNioh 2’sbiggest complaints. There is still plenty left to see inWo Long, such as the extent of its Divine Beast mechanic, how its seemingly robust story evolves, and where these skill trees will take players. So far, it all looks promising. While its new emphasis on player skill may be off-putting to some, fans of Team Ninja’s signature challenge will likely have a good time whenWo Long: Fallen Dynastylaunches later this year.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynastylaunches June 07, 2025, for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. Game Rant was provided a PC code for the purposes of this preview.
