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Beautiful fast-paced combat, high difficulty | Full Review - Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty

2K View2023-03-04

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is a fast-paced, souls-like third person RPG set in a fictionalized version of ancient Three Kingdoms China.

🟩Pros

+fun combat mechanics

+fairly challenging enemies

+varied boss fights

🟥Cons

-Major performance and optimization issues

The Three Kingdoms again?

It seems that KOEI of Dynasty Warriors and Romance of the Three Kingdoms fame is not yet done with the Three Kingdoms era with yet another take on the setting, this time with Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, drawing inspiration from the Dark Souls series and the genre it spawned. Players must battle their way through hordes of demons and historical figures using a variety of weapons, spells, and skills; and must rise from zero to hero.

Players take on the role of a customizable protagonist and are inserted in a world of historical fantasy set in the Three-Kingdoms Era.

Despite having a “voice” option in the pretty robust character customization menu, the main character is a silent protagonist, which can lead to awkward moments when other characters are speaking to him and the script is trying its absolute best to make the dialogue work with only just the protagonist silently staring.

The whole story centers around a mystical elixir that gives power and everlasting life. Amidst all the chaos, demons have also invaded and pose a threat to the land. The story is simple but is teeming with historical detail, from the Yellow Turban Rebellion to Chinese historical figures like Zhao Yun and Zhang Liang, of course, highly fictionalized over-the-top versions of them.

Gameplay Analysis

The combat system is based on timing and mastering the parry system, requiring players to plan their attacks and conserve energy rather than relying on pure aggressiveness. Parrying can be used to quickly turn the tables on enemies and deal devastating damage. While blocking and dodging are also viable options, parrying is the most effective way to defeat many of the game's bosses, making it a key skill for players to master. The combat is highly fast-paced, filled with constant hits, blocks, and parries that are so satisfying and gratifying to do and never gets old.

However, players must also manage their Spirit Gauge, which is a modified version of a melee stamina system. It is depleted by most actions such as blocking, dodging, or casting a spell. If players overextend themselves and use too much spirit, their character will become fatigued and temporarily unable to take any actions. To quickly replenish the spirit gauge, players must strike with light attacks instead of letting it regenerate on its own. This reminded me of the Monk character in the game Diablo III, where you also need to balance your resource — coincidentally called Spirit as well.

This is an amazing change to the formula that encourages fast-paced action and constant trade-offs with the enemy, not allowing room for ultra-defensive and evasive combat styles from players as well ultra aggressive play styles too. Players can even play this game without ever dodging or blocking, as players can parry all attacks as long as the timing is right, from normal enemies or heavy attacks from gigantic bosses alike.

The melee combat offers players a variety of weapon types to use, from the likes of swords, sabers, spears, and even halberds. All offering different kinds of combat styles to the player. Not just that, but it also features ranged combat as well, but this isn’t really the type of game that lingers too much on ranged combat, which functions more like a mandatory inclusion more than anything.

Level up your Virtues

It also features RPG elements, mainly with the “Virtues” that the main character has: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water – based on the Five Phases of Yin-Yang. Gameplay wise, it is basically a replacement of the typical Strength, Agility, and Intelligence system. Players have full choice on what virtue to level and each of the five virtues grants different bonuses that will help players in their preferred playstyle.

The ability to wear heavier equipment, unlockable magic abilities, increased spirit generation, consumption, defense, and many more are decided by these five virtues. Players level these virtues by defeating enemies and accumulating Qi, half of which is lost upon dying.

Not every game needs open-world

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty features a linear mission-based structure, and there are also side missions that players can consider to further improve their character and better prepare them for the main missions. Across the levels, players will need to utilize the morale system, which governs how much damage they can inflict to and take from enemies.

Each area, players start from zero and gain more morale by constantly defeating other enemies and planting battle flags around the map, to a maximum morale level of 25. Dying reduces their morale, and slightly increases the morale of that specific enemy, making it slightly harder to take revenge. This system is basically agar.io in disguise: players eat up the morale of their enemies to increase their own.

This system makes it harder for people to rush into boss fights across the map, while also making it easier for players who want to take their time and try to farm morale first before trying to beat the boss. These missions always culminate in a boss fight at the end, which is another highlight of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty.

The game features a diverse range of bosses, from small human vs. human battles to giant enemy encounters. Including famous generals and warlords from the Three Kingdoms era, such as Liu Bei and Cao Cao. Some bosses have more than one phase, some even evolving to a bigger weight-class than expected.

Each enemy encounter requires a different approach and strategy, and it is generally a forgiving combat system, as long as you've mastered the enemy telegraphs and move sets as well as your own. I've experienced no frustrations whatsoever, so it must be relatively well balanced.

The fast-paced and relentless combat mechanics are challenging and engaging, requiring players to stay focused and adapt to various enemy types and attack patterns. This kind of combat system can provide a satisfying sense of achievement when successfully defeating a tough enemy or boss, and instills a relentless determination to achieve success while in the process of beating them.

When you’re not battling historical figures and characters, you are befriending them, as throughout the campaign, you will meet many heroic figures that can be called-in as reinforcements in missions — up to two of them — that functions like a NPC companion that tags along with you.

Despite being a single player oriented experience, the game also features co-op play that will essentially replace the reinforcement system, so it's great news for players who are looking to play and get social. You can summon up to two friends to help you to help with tough enemies and boss fights. The invasion system from the Dark Souls series is also adapted and present in the game, allowing for some PvP action. There are also minor asymmetric multiplayer elements present.

Technical Performance:

Tested on a PC with a i7-8700k, RTX 3080, and 32GB RAM, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty suffers from bad performance levels on PC even with higher end setups. Microstutters are present all the time and the frame-time is NEVER on a flat line, leading to an unsatisfactory performance throughout the entirety of the experience. No graphics setting -- nevermind the lack thereof -- was able to fix this. Additionally, this game is best played — or rather, at this time of writing — is only strictly playable on controllers, as the mouse camera is currently non-functional.

Conclusion:

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is a solid entry in the action-RPG genre. While it may not revolutionize the genre, it provides a challenging, entertaining, and still somewhat accessible experience that fans of the Souls-like genre will appreciate, as long as you can bear with the current performance issues of the PC version. If you're looking for a game with fast-paced combat, fresh mechanics, and engaging boss battles, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is definitely worth checking out.

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