With franchises likeNinja GaidenandNiohunder its belt, developer Team Ninja has carved a reputation for creating unforgiving combat experiences. Its next title,Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, will be no different in this regard, as anyone who played the recent demo could attest to.Wo Long: Fallen Dynastyis set for a March 2023 release, and it will be doubling down on the developer’s trademark fast, flowing combat to give players one of Team Ninja’s most challenging, rewarding experiences to date.
Despite its obvious similarities,Team Ninja has been quick to point out the differences betweenWo Long: Fallen Dynastyand theNiohseries. Aside from its setting in Three Kingdoms-era China, and giving the player freedom to create their own protagonist,Wo Longwill also allow more choice for the player in terms of how they approach each combat situation. The spirit gauge will play an integral part in this, and how full the gauge is will help to determine which actions the player can take. Other differences include less of an emphasis on loot, and a more open mission design that rewards exploration.
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Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Promises to Be Extremely Challenging
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty’s demo, for the most part, went down well with fans. The combat seems as fast as predicted, the enemies are intelligent, and the level design looks to be appropriately engaging. In terms of difficulty though, it possibly shocked even a few of Team Ninja’s staunchest fans. While the developer has stated it wantsWo Long’s players to feel a real sense of relief and achievement after overcoming a difficult fight, the final boss of the demo was something of a discussion point among players.
Zhang Liang, a fierce general from Three Kingdoms-era China, awaits the player during the climax of the demo. His impressive array of attacks is difficult to handle, and the two-staged battle proved to be an impenetrable wall for many fans unless they turned to multiplayer options. The game’s multiplayer seems to share some similarities withFromSoftware’sElden Ring, with the player able to summon allies to help in battles at specific points in the campaign. This should help alleviate some of the game’s tougher fights, and it could be that Team Ninja specifically made Zhang Liang more challenging than he should’ve been, in order to encourage gamers to test outWo Long: Fallen Dynasty’s multiplayer component.
Otherwise, similarly to how thebeta boss inElden Ring, Margit, was nerfed when the game launched after fan feedback complained he was too tough in the demo, Team Ninja may take this same approach with Zhang Liang. A more recent post-beta hands-on preview with IGN revealed that the developer has indeed been very quick to act on fan feedback following the demo, with a couple of key tweaks being made in order to improve the user experience. The parry window seems to have widened, and the healing animation has been significantly shortened, shaving off a few crucial seconds, which can make all the difference in the heat of battle.
These tweaks are encouraging and show thatTeam Ninja has its finger on the pulseof its community. The report doesn’t specifically mention changes to the difficulty or the boss encounter though, so it remains to be seen if these have been tweaked too. The game’s emphasis on Chinese martial arts means that players will find themselves up against increasingly faster and more skilled opponents, and considering this is the foundation that the game has been built on, that’s very unlikely to change.
With rumors of aNinja Gaidenreboot swirling, and upcoming open-world RPGRise of the Roninpenciled in for 2024, Team Ninja is incredibly busy at the moment. Fans usually know exactly what they’re going to get from a Team Ninja game, and that raw difficulty is what keeps many players at the table. All the signs point toWo Long: Fallen Dynastybeing its toughest game yet, and the developer likely hopes that the title’s launch kicks off one of the most successful periods in its 27-year history.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynastywill release on June 01, 2025 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
